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The Complete Lyrics: 1978-2013
The complete collection of Nick Cave lyrics spanning his entire career, from 1978 until 2013, revised and updated by the cult rock star 'He is an Australian artist like Sidney Nolan is an Australian artist - beyond comparison, beyond genre, beyond dispute' - from Nick Cave's induction into the Australian Hall of Fame This complete collection of Nick Cave's lyrics spans his entire career, from his writing for The Birthday Party through the highly acclaimed Murder Ballads and The Boatman's Call to recent work with Grinderman and his 2013 album, Push the Sky Away. Brought together in one volume, these lyrics make up one of the most outstanding achievements of contemporary music. Switching between the cynical and the sanguine, the defeated and the defiant, Nick Cave deals in love, war, beauty, children, romance, rejection, Pethedine, poetry, pants, money, flowers and so much more ... From the bestselling author of And the Ass Saw the Angel and The Death of Bunny Munroe this definitive collection will be adored by Nick Cave fans everywhere. 'His lyrics deal with passion on the edge, and are peopled with mad bayou preachers, black-hearted lovers and killers. His language is rich, poetic, apocalyptic' Guardian 'Richly poetic creations which live a second life on the page ... Essential reading' Vox Nick Cave was born in Australia in 1957. He moved to London with his band The Birthday Party in 1990 and four years later he formed The Bad Seeds, with whom he has made 15 studio albums. In recent years he has made two albums with his other band, Grinderman. In 1999 he curated and directed the Meltdown Festival at London's South Bank Centre. He has also written the soundtrack for a number of successful films including The Assassination of Jesse James, Lawless and The Proposition. His novel And the Ass Saw the Angel was an international bestseller, Time Out's Book of the Year, and was reissued in the Penguin Essential series. His second novel The Death of Bunny Monroe was published in 2009. He lives in Brighton with his wife and two children.
544 pages, Paperback
Published September 12, 2013
27 people are currently reading
334 people want to read
About the author
Nick Cave
94 books1,986 followersNicholas Edward Cave is an Australian musician, songwriter, author, screenwriter, and occasional actor. He is best known for his work in the rock band Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds, and his fascination with American music and its roots. He has a reputation, which he disowns, for singing dark, brooding songs which some listeners regard as depressing. His music is characterised by intensity, high energy and a wide variety of influences. He currently lives in Brighton & Hove in England.
Cave released his first book King Ink, in 1988. It is a collection of lyrics and plays, including collaborations with American enfant terrible Lydia Lunch.
While he was based in West Berlin, Cave started working on what was to become his debut novel, And the Ass Saw the Angel (1989). Significant crossover is evident between the themes in the book and the lyrics Cave wrote in the late stages of the Birthday Party and the early stage of his solo career. "Swampland", from Mutiny, in particular, uses the same linguistic stylings ('mah' for 'my', for instance) and some of the same themes (the narrator being haunted by the memory of a girl called Lucy, being hunted like an animal, approaching death and execution). A collectors' limited edition of the book appeared in 2007.
Cave wrote the foreword to a Canongate publication of the Gospel according to Mark, published in the UK in 1998. The American publication of the same book contains a foreword by a different author.
Cave released his first book King Ink, in 1988. It is a collection of lyrics and plays, including collaborations with American enfant terrible Lydia Lunch.
While he was based in West Berlin, Cave started working on what was to become his debut novel, And the Ass Saw the Angel (1989). Significant crossover is evident between the themes in the book and the lyrics Cave wrote in the late stages of the Birthday Party and the early stage of his solo career. "Swampland", from Mutiny, in particular, uses the same linguistic stylings ('mah' for 'my', for instance) and some of the same themes (the narrator being haunted by the memory of a girl called Lucy, being hunted like an animal, approaching death and execution). A collectors' limited edition of the book appeared in 2007.
Cave wrote the foreword to a Canongate publication of the Gospel according to Mark, published in the UK in 1998. The American publication of the same book contains a foreword by a different author.
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Displaying 1 - 10 of 10 reviews
January 30, 2023
Nick's lyrics.
It was extremely fascinating to see the literature of one lyricist change from an "insect" to very sophisticated. But his talent was evident from the very beginning.
To see all your lyrical work in one piece - there is a more updated version now too - must be extraordinary. And to create over 500 pages of lyrics? Amazing. Even though it took him 35 years to write all that, but also that doesn't include all the unpublished/unreleased or edited-out material that he's created too.
I hated the introduction - whoever Will Self is did not in any way deserve that honour, the intro was self-centered and just not well written.
