Murder Ballads
Encyclopedia
Murder Ballads is the ninth studio album by Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds
, released in 1996 on Mute Records
. As its title suggests, the album consists of new and traditional murder ballad
s, a genre of songs that relays the details (and often consequences) of crimes of passion.
"Where the Wild Roses Grow
," a duet featuring Cave singing with Kylie Minogue
, was a hit single and received two ARIA Awards in 1996. Other prominent guest musicians on the album include PJ Harvey
and Shane MacGowan
.
Murder Ballads is the band's biggest commercial success to date, most likely helped by the unexpected repeated airplay of the "Where the Wild Roses Grow" video on MTV
. MTV even nominated Cave for their "best male artist" award of that year, though this nomination was later withdrawn at Cave's request.
awarding it 4 Stars and stating "...never before have manic elements elevated Cave's shtick to art as on Murder Ballads....literate, sultry and tortured....the performance of Nick Cave's life..." Entertainment Weekly
rated the album a B+ and warned it was "Not for the squeamish, this is the rare pop record that resonates with the weight of the ages..." and the New York Times stated "...Murder Ballads is about more than storytelling. In each song, Mr. Cave meticulously creates a macabre fable and then distills it to a single image of death in much the way a photographer arranges a studio shoot..." In the English music press Q
magazine awarded it 3 stars and observed "...Musically, the Bad Seeds touch on tinkling cabaret jazz, country-paced morbidity and every morose station between..." while it ranked #16 on Melody Maker
's list of 1996's Albums of the Year and #7 in the NME
's 1996 critic's poll.
The death count on the entire album comes to 64, or a mean average (rounding
) of 6.4 deaths per song.
Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds
Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds are an Australian alternative rock band, formed in Melbourne in 1983. The band is fronted by Nick Cave and has featured international personnel throughout their career.-Formation and early releases :...
, released in 1996 on Mute Records
Mute Records
Mute is an independent record label based in the UK. It was founded in 1978 by Daniel Miller and featured several prominent musical acts on its roster such as Goldfrapp, Depeche Mode, Yazoo, Erasure and Fad Gadget.-Beginnings:...
. As its title suggests, the album consists of new and traditional murder ballad
Murder ballad
Murder ballads are a sub-genre of the traditional ballad form, the lyrics of which form a narrative describing the events of a murder, often including the lead-up and/or aftermath...
s, a genre of songs that relays the details (and often consequences) of crimes of passion.
"Where the Wild Roses Grow
Where the Wild Roses Grow
"Where the Wild Roses Grow" is an alternative-rock song written by Australian singer-songwriter Nick Cave for Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds' ninth album Murder Ballads , with guest vocals by Australian pop-singer Kylie Minogue. The song was produced by Nick Cave and The Bad Seeds, Tony Cohen and...
," a duet featuring Cave singing with Kylie Minogue
Kylie Minogue
Kylie Ann Minogue, OBE - often known simply as Kylie - is an Australian singer, recording artist, songwriter, and actress. After beginning her career as a child actress on Australian television, she achieved recognition through her role in the television soap opera Neighbours, before commencing...
, was a hit single and received two ARIA Awards in 1996. Other prominent guest musicians on the album include PJ Harvey
PJ Harvey
Polly Jean Harvey is an English musician, singer-songwriter, composer and occasional artist. Primarily known as a vocalist and guitarist, she is also proficient with a wide range of instruments including piano, organ, bass, saxophone, and most recently, the autoharp.Harvey began her career in...
and Shane MacGowan
Shane MacGowan
Shane Patrick Lysaght MacGowan is an Irish musician and singer, best known as the original singer and songwriter of The Pogues.-History:...
.
Murder Ballads is the band's biggest commercial success to date, most likely helped by the unexpected repeated airplay of the "Where the Wild Roses Grow" video on MTV
MTV
MTV, formerly an initialism of Music Television, is an American network based in New York City that launched on August 1, 1981. The original purpose of the channel was to play music videos guided by on-air hosts known as VJs....
. MTV even nominated Cave for their "best male artist" award of that year, though this nomination was later withdrawn at Cave's request.
