This is one of the most stirring performances I've ever seen. If you get through your first viewing with dry eyes you'd better check for a pulse. The man can emote! It evokes in me a similar feeling as the late Jeff Buckley's " hallelujah" and not simply because Cave brings the song to its climax with the same expression. Both stunning achievements. If they were as well known as say, Michael Jackson the world no doubt be a better place.
While it's absolutely true that Nick Cave is smart enough to understand how this song is going to be read, I can't understand how anyone can see this performance and reduce it to mere sarcasm. My impression of this song is that it calls out provincial hypocrisy while also expressing a Pasolini-esque "nostalgia for belief."
Nick Cave is a Christian, clembrook. I'm not. But for you to watch this video, and listen to this song, and genuinely believe that anyone could experience those emotions, or write that song, in the name sarcasm and irony shows maybe why he had to write it. It's a pastoral dream, a longing that's in his heart and in the hearts of many of us who hear it. The proselytizing of those such as yourself who are utterly without negative capability has nothing whatsoever to do with the beautiful song.
The house is the whole real yourself and God- if we wanna call it God- is always in the house. god is a part of whole of us and we are a part of it. It's a beautiful song.
I think we are in 90-something percent agreement. I do think that Nick Cave is well aware of, and not entirely dismissive of, the more cynical interpretations of the song. If anything, that is where we differ. But I agree with you completely that calling it pure sarcasm is, at the very least, a misread of his sentiment. Some sarcasm may be there, but it feels more tragic and sincere in delivery. Like he is crying for lost innocence. Sort of.
"Nostalgia for belief" is a beautifully apt description of the sentiment/feeling of the song, IMO, but I genuinely don't think he's calling out 'provincial hypocrisy'. Some people have trouble accepting the song for what it is: a paean to simplicity, order, love, communion,community, etc. It expresses a feeling of yearning; it's neither advocacy nor a philosophical argument, and those who can't *feel* the song - for whatever reasons - look elsewhere for what it "means."
The very wonderful Nick Cave..I just had to play this to Mrs me cos there was some woman on Jools Holland's Later doing this, & my woman didn't know that NC does it sooo much better!
Nick is one of those artists that can't be categorized. I remember, I once incorrectly typed 'Tom Waits' as a genre for all his albums. But, when I was trying to replace, I wasn't able to find something that could fit in as well. And, seriously, he's no way like Jim Morrison.
@Hamster3107 I'm too lazy to go down looking for the person who didn't get this on the first listen but Jesus Theodore Christ I can't believe you actually had to spell it out for some one! Good Lord Almighty this song is perfect in it's poetry and composition but also in it's little story telling from the point of view of an innocent 'well meaning' christian. This is amazing songwriting. Nick Cave at his best.
I thought that the it's not 'Is he religious or not?' but that he wasn't, but now is... His music has very dramatically changed throughout his career, showing this. Wasn't so religious as a younger man, but found solace with age... I might be wrong but that's what I'd always thought! lol
Erm? I honestly didn't know. I mean, especially with Birthday Party, early Bad Seeds there's a lot of stuff that wouldn't go down well with most particularly religious people.
I think you got that from a book. Evolution in itself is miraculous and just understanding how things came about doesn't in any way deny the idea of a higher force. I certainly don't. The more we know the more we comprehend how far we have to go to understand.
Thanks for revisiting and the thoughful comment. I have been convinced by the argument and the evidence that you present. It is quite possible/likely that Nick was reacting to a U.S. experience when he wrote the song.
A tetotaler is somebody who came off booze. so the tetotalitarianists would be the the people who get you off booze in a totalitarian schedule. Basically the people in rehab clinics.
Maybe the most misinterpreted song ever. The fact that it is sung so earnestly seems to blind sided everyone. This is a song about small town bigotry and intolerance in the name of religion.
Exactly... that last-but-one line "I wish he would come out" shows the irony, that despite their best efforts at making the place as "nice" as they can, God remains to them just an ideal, out of reach, because they miss the point.
given any acoustic instrument always sounds nicer, you have to look at the size of the jools holland show. It's a big studio. It would be dwarved by the piano and acoustics.
I understand how evolution works...My father is an athiest and a evolutionist, and i know we all believe in different things...but im not one to believe that evolution happened and thats it...books or no books....I have seen too many miraculous things in this world to think there was no higher force out there!
@OnceUponAChat Oh, I disagree with that. Remeber the phrase 'god is everywhere?' I think this means that people like Mother Teresa got it, she was out with the poor & the broken (in India?)
Is this one of the best songs ever ever ever.............................? Yes
Yes
Hell yes!
The violin solo is devastating. Another masterpiece of my favorite Aussies.
So touching, can hear the Leonard Cohen influence, I have trouble not getting teary hearing this. Beautiful xxx
This performance touches me in ways I've never felt before
Thanks NIck, your son would be so proud of you
That´s one committed Artist. Heart and soul there.A wonderful performance.
