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Rating: There was a film from the 90s, a small masterpiece which I reviewed some time ago, titled "He Died with a Felafel in His Hand", where one of the main characters puts on a Nick Cave record (specifically "The Mercy Seat") and attempts suicide by locking herself in the bathroom.
Well, the idea of a depressed Cave, a damned Cave, post-punk and almost gothic, an excellent artist as a backdrop for a suicide, is overturned by the 14th studio album made with the Bad Seeds, a real breath of fresh air and positivity that hits the ears of the listener with simple and direct rock. No virtuosic experimentation, no hint of heaviness in the arrangements and lyrics, no depression lurking around the corner: "Dig!!! Lazarus Dig!!!" is a succession of almost playful tracks, practically all of which are successful in their intent of providing basic yet precise and curated musical entertainment. Moreover, the period is prolific: it's 2008 and in recent years our Nick has released albums in succession (the monumental and heavy "Abattoir Blues/The Lyre Of Orpheus", the mediocre "Nocturama", the short but intense experience with Grinderman), has written soundtracks, co-written film scripts, and even appeared in a cameo in "Jesse James".
So let's enjoy this album that seems to have been written specifically to be played live, with the rough opening entrusted to the title track, yet another piece in Cave's discography that makes us want to drink whiskey accompanied by a Toscano, immediately followed by a little gem, "Today's Lesson", with its almost pop-like keyboards and its stadium chant finale ("We're going to have a real good time tonight! Come on! Tonight!"). "Albert Goes West" reaches great heights, a smashing almost noise track framed by skillful choral warbles, "Night Of The Lotus Eaters," hypnotic, whispered and brimming with percussion, "Lie Down Here," with its distorted guitars and brief piano incursions.
References to the Bible, death, contemporaneity, a melting pot in which music is always the most important piece, as perhaps it should be, in an album that has no exaggerated pretensions, except to be appreciated and to evoke more than one emotion. Mission accomplished.
Tracklist Lyrics and Samples
01 Dig, Lazarus, Dig!!! (04:11)
[Dig yourself]
[Laz’rus dig yourself]
[Laz’rus dig yourself]
[Laz’rus dig yourself]
[Back in that hole.]
Larry made his nest up in the autumn branches
Built from nothing but high hopes and thin air
He collected up some baby-blasted mothers, they took their chances
And for a while they lived quite happily up there
He came from New York City, man, but he couldn’t take the pace
He thought it was like dog eat dog world
Then he went to San Francisco, spent a year in outer space
With a sweet little San Fransiscan girl
I can hear my mother wailing and a whole lot of scraping of chairs
I don’t know what it is, but there’s definitely something going on upstairs
[Dig yourself]
[Laz’rus dig yourself]
[Laz’rus dig yourself]
[Laz’rus dig yourself]
(I want you to dig)
[Back in that hole]
(I want you to dig)
(I want you to dig)
Yeah, New York City, he had to get out there
And San Fransisco, well, I don't know
And then to L.A., where he spent about a day
He thought even the pale sky-stars were smart enough to keep well away from L.A.
Meanwhile Larry made up names for the ladies
Like miss Boo and miss Quick
He stockpiled weapons and took potshots in the air
He feasted on their lovely bodies like a lunatic
And wrapped himself up in their soft yellow hair
I can hear chants and incantations and some guy is mentioning me in his prayers
Well, I don’t know what it is, but there’s definitely something going on upstairs
[Dig yourself]
[Laz’rus dig yourself]
[Laz’rus dig yourself]
[Laz’rus dig yourself]
(I want you to dig)
[Back in that hole]
(I want you to dig)
(I want you to dig)
Well, New York City, man, San Francisco, LA, I don’t know
But Larry grew increasingly neurotic and obscene
I mean he, he never asked to be raised up from the tomb
I mean no one ever actually asked him to forsake his dreams
Anyway, to cut a long story short
Fame finally found him, mirrors became his torturers
Cameras snapped him at every chance
The women all went back to their homes and their husbands
With secret smiles in the corners of their mouths
He ended up like so many of them do, back on the streets of New York City
In a soup queue, a dopefiend, a slave, then prison, then the madhouse, then the grave
Ah, poor Larry
But what do we really know of the dead
And who actually cares?
Well, I don’t know what it is, but there’s definitely something going on upstairs
[Dig yourself]
[Laz’rus dig yourself]
[Laz’rus dig yourself]
[Laz’rus dig yourself]
(I want you to dig)
[Back in that hole]
[Dig yourself]
[Laz’rus dig yourself]
[Laz’rus dig yourself]
[Laz’rus dig yourself]
(I want you to dig)
[Back in that hole]
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Other reviews
By azzo
This is what we want to hear him play. Four chords and go.
Nick Cave, like Lazarus, has somehow resurrected.
By Blackdog
A great production work, indeed... The Bad Seeds sound polished and sparkling, an enviable rock maturity certified by the years.
"Life beyond life, the unease of a gesture always the same and tomorrow already obsolete... sleep Lazarus, return deep and rest."