Reception
Murder Ballads received almost unanimous critical praise with Rolling StoneRolling Stone
Rolling Stone is a US-based magazine devoted to music, liberal politics, and popular culture that is published every two weeks. Rolling Stone was founded in San Francisco in 1967 by Jann Wenner and music critic Ralph J...
awarding it 4 Stars and stating "...never before have manic elements elevated Cave's shtick to art as on Murder Ballads....literate, sultry and tortured....the performance of Nick Cave's life..." Entertainment Weekly
Entertainment Weekly
Entertainment Weekly is an American magazine, published by the Time division of Time Warner, that covers film, television, music, broadway theatre, books and popular culture...
rated the album a B+ and warned it was "Not for the squeamish, this is the rare pop record that resonates with the weight of the ages..." and the New York Times stated "...Murder Ballads is about more than storytelling. In each song, Mr. Cave meticulously creates a macabre fable and then distills it to a single image of death in much the way a photographer arranges a studio shoot..." In the English music press Q
Q (magazine)
Q is a popular music magazine published monthly in the United Kingdom.Founders Mark Ellen and David Hepworth were dismayed by the music press of the time, which they felt was ignoring a generation of older music buyers who were buying CDs — then still a new technology...
magazine awarded it 3 stars and observed "...Musically, the Bad Seeds touch on tinkling cabaret jazz, country-paced morbidity and every morose station between..." while it ranked #16 on Melody Maker
Melody Maker
Melody Maker, published in the United Kingdom, was, according to its publisher IPC Media, the world's oldest weekly music newspaper. It was founded in 1926 as a magazine targeted at musicians; in 2000 it was merged into "long-standing rival" New Musical Express.-1950s–1960s:Originally the Melody...
's list of 1996's Albums of the Year and #7 in the NME
NME
The New Musical Express is a popular music publication in the United Kingdom, published weekly since March 1952. It started as a music newspaper, and gradually moved toward a magazine format during the 1980s, changing from newsprint in 1998. It was the first British paper to include a singles...
's 1996 critic's poll.
Track listing
Written by Nick Cave, except where noted.- "Song of Joy" – 6:47
- "Stagger LeeStagger Lee (song)"Stagger Lee", also known as "Stagolee", "Stackerlee", "Stack O'Lee", "Stack-a-Lee" and several other variants, is a popular folk song based on the murder of William "Billy" Lyons by Stagger Lee Shelton...
" – 5:15 (trad.Traditional musicTraditional music is the term increasingly used for folk music that is not contemporary folk music. More on this is at the terminology section of the World music article...
/Nick Cave and The Bad Seeds) - "Henry LeeYoung Hunting"Young Hunting" is a traditional folk song, collected by Francis James Child as Child Ballad number 68,, and has its origin in Scotland. Like most traditional songs, numerous variants of the song exist worldwide, notably under the title of "Henry Lee" and "Love Henry" in the United States and "Earl...
" (featuring PJ HarveyPJ HarveyPolly Jean Harvey is an English musician, singer-songwriter, composer and occasional artist. Primarily known as a vocalist and guitarist, she is also proficient with a wide range of instruments including piano, organ, bass, saxophone, and most recently, the autoharp.Harvey began her career in...
) – 3:58 (trad./Cave) - "Lovely Creature" – 4:13 (Blixa BargeldBlixa BargeldBlixa Bargeld is a composer, author, actor, singer, musician, performer and lecturer in a number of artistic fields...
/Martyn P. CaseyMartyn P. CaseyMartyn Paul Casey is an English-born Australian rock bass guitarist. He had been a member of The Triffids, Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds and Grinderman. Casey plays either his Fender Precision Bass or Fender Jazz Bass.-Biography:...
/Nick Cave/Mick HarveyMick HarveyMichael John Harvey , is an Australian rock musician, composer, arranger and record producer. He is best known for his long-time collaboration with the singer and songwriter Nick Cave...
/Thomas WydlerThomas WydlerThomas Wydler , is a Swiss musician best known for being a core member of Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds, of which he has been a drummer since 1985. Prior to joining them, he was a member of the experimental German band Die Haut. Wydler has been present on almost every Bad Seeds album, making his...
) - "Where the Wild Roses GrowWhere the Wild Roses Grow"Where the Wild Roses Grow" is an alternative-rock song written by Australian singer-songwriter Nick Cave for Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds' ninth album Murder Ballads , with guest vocals by Australian pop-singer Kylie Minogue. The song was produced by Nick Cave and The Bad Seeds, Tony Cohen and...
" (featuring Kylie MinogueKylie MinogueKylie Ann Minogue, OBE - often known simply as Kylie - is an Australian singer, recording artist, songwriter, and actress. After beginning her career as a child actress on Australian television, she achieved recognition through her role in the television soap opera Neighbours, before commencing...
