‘SOMEONE ONCE REMARKED THAT I
HAD THE EMOTIONAL RANGE OF A FOUR- YEAR-OLD'
NATURE
NICK CAVE’s dark, dark ways inspire a unique kind of devotion among his millions of fans. On the eve of his visit to Scotland, he talks to Peter Stanford about drugs, God, collaboration and being a noisy neighbour.
t came out ol' nowhere. There I was. sitting
with my children in a cinema. chomping
popcorn and watching .S‘lirc/t 3 w hen suddenly we were taken on screen to a seedy har where the King ol' liaraway land was looking to hire an assassin (Puss in Boots) to murder his new son-in-law. Slit‘ek. ()iito a soundtrack that had thtis lar l‘cattired the hland ("l'he l’airy (iodmother's Song’) and the camp (Bonnie 'l‘y lcr's ‘llolding ()ut |"or a Hero i came the yery adult \iek ('ayc and his haiid the Bad Seeds with their hleak modern classic ol despair. 'l’cople 'l‘hey Ain't No (iood‘.
It was as it the Pope had ptit in a guest appearance. singing "lake a Walk on the Wild Side'. Because l‘or his army oi lians. ('ayc is the epitome ol grown-up cool. someone who remains as compelling today as two decades ago when he llcw in l'rom his name .-\ustralia and hit punk London running with his lionised hand. the Birthday Party. (‘aye's rock-star past drugs. well-puhlicised romances. excess and more drugs manulaetured pop. The range and intensity ol the lyrics on his l4 sttidio alhiims. including his new
douhlc ol'l‘ering .rllmlmir Blues/Hie lyre of
()r/i/icuy. haye seen hiiii acclaimed as a poet. Some hay'e ey'en heen collected in hook l‘orni as King III/y. Yet here he was lining tip alongside .lulic Andrews to lend his Voice to Slur/t.
So is ('ay‘e in danger ol‘ turning into l’hil (‘olliiis'.’ 'lt‘s quite a nice moment in the film actually] he say s. determined not to take the hail. "l'hcre's a pirate playing the piano with his hook which I took to he a dig at my own Sunday school style ol piano playing‘. ('ay'e laughs a wonderlul. inl'ectious. unexpected and ironic laugh. illuminated by his startling blue eyes A and then takes another drag on his roll-up. 'I just get these emails sent to me with the lilm title. the synopsis. the scene that you are going to he used in. and a little box for yes or no. I just go. donk. yes. .-\et‘o.ss the hoard student liillils to Hollywood hloekhttslet's.‘
It is one ol' the many paradoxes ahout 4(i-ycar- old (‘ay'e —— the man who writes lyrics of ol‘ten searing honesty and mournl'ul introspection htit can then dispose of them with hardly a thought at the click ol‘ a computer htittoii. Yet it is his sheer unpredictahility' that has arguably sustained his career while others haye l‘allen away.
(‘ay'e doesn't like going hack oy'cr his past. ()ne of the phrases that comes tip most otten in our cony'ersation is 'l‘y‘c spoken ahout this hel'oi'e‘. His story is certainly well documented 7— hy
has made him a legend in an age ol
himscll in his songs. and hy others in articles and hooks. He grew tip in \Varracknahcal in .-\tlstt'alia. the son ol a teacher and a lll‘l'tll'ltlll. Ilc sang in the local cathedral choir and went to art school where he met \lick llai‘yey. still one ol the Bad Seeds. 'l‘hcii' punk hand the Birthday Party took lirst \lelhourne then l.ondon hy storm htit hrokc up in I‘lis'l. ('ayc was a glohc trotter lot the nut decade Berlin. l,os .\ngc|cs. Bra/ii and linally I.ondon as a string ol alhiiins hegan to htiild his cult l'ollow ing.
In person. ('ayc has a reputation lor melancholy. It's partly to do with the stories that still hang round ahout him l'rom his heroin days. He gaye tip what he once called 'had working hahits' si.\ years ago and has said he could write 'the .llii'liv/m (inn/c to detos ccntres'.
Then there is the detached. ttllttosl lltessittltie presence he hrings to the stage during liyc perl‘ormances while laiis throw thcnisclyes at his l'eet. The set ol' his lace. with its prominent lips. upturned nose and shock ol iet—hlack hair. can make him look permanently cross. l‘inally there is his rich. dark singing mice as it picks its way through the chilling imagery ol~ many ol his songs. In '\\'herc the \Vild Roses (iroyy‘. ltis l‘)‘)(i duet with Kylie .\linogiic and his higgest singles‘ chart success so tar. he dreams out loud ahout smashing in her head with a rock.
But here in l'ront ol' me is a scllldeprccating. rail—thin man ol'l'ering me a cup ol tea. \th'e sitting in (‘aye‘s Brighton olliee a small. hright llat round the corner l'rom the seal'ront home he shares with his wile. Stisie Mick. and their twin sons. And Nick (’ayc is smiling and happy.
"l'here‘s a gtty \\ ho practices meditation
'downstairs.‘ he jokes as he wanders through to
the kitchen. ‘lles always coming tip with that gla/cd look on his lace to complain ahout the noise. it‘s the loot—stomping stul'l' that gets him when I'm at the piano. But hey l‘uck him. One day. he‘ll tell his grandchildren ahotit it.’
He says it with a hoyish lack ol' malice and giyes his hrown winkle-pickers a thump or two on the floor l'or emphasis. This is a relaxed. more upbeat .\'ick ('ay'e. in keeping with a new lcel to the new material on :l/mlln/r [Hum/Hie lyre of ()I'p/It‘IH. There remains the same lyrical complexity rcl'erenccs to Auden: a tribute to Johnny ('ash; an extraordinary hymn to writers‘ hlock in ‘There She (ioes. .\1y Beatitilul World‘: and the dense tale ol l-‘armcr limmerich and his cow that suckles a serpent in 'l‘ahle ol the Brown .-\pe‘. But there is also undeniahly a lightness ol touch that wasn't there in ('ay'e‘s Nu All»? Shall
‘. .q ,-1 THE LIST 17