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Rating: Everything is relative
When I have to make a decision, I usually have the boring but wise habit of weighing in my mind the pros and cons related to the choice. It's a mental process applicable to many situations, including the purchase of a record. In this case, I had to decide whether or not to get this box set of "Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds," celebrating more than twenty years of career. On the scale, in favor of the purchase, were the artist's high prestige, the simple refinement of the packaging, and the affordable price (25 € for three CDs). Conversely, against it weighed the fact that apparently, it seems like a superfluous commercial operation, the kind that makes me wrinkle my nose, if you know what I mean. The box set, in fact, collects a series of songs, more or less known, which for various reasons did not get sufficient visibility in these versions in the Australian singer-songwriter's artistic history. As the most farsighted among you will have understood, in the end, the pros outweighed the cons. However, there was still one element to be placed on the scale, a knot to untie, the most important of all, the one that decides the fate of a record: listening. I couldn't know it beforehand, but now I can hint at something, so, to make your choices, you can weigh one more opinion, naturally if you like.
The box set consists of three CDs elegantly gathered in a cardboard-brushed box, boasting a very glossy black. However, inside, it lacks something I consider very important for this type of publication: an explanatory booklet of the content. The scant information about the songs is printed in microscopic characters on the sleeves that house the CDs. But never mind, high-level music is able to compensate for these "trivialities." And all things considered, it isn't bad. Maybe because I have a particular fondness for Cave's cavernous voice (let me have the pun), but I don't feel like entirely bashing this operation. Some acoustic versions - like "The Mercy Seat" - have great intensity, other tracks are captivating, such as "Where The Wild Roses Grow," perhaps also due to Blixa Bargeld’s voice; others, on the contrary, convince me a bit less. Among all, the cover of "What A Wonderful World" because it has an alcoholic and gratuitously rogue atmosphere that makes it a bit annoying to me. However, it's always a pleasure to listen to tracks like "Tower Of Song" by Leonard Cohen or the razor cuts of the acoustic guitar in "Jack The Ripper." Overall, in short, the listening experience presents both lights and shadows.
Aside from the first CD, the general sensation is, needless to say, of unevenness, and some songs seem superfluous, included more for the sake of quantity, but it is entirely understandable given the compilative-celebrative nature of the CDs. In summary, it's a collection, important, necessary, all things considered, well-done, pleasant, but not always at the same level. At this point, the hundred gun question must arrive: should it be purchased? It depends. Everything is relative to your degree of knowledge and love for Nick Cave. If you have his entire discography and a pinch of fetishism, if you're passionate long-time fans ready to forgive him any weakness, then this album is for you because it can represent the conclusion of a dialogue we hope continues. In this case, indeed, the box set might be to your liking because it will be like taking an excursion through the history of an artist you love and know, passing through a good 56 songs.
If, on the other hand, you have little to do with his music, then trust me and invest your dirty money in getting yourself some historic album like "Your Funeral... My Trial" or "The Good Son", postponing this purchase to another occasion. In other words, before tasting the jam, enjoy the fruit.
Tracklist Lyrics and Samples
05 The Six Strings That Drew Blood (04:47)
Guitar thug blew into town
His eyes like wheels spinnin' round
Jerkin-off at every sound
Layin' all his crosses down
O yeah
He got Six Strings
The Six Strings that drew blood
The bar is full of Holy-Joes
A Holy-hole-a-whole-aria
Around the neck of our consumptive rose
is the root of all his sorrows
O yeah
He got Six Strings
Six Strings that drew blood
A Holy-hole-a-whole-aria
Six Strings that drew blood
In the bathroom under cover
He turns on one tap to discover
He's smashed his teeth out on the other
Well he look in the mirror and say
don't fuck me brother
Cause I got Six Strings
Six Strings that drew blood
Numbin' the runt of reputation they call rat fame
Top-E as a tourniquet
A low tune whistles across his grave
Forever the master and the slave of his Six Strings
A Holy-hole-a-whole-aria
Six Strings that drew blood.
06 Rye Whiskey (03:29)
Rye whiskey, rye whiskey, rye whiskey I cry,
If I don’t git rye whiskey I think I will die.
If you was a hornet way up in a tree,
I’d faint from pure pleasure if you’d come and sting me!
If I was a candle and you was a moth,
I’d burn you so sweetly you’d never fly off.
Oh! Rye whiskey, rye whiskey, rye whiskey I declare,
I make my rye whiskey but I won’t tell you where.
If I was a skunk weed and you was a bee,
I’d bloom red and purple if you’d sip out of me.
Oh! Rye whiskey, rye whiskey, rye whiskey I vow,
I make my rye whiskey but I won’t tell you how.
The redwood is strong and a mighty tall tree,
But the strongest and tallest grows right out of me.
Rye whiskey, rye whiskey, I never could fly,
If I don’t git rye whiskey I’ll live till I die.
The hedgehog will roll on the grapes on the ground,
Just roll over me and you’ll see what you’ve found.
My balls, oh rye whiskey, will stick to your ass,
Like grapes on a hedgehog that rolls in the grass.
Si tengo un saguaro, no me has de culpar,
Pues un gran saguarazo te ha de gustar.
Ay! Tequila, tequila, tequila nomas,
Si me das el tequila yo te doy el compas!
09 Scum (02:54)
Well, I lived with one
Well, I lived with one, I lived with two,
I even lived with a third
I wanna tell you about number one
He was a miserable shitwringing turd
Like he reminded me of some evil gnome
Shakin hands was like shakin a hot, fat, oily bone
Holdin on for far too long
Yes he took me in, he took me in
He said that I looked pale and thin
I told him he looked fat
His lips were red and lickin wet
His house was roastin hot
In fact it was a fuckin slum
Scum! Scum!
Well then he hooked up with some slut from the same game
Black snow! Black snow!
Cocksuckstress, and I should know
Mean and vicious, her microphone always smelled suspicious
His and herpes bath towel type
If you know what I mean
I could not look at him, worm
He'd be takin a shower and who should walk in
He was the epitome of their type
Her middle name was Welcome, his was Wipe
Scum! Scum!
Well you're on the shit list
Thrust and twist, twist and screw
You gave me a bad review
And maybe you think that it's all just water under the bridge
Well my UNfriend, I'm the type that holds a grudge
I'm your creator
I think you fuckin traitor, chronic masturbator,
Shitlicker, user, self-abuser, jigger jigger!
What rock did you crawl from?
Which ..... did you come?
You Judas, Brutus, Vitus, Scum!
Hey four-eyes, come
That's right, it's a gun
Face is bubble, blood, and ...... street
Snowman with six holes clean into his fat fuckin guts
Psychotic drama mounts
Guts well deep then a spring is fount (?)
I unload into his eyes
Blood springs
Dead snow
Blue skies
14 Helpless (03:51)
There is a town in north Ontario
And I take comfort from memories there
And in my mind I still need a place to go
All my best changes were there
Blue, blue windows behind the stars
Yellow moon on the rise
Big birds flying across the sky
Throwing shadows on our eyes
Leave us helpless, helpless, helpless, helpless
Baby, heal me now
The chains are locked and tied across the door
They seem to help me somehow
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