) – 3:57 - "The Curse of Millhaven" – 6:55
- "The Kindness of Strangers" – 4:39
- "Crow Jane" – 4:14 (Martyn P. Casey/Nick Cave)
- "O'Malley's Bar" – 14:28
- "Death Is Not the EndDown in the GrooveDown in the Groove is singer-songwriter Bob Dylan's 25th studio album, released by Columbia Records in May 1988.A highly collaborative effort, it was Dylan's second consecutive album to receive almost unanimous negative reviews...
" – 4:26 (Bob DylanBob DylanBob Dylan is an American singer-songwriter, musician, poet, film director and painter. He has been a major and profoundly influential figure in popular music and culture for five decades. Much of his most celebrated work dates from the 1960s when he was an informal chronicler and a seemingly...
)
Singles
- "Where the Wild Roses GrowWhere the Wild Roses Grow"Where the Wild Roses Grow" is an alternative-rock song written by Australian singer-songwriter Nick Cave for Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds' ninth album Murder Ballads , with guest vocals by Australian pop-singer Kylie Minogue. The song was produced by Nick Cave and The Bad Seeds, Tony Cohen and...
" (MUTE 185) (October 2, 1995)- b/w: "The Ballad of Robert Moore and Betty Coltrane" / "The Willow Garden"
- "Henry Lee" (MUTE 189) (February 26, 1996)
- b/w: "King Kong Kitchee Kitchee Ki-Mi-O" / "Knoxville Girl"
The Bad Seeds
- Nick Cave – Vocals (1–10), Piano (1, 5, 8, 9), Organ (1, 2, 4, 6, 10), Hammond (1), Gun Shots (2), String Arrangement (5)
- Blixa BargeldBlixa BargeldBlixa Bargeld is a composer, author, actor, singer, musician, performer and lecturer in a number of artistic fields...
– Guitar (1–8, 10), Screams (2), Vocals (10) - Martyn P. CaseyMartyn P. CaseyMartyn Paul Casey is an English-born Australian rock bass guitarist. He had been a member of The Triffids, Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds and Grinderman. Casey plays either his Fender Precision Bass or Fender Jazz Bass.-Biography:...
– Bass (1–5, 7, 8) - Mick HarveyMick HarveyMichael John Harvey , is an Australian rock musician, composer, arranger and record producer. He is best known for his long-time collaboration with the singer and songwriter Nick Cave...
– Drums (1), Guitar (2, 4, 5, 7, 10), Acoustic Guitar (3, 5), Organ (3), Wind Organ (4), Backing Vocals (5), String Arrangement (5), Bass (6, 9), Hammond (8), Space Belt (8), Percussion (9) - Conway SavageConway SavageConway Savage is an Australian rock musician best known as pianist/organist/backing vocalist for Nick Cave and The Bad Seeds....
– Piano (2–4, 7, 10), Backing Vocals (5), Organ (9) - Jim SclavunosJim SclavunosJim Sclavunos is an American rock music drummer, percussionist and producer.Sclavunos, a half-Greek and half-Italian from Brooklyn, New York , is well-known for his exceptional height at 6'7". Sclavunos has performed with Sonic Youth, Tav Falco's Panther Burns, Lydia Lunch and was a member of 8...
– Drums (2, 8), Percussion (4, 10), Bells (5), Tambourine (6) - Thomas WydlerThomas WydlerThomas Wydler , is a Swiss musician best known for being a core member of Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds, of which he has been a drummer since 1985. Prior to joining them, he was a member of the experimental German band Die Haut. Wydler has been present on almost every Bad Seeds album, making his...
– Maracas (2), Drums (3–7, 9, 10), Tambourine (8), Vocals (10)
Guests
- PJ HarveyPJ HarveyPolly Jean Harvey is an English musician, singer-songwriter, composer and occasional artist. Primarily known as a vocalist and guitarist, she is also proficient with a wide range of instruments including piano, organ, bass, saxophone, and most recently, the autoharp.Harvey began her career in...
– Vocals (3, 10) - Terry EdwardsTerry EdwardsTerry Edwards is an English musician.Edwards gained a degree in music from the University of East Anglia in 1982, where he was also a founding member of The Higsons. He produced and played on the debut album by Yeah Jazz "Six Lane Ends"...
– Horns (4) - Katharine BlakeKatharine BlakeKatharine Blake is a British singer, songwriter and musician originally from London. She was the lead singer of Miranda Sex Garden, and is a founding member, singer and musical director of the musical group the Mediæval Bæbes....
– Additional Vocals (4) - Kylie MinogueKylie MinogueKylie Ann Minogue, OBE - often known simply as Kylie - is an Australian singer, recording artist, songwriter, and actress. After beginning her career as a child actress on Australian television, she achieved recognition through her role in the television soap opera Neighbours, before commencing...