However the lecture included, Nick's The Secret Life of The Love Song, was fascinating. I didn't necessarily agree with how all love songs are connected to god and such, but it's still fascinating and driving to understand how someone so idolised sees something he's famous for.
His lyrics are so cacophonous, but become more articulated with time.
His lifelong muses are very clear, but his literature wraps around them and spurs from them in vastly different ways throughout his career.
It was extremely fascinating to see the literature of one lyricist change from an "insect" to very sophisticated. But his talent was evident from the very beginning.
To see all your lyrical work in one piece - there is a more updated version now too - must be extraordinary. And to create over 500 pages of lyrics? Amazing. Even though it took him 35 years to write all that, but also that doesn't include all the unpublished/unreleased or edited-out material that he's created too.
I hated the introduction - whoever Will Self is did not in any way deserve that honour, the intro was self-centered and just not well written.
However the lecture included, Nick's The Secret Life of The Love Song, was fascinating. I didn't necessarily agree with how all love songs are connected to god and such, but it's still fascinating and driving to understand how someone so idolised sees something he's famous for.
His lyrics are so cacophonous, but become more articulated with time.
His lifelong muses are very clear, but his literature wraps around them and spurs from them in vastly different ways throughout his career.
February 5, 2022
nick 💓💓💓💓💓💓💓💗💗
January 1, 2014
If you're interested in reading the lyrics to every song Nick Cave has written, this book has you covered.
It also includes the transcript from his "The Secret Life of the Love Song" lecture, which puts the bulk of his works in a new light. To Cave, love songs are as much (or moreso) sad, sorrowful songs because all love ends. You can't have the positive without the negative; this is the prevading thought that colors his lyrics, tinging even his sweetest lyrics with melancholy and even hatred. Perhaps a bit surprisingly, he tells us that he considers the majority of his oeuvre to be love songs; a thought that would be contested by most casual listeners. But if you take his lecture at face value, you can see/hear/feel the "saudade" and "duende" in songs that most would be hard-pressed to label as "love songs."
The lyrics themselves take up most of the pages, as you'd expect from the book's title. They're divided into chapters by album, with non-album songs included within the time period when they were written. You can see how Cave's lyricism matures throughout his career. While it never loses it's hard edges, his writing becomes more coherent and well-crafted. Even then, you can see glimpses of the future in the older songs and echoes of the past in the newer songs.
The only complaint I have is that I'd like to have read additional commentary from Cave about the lyrics themselves. In the opening lecture, he mentions how most of his songs spring from personal experiences and I'd enjoy reading some of the thoughts/experiences/circumstances that spawned some of his lyrics.
It also includes the transcript from his "The Secret Life of the Love Song" lecture, which puts the bulk of his works in a new light. To Cave, love songs are as much (or moreso) sad, sorrowful songs because all love ends. You can't have the positive without the negative; this is the prevading thought that colors his lyrics, tinging even his sweetest lyrics with melancholy and even hatred. Perhaps a bit surprisingly, he tells us that he considers the majority of his oeuvre to be love songs; a thought that would be contested by most casual listeners. But if you take his lecture at face value, you can see/hear/feel the "saudade" and "duende" in songs that most would be hard-pressed to label as "love songs."
The lyrics themselves take up most of the pages, as you'd expect from the book's title. They're divided into chapters by album, with non-album songs included within the time period when they were written. You can see how Cave's lyricism matures throughout his career. While it never loses it's hard edges, his writing becomes more coherent and well-crafted. Even then, you can see glimpses of the future in the older songs and echoes of the past in the newer songs.
The only complaint I have is that I'd like to have read additional commentary from Cave about the lyrics themselves. In the opening lecture, he mentions how most of his songs spring from personal experiences and I'd enjoy reading some of the thoughts/experiences/circumstances that spawned some of his lyrics.
March 6, 2018
How do you read the (almost) complete lyrics of Nick Cave?
Choose your favourite album?
Randomly pick a page then read in the bath?
Read it cover to cover?
Have it by your phone and try to read a song lyric every time you get itchy fingers for social media?
More to the point, how do you review the (almost) complete lyrics of Nick Cave?
First of all this is probably just for the fans, though I can imagine curiosity striking and a person falling in love with the lyrics on the page and then seeking out the music. Maybe. I think the fact that I have seen this book on the shelves of a fair few music loving folk is indicative of the love that people feel for this man's wordcraft. Taking lyrics and putting them on the page will work if the lyrics are substantial and poetic. Here they are. By having a full volume of work you can trace imagery that is developed in songs over time. 'Sail your ships around me' is a good example and is repeated in early songs before the classic The Ship Song.