Great I D
This song is an iron fist in a velvet glove. Brilliant. Nick's the man.
love the sarcasm in this song, and it's a beautiful song
I have to fight my tears every time I hear this song... I love it...
This is one of the most stirring performances I've ever seen. If you get through your first viewing with dry eyes you'd better check for a pulse. The man can emote! It evokes in me a similar feeling as the late Jeff Buckley's " hallelujah" and not simply because Cave brings the song to its climax with the same expression. Both stunning achievements. If they were as well known as say, Michael Jackson the world no doubt be a better place.
YELLO!!!
+Terry Barham
I know that's true ! Can I get a "Hallelujah?"....Amen
Cohen's Hallelujah*
Nailed it - also.
Nick Cave is one of the only musicians to feel his music and makes us feel it !
If you like these artists, check out David Eugene Edwards (16 Horse Power / Woven Hand). You'll like it.
amazing.... sometimes i thank God for the existence of these poets... incredibil emotions while listening....
Cave is so brilliant. I can't imagine any songwriter/artist alive today that could write and SING with this intensity and rawness.
Thats cause mainstream nonsense is satanism.
I'm 56..just found nick through skeleton tree..working through back catalogue mow. .why didn't I find him sooner..brilliant
FUCKING BEAUTIFUL!!!!!!
Thank You for Posting!!!!!!
One of my very favourite songs of all time. Brilliant! 🎶✌️
While it's absolutely true that Nick Cave is smart enough to understand how this song is going to be read, I can't understand how anyone can see this performance and reduce it to mere sarcasm. My impression of this song is that it calls out provincial hypocrisy while also expressing a Pasolini-esque "nostalgia for belief."
"wow someone finally managed to rhyme Tetotalatarianist!"
That is the best comment I have ever seen on UA-cam! I laughed out loud. :)
Nick Cave is a Christian, clembrook. I'm not. But for you to watch this video, and listen to this song, and genuinely believe that anyone could experience those emotions, or write that song, in the name sarcasm and irony shows maybe why he had to write it.
It's a pastoral dream, a longing that's in his heart and in the hearts of many of us who hear it. The proselytizing of those such as yourself who are utterly without negative capability has nothing whatsoever to do with the beautiful song.
Brilliant! Entirely ironic and sarcastic, from start to finish
I'm new to Nick Cave, but that sounds majestic to me.
Again, why isn't this in the top 10 songs (and performances) of all time?
? It is !
Incredible performance.
The house is the whole real yourself and God- if we wanna call it God- is always in the house. god is a part of whole of us and we are a part of it. It's a beautiful song.
I think we are in 90-something percent agreement. I do think that Nick Cave is well aware of, and not entirely dismissive of, the more cynical interpretations of the song. If anything, that is where we differ. But I agree with you completely that calling it pure sarcasm is, at the very least, a misread of his sentiment. Some sarcasm may be there, but it feels more tragic and sincere in delivery. Like he is crying for lost innocence. Sort of.
i love you nick! we miss you out here and hope you are okay. xo
"Nostalgia for belief" is a beautifully apt description of the sentiment/feeling of the song, IMO, but I genuinely don't think he's calling out 'provincial hypocrisy'.
Some people have trouble accepting the song for what it is: a paean to simplicity, order, love, communion,community, etc. It expresses a feeling of yearning; it's neither advocacy nor a philosophical argument, and those who can't *feel* the song - for whatever reasons - look elsewhere for what it "means."
Nick Cave......Master Musician.
Mon Dieu quel atmosphère!!!
J'adoooorrrre!
Good find - I remember being blown away by this live performance. -Classic.
The very wonderful Nick Cave..I just had to play this to Mrs me cos there was some woman on Jools Holland's Later doing this, & my woman didn't know that NC does it sooo much better!
Nick is one of those artists that can't be categorized. I remember, I once incorrectly typed 'Tom Waits' as a genre for all his albums. But, when I was trying to replace, I wasn't able to find something that could fit in as well. And, seriously, he's no way like Jim Morrison.
Our Little Church!
What a mighty and glorious version this is - he is like Jaques Brel à l'Olympia.
"Peace is a fiction of our Faith -
The Bells a Winter Night
Bearing the Neighbor out of Sound
That never did alight"
(Emily Dickinson)
Is it just me, or does Nick Cave remind you of the evil mouse who wants to take over the world from "Pinky and the Brain"?
@Hamster3107 I'm too lazy to go down looking for the person who didn't get this on the first listen but Jesus Theodore Christ I can't believe you actually had to spell it out for some one! Good Lord Almighty this song is perfect in it's poetry and composition but also in it's little story telling from the point of view of an innocent 'well meaning' christian. This is amazing songwriting. Nick Cave at his best.