– Vocals (5, 10) - Jen Anderson – Violin (5)
- Sue Simpson – Violin (5)
- Kerran Coulter – Viola (5)
- Helen Mountfort – Cello (5)
- Hugo RaceHugo RaceHugo Race is an Australian rock musician and record producer who has been based in Europe since 1989. He was a member of Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds, before forming The Wreckery with Nick Barker and Robin Casinader in the 1980s. He is currently a member of Hugo Race and the True Spirit.Race is...
– Guitar (6) - Warren EllisWarren Ellis (musician)Warren Ellis is an Australian multi-instrumentalist and composer, best known for his work with Dirty Three, Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds and Grinderman and his soundtrack scores with Nick Cave. He plays violin, piano, bouzouki, guitar, flute, mandolin, and tenor guitar...
– Violin (6), Accordion (6) - Marielle Del Conte – Additional Vocals (7)
- Anita LaneAnita LaneAnita Lane is an Australian singer and songwriter who directly influenced the early 1980s European post-punk landscape.-Birthday Party:Lane was born in Melbourne, Australia in the late 1950s. Lane began singing and writing songs at age 16. She was a classmate with Rowland S. Howard who would...
– Crying (7), Vocals (10) - Geraldine Johnston – Additional Vocals (8)
- Liz Corcoran – Additional Vocals (8)
- Shane MacGowanShane MacGowanShane Patrick Lysaght MacGowan is an Irish musician and singer, best known as the original singer and songwriter of The Pogues.-History:...
– Vocals (10) - Brian Hooper – Bass (10)
The Moron Tabernacle Choir on "The Curse of Millhaven"
- Nick Cave
- Martyn P. Casey
- Conway Savage
- Thomas Wydler
- Warren EllisWarren Ellis (musician)Warren Ellis is an Australian multi-instrumentalist and composer, best known for his work with Dirty Three, Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds and Grinderman and his soundtrack scores with Nick Cave. He plays violin, piano, bouzouki, guitar, flute, mandolin, and tenor guitar...
- Brian Hooper
- Spencer P. Jones
- Dave GraneyDave GraneyDavid John "Dave" Graney is an Australian rock musician and singer-songwriter from Mount Gambier, South Australia. Since 1979, Graney is generally accompanied by drummer, Clare Moore...
- Katharine Blake
- Clare Moore
- Rowland S. HowardRowland S. HowardRowland Stuart Howard was an Australian rock musician, guitarist and songwriter, he played electric guitar in the post-punk group The Birthday Party. Howard died of liver cancer in December 2009, aged 50 years....
- James Johnston
- Ian Johnston
- Geraldine Johnston
- Astrid Munday
Songs
- "Song of Joy" is a story of a man whose wife Joy and their three children, Hilda, Hattie and Holly, are murdered, leaving the man a drifter, as all he loves and holds dear has been stolen from him. In Cave's biography, Bad Seed by Ian Johnston, which only goes up to the preceding album Let Love In, it is mentioned that he was working on a new song called "Red Right Hand II", involving a man killing his three children. This may be the same song in a finished form, and, indeed, the lyrics mention "in my houseHouseA house is a building or structure that has the ability to be occupied for dwelling by human beings or other creatures. The term house includes many kinds of different dwellings ranging from rudimentary huts of nomadic tribes to free standing individual structures...
he wrote his red right hand, which I'm told is from Paradise LostParadise LostParadise Lost is an epic poem in blank verse by the 17th-century English poet John Milton. It was originally published in 1667 in ten books, with a total of over ten thousand individual lines of verse...
". The Narrator portrays himself as the victim of the crime, however, the song itself strongly implies a connection between the killer's continuing murder-spree and the widower's seemingly-aimless wandering; Cave's delivery and further references to Milton suggest that the narrator is, in fact, himself the murderer. - "Stagger Lee" is based on a traditional song about the African-American murderer of the same name. Cave's version draws most of the lyrics from a 1967 transcription published in the 1976 book The Life: The lore and folk poetry of the black hustler (see reference).
- "Henry Lee" is also based on a traditional song (or two), often referred to as Young Hunting. It tells of a woman who kills a man because he did not sleep with her or love her. It is a duet with PJ HarveyPJ HarveyPolly Jean Harvey is an English musician, singer-songwriter, composer and occasional artist. Primarily known as a vocalist and guitarist, she is also proficient with a wide range of instruments including piano, organ, bass, saxophone, and most recently, the autoharp.Harvey began her career in...