If you are looking for a strange read with twisted, romantic and wry symbolism then pick up a copy of this book. You may well turn into a Nick Cave devotee.
Choose your favourite album?
Randomly pick a page then read in the bath?
Read it cover to cover?
Have it by your phone and try to read a song lyric every time you get itchy fingers for social media?
More to the point, how do you review the (almost) complete lyrics of Nick Cave?
First of all this is probably just for the fans, though I can imagine curiosity striking and a person falling in love with the lyrics on the page and then seeking out the music. Maybe. I think the fact that I have seen this book on the shelves of a fair few music loving folk is indicative of the love that people feel for this man's wordcraft. Taking lyrics and putting them on the page will work if the lyrics are substantial and poetic. Here they are. By having a full volume of work you can trace imagery that is developed in songs over time. 'Sail your ships around me' is a good example and is repeated in early songs before the classic The Ship Song.
If you are looking for a strange read with twisted, romantic and wry symbolism then pick up a copy of this book. You may well turn into a Nick Cave devotee.
February 9, 2014
This book is a treasure for any Nick Cave fan. Allthough with some flaws ( so far I found them in two lyrics, guess there are more) it really is a must have for anyone who appriciate Cave and his work. A good thing when you get this book is, that it makes you listen to the albums that were on a side track for a while.
February 2, 2014
Brilliant collection of Cave's lyrics, as well as a lecture of his from 2009 on the Love Song.
March 16, 2026
It's a really great read - and very interesting to watch his craft develop over 35 years. I thought Will Self's foreword held quite a few gems, including the emphasis that for Cave, there is brutal prose in the Old Testament (agreed!) and love is never just love - it's often infused with yearning and the prescient, mourning doom of the end of love. I wonder if the pervasive drought and struggle for survival in the Old Testament somehow melded for Cave with the stories of the settlers eking out (badly) on land that didn't want to accept them. You can see the evidence of his father's influence in the kind of outlaw poetry he tries for from very early on in his body of work.
I also loved the quote (from Self) that, "... in rural Victoria, the light is harsher, the flies' legs are moister and the blood takes longer to coagulate. A persistent atmosphere of the uncanny pervades the world ..." As someone who spent the lockdowns in the regions, tea.
Throughout the work, there's a number of really beautiful lines often nestled within quite a few meh stanzas. I loved him describing the moon as a "huge cycloptic eye." I loved the imagery of a man rattling his tin cup across the cage of his lover's ribs. The Gothic imagery of trees turning their backs as they don't want to watch a murder being committed - even the land rejecting the scene.
Motifs replicate, again and again. Cave talks about things "coming down" onto him. He has a preoccupation with the moon and describing it. When his wife comes onto the scene, a sudden emphasis on flowers and gardens.
Like most bodies of work that are presented 'as is', there were areas of Cave's work I thought were weaker and I had a harder time getting through. I think his strength lies in his experience - in the Australian/English Gothic, rather than aping some kind of American Deep South tragedy.
Also really beautiful to end with such a song of love to his two twins; so sad to think what would happen only 2 years later. RIP Arthur.
I also loved the quote (from Self) that, "... in rural Victoria, the light is harsher, the flies' legs are moister and the blood takes longer to coagulate. A persistent atmosphere of the uncanny pervades the world ..." As someone who spent the lockdowns in the regions, tea.
Throughout the work, there's a number of really beautiful lines often nestled within quite a few meh stanzas. I loved him describing the moon as a "huge cycloptic eye." I loved the imagery of a man rattling his tin cup across the cage of his lover's ribs. The Gothic imagery of trees turning their backs as they don't want to watch a murder being committed - even the land rejecting the scene.
Motifs replicate, again and again. Cave talks about things "coming down" onto him. He has a preoccupation with the moon and describing it. When his wife comes onto the scene, a sudden emphasis on flowers and gardens.
Like most bodies of work that are presented 'as is', there were areas of Cave's work I thought were weaker and I had a harder time getting through. I think his strength lies in his experience - in the Australian/English Gothic, rather than aping some kind of American Deep South tragedy.
Also really beautiful to end with such a song of love to his two twins; so sad to think what would happen only 2 years later. RIP Arthur.
March 22, 2026
Such an incredibly gifted songwriter, Cave's prose illuminates from the page; lyrics of life, death, and folklore.
Read
February 9, 2021Where is Stagger Lee?
March 25, 2021
This is definitely one for fans....when you read the first line and can then hear the entire song in your head then you are able to appreciate this collection all the more.
Displaying 1 - 10 of 10 reviews