@Hamster3107 Exactamundo. As a Christian, I love this song.
finally got to see him last week.. blew me and the rest of Dallas' Cave fans away.
Hes bread all his kittens white ya know!!! Im mainly into Dylan , but this song is mucho crazy. God is in the crack house deffo.
I've got chills dude!
As a Christian, that is a Jesus follower, I love this song. Hamster3107 is exactly right in his assessment of this song, imho.
mind blowing 😗
One of their greatest performances
almost made me cry. great!
te lleva a otro estado. es para quedarse tranquila, en silencio y sólo escuchar.
i didnt feel i liked the song but i watched it all the way through and then again about a day later, so i guess that makes me a fan?
We've bred all our kittens white, so you can see them in the night. And its the shite that's now happening.
It seems you're right. Too bad. It totally spoils the song for me. To begin with, such places would never have a woman for a mayor. Oh well...
Well I know the song is a direct reference to small country towns in America, but i think that's what he means though. those type of people.
Thanks for showing me this dude Fowler!
he rendered my speechless
Where is this place he speaks? I want to go there.
I thought that the it's not 'Is he religious or not?' but that he wasn't, but now is...
His music has very dramatically changed throughout his career, showing this. Wasn't so religious as a younger man, but found solace with age... I might be wrong but that's what I'd always thought! lol
all i can say is legend !!!!!!!
Great song to turn the comments off on.
We bred all our kittens white, so we can see them in the night. Some history lessons required for those that don't get that Crystal allusion.
Fascinating man. Thanks for this.
looks like they only had one mic since they're all crowded around the piano
That end chord was so badass
Not fair, if I were to sing like that, my daughter would evil-eye me into silence.
Erm? I honestly didn't know. I mean, especially with Birthday Party, early Bad Seeds there's a lot of stuff that wouldn't go down well with most particularly religious people.
i have never been able to tell if this satirical, or a praise of god... or both
Outstanding!!!
WOW! WOW! AND WOW!
Brilliant song
Fabulous....
...can you feel it? GOD IS THE HOUSE!!!!!!
uma grande banda
Just stunning
Nick is the man!
I think you got that from a book. Evolution in itself is miraculous and just understanding how things came about doesn't in any way deny the idea of a higher force. I certainly don't. The more we know the more we comprehend how far we have to go to understand.
@Hamster3107 YOU RE 100% RIGHT - THE SONG is definitely N O T ABOUT GOD - even the word "God" never appears in it...
Thanks for revisiting and the thoughful comment. I have been convinced by the argument and the evidence that you present. It is quite possible/likely that Nick was reacting to a U.S. experience when he wrote the song.
A tetotaler is somebody who came off booze. so the tetotalitarianists would be the the people who get you off booze in a totalitarian schedule. Basically the people in rehab clinics.
The BEST !,,
"We have a woman for a MAYOR."
Maybe the most misinterpreted song ever. The fact that it is sung so earnestly seems to blind sided everyone. This is a song about small town bigotry and intolerance in the name of religion.
Exactly... that last-but-one line "I wish he would come out" shows the irony, that despite their best efforts at making the place as "nice" as they can, God remains to them just an ideal, out of reach, because they miss the point.
ha ha ha! ahh that's amazing :D
- UF! Perfecta.
given any acoustic instrument always sounds nicer, you have to look at the size of the jools holland show. It's a big studio. It would be dwarved by the piano and acoustics.
Does this song remind anyone of "Late home tonight" by Roger Waters? it feels awfully coincidental, was he inspired by Waters for this song? :)
zo mooi
IS a very god violing or a viola - the richer tone suggests (to me) viola..
yeah...silence is golden and duck tape is silver
I understand how evolution works...My father is an athiest and a evolutionist, and i know we all believe in different things...but im not one to believe that evolution happened and thats it...books or no books....I have seen too many miraculous things in this world to think there was no higher force out there!
Yeah it is, mainly about American towns though.
God is the house...
stunning. fived and faved
He takes the Bible seriously and I suspect this song is about how
Christ's message has been lost on his followers.
Mister Ellis...
Very quietly shout. Genius.There are few better band leaders in history.
I like your name!
LOL. Next time I visit the Wasilla metropolitan area, I'll sure apologize to missuz Mare, I meant Mayor. XP
I'd like to "call upon the author to explain".
^.-
❤️❤️❤️i have nothing to say, because it will be not enough
Aldrig hört hans namn eller röst, jag tycker han sjunger så bra. Nu undrar jag vem är han?
Where can you get that by the way ?
oh...you're good
Can somebody tell me when this was this recorded pleaze?
@OnceUponAChat Oh, I disagree with that. Remeber the phrase 'god is everywhere?' I think this means that people like Mother Teresa got it, she was out with the poor & the broken (in India?)
god is in my house and my grandma is drop dead.is a very hard time.