, a British rock singer who was in a relationship with Cave at the time. - "Lovely Creature" tells an abstract tale of finding and losing love through death. It is possible to interpret the lyrics as a sort of vanishing hitchhikerVanishing hitchhikerThe vanishing hitchhiker story is an urban legend in which people travelling by vehicle meet with or are accompanied by a hitchhiker who subsequently vanishes without explanation, often from a moving vehicle...
legend. - "Where the Wild Roses Grow" was a very popular duet with Australian pop singer Kylie MinogueKylie MinogueKylie Ann Minogue, OBE - often known simply as Kylie - is an Australian singer, recording artist, songwriter, and actress. After beginning her career as a child actress on Australian television, she achieved recognition through her role in the television soap opera Neighbours, before commencing...
. Nick says the traditional song "The Willow Garden" (which is a B-side on the "Where the Wild Roses Grow" single) was the song that inspired him to write "Where the Wild Roses Grow". It is a classic tale of a man courting a woman and killing her while they are out together. - "The Curse of Millhaven" is a song of a mad girl called Loretta "Lottie" whose "eyes are green" and "hair is yellow". She describes the deaths of townsfolk, pointing out how "all God's creatures, they've all got to die". It is then revealed, in the failed stabbing of Mrs. Colgate, that Lottie is in fact the killer. "Curse" uses the fictional town of Millhaven, created by Peter StraubPeter StraubPeter Francis Straub is an American author and poet, most famous for his work in the horror genre. His horror fiction has received numerous literary honors such as the Bram Stoker Award, World Fantasy Award, and International Horror Guild Award, placing him among the most-honored horror authors in...
and came out on paper in his books regarding "The Blue Rose Murders". In particular, the novel The Throat has been recommended by Nick. It might also be stated that this song has the largest number of deaths, being at least 25 murders. - "The Kindness of Strangers" centers on a young girl named Mary Bellows, who travels to see the ocean. On the way she meets Richard Slade, but tells him to leave once she has a room. She finds herself lonely and unlocks her door, only to be killed by (presumably, although it is not explicitly stated) Slade.
- "Crow Jane" shares its title with a traditional blues song. Cave's version appears to be entirely original. In his version, it seems Crow Jane is gang raped, then visits a gunshop, arms herself, and kills the twenty miners who raped her.
- "O'Malley's Bar" is a long song about a man who goes into a bar and kills his fellow townsfolk. He feels elated and sexually aroused by this killing, but is caught by the police. In the car, moving away from the bar, he begins counting those he killed on his fingers. The chances are he'll have a hard time keeping track; the song runs for over fourteen minutes.
- "Death Is Not the End" is a song featuring several vocalists, such as Anita LaneAnita LaneAnita Lane is an Australian singer and songwriter who directly influenced the early 1980s European post-punk landscape.-Birthday Party:Lane was born in Melbourne, Australia in the late 1950s. Lane began singing and writing songs at age 16. She was a classmate with Rowland S. Howard who would...
, Kylie MinogueKylie MinogueKylie Ann Minogue, OBE - often known simply as Kylie - is an Australian singer, recording artist, songwriter, and actress. After beginning her career as a child actress on Australian television, she achieved recognition through her role in the television soap opera Neighbours, before commencing...
, PJ HarveyPJ HarveyPolly Jean Harvey is an English musician, singer-songwriter, composer and occasional artist. Primarily known as a vocalist and guitarist, she is also proficient with a wide range of instruments including piano, organ, bass, saxophone, and most recently, the autoharp.Harvey began her career in...
, and Shane McGowan, including Cave himself and his bandmembers drummer Thomas Wydler and guitarist Blixa Bargeld. They each sing a verse in this coverCover versionIn popular music, a cover version or cover song, or simply cover, is a new performance or recording of a contemporary or previously recorded, commercially released song or popular song...
of a Bob DylanBob DylanBob Dylan is an American singer-songwriter, musician, poet, film director and painter. He has been a major and profoundly influential figure in popular music and culture for five decades. Much of his most celebrated work dates from the 1960s when he was an informal chronicler and a seemingly...
song, the only song in which an actual death does not occur.
The death count on the entire album comes to 64, or a mean average (rounding
Rounding
Rounding a numerical value means replacing it by another value that is approximately equal but has a shorter, simpler, or more explicit representation; for example, replacing $23.4476 with $23.45, or the fraction 312/937 with 1/3, or the expression √2 with 1.414.Rounding is often done on purpose to...
) of 6.4 deaths per song.
Sources
- The Life: The Lore and Folk Poetry of the Black Hustler, Wepman, Newman & Binderman, Holloway House, 1976, ISBN 0-87067-367-X