Discord & Rhyme: An Album Podcast

Discord and Rhyme is a podcast where we discuss the albums we love, song by song.

128: Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds - Kicking Against the Pricks (1986)

October 24, 2023  /  Amanda Rodgers

"Despite what people might think, I'm not interested in being dark all the time. I'm actually searching for some kind of light, and I'm always very happy when I can achieve that."

—Nick Cave

For this year’s Halloween episode, we wanted to go with an artist who scares the living daylights out of us, and what better choice than Nick Cave? After all, this is a man who once recorded an entire album of murder ballads, and whose legendary single “The Mercy Seat” charts a killer’s stream of consciousness as he is led to the electric chair. We could have picked almost any of Cave’s albums with the Bad Seeds, but Mike threw a curveball and chose the covers album Kicking Against the Pricks, because sometimes the best way to get to the essence of an artist’s work is examining the way they interpret and curate the work of other artists. The album boasts a truly eclectic set of songs, with pitch-dark Delta blues sharing a tracklist with light pop by Tom Jones, Gene Pitney, and the Seekers, all cloaked in the one-of-a-kind, macabre atmosphere that Cave’s fans have come to know, love, and fear. Yet by the time this carnival is over, you’ll have a sense of the light that glows beneath the darkness of his music. Happy Halloween!

Miscellany

  • We decided just to make Rich’s “covers and originals” Spotify playlist the beginning of our regular episode playlist, also linked below. Enjoy! 

  • The teaser at the beginning of the episode comes from Nick Cave and Blixa Bargeld describing the layers of “MTV Hell” while hosting 120 Minutes in 1994.

  • Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds have curated a full Halloween playlist of their songs, in case you’re interested in blasting “The Weeping Song” and “Stagger Lee” at trick-or-treaters this year.

  • Cave’s on-stage collaboration with John Cale was a 1999 show with Chrissie Hynde at London’s Subteranea Club, and featured a cover of the Velvet Underground’s “I’m Waiting for the Man.”

  • Rich thinks he was a bit over-definitive in his interpretation of Johnny Cash’s “The Folk Singer,” which, like many great songs, can have a multitude of different meanings for different people.

  • If you’re interested in Nick Cave the human being, you must visit The Red Hand Files, where he answers questions from fans as thoughtfully as any musician ever has. Reading them took Mike’s opinion of Nick Cave from “He’s really cool and makes great music” to “We must protect him at all costs.”

  • Amanda is very pleased to report that Nick Cave’s solo show at Insensitive Crint Hall was fantastic, and is grateful to the person who uploaded this video of “The Mercy Seat” (even though it is very bad manners to have your phone out at a theater show).  

Other links 

Discord & Rhyme Roll Call 

  • Mike DeFabio (host)

  • Amanda Rodgers (moderator)

  • Rich Bunnell 

Kicking Against the Pricks tracklist 

  1. Muddy Water

  2. I’m Gonna Kill That Woman

  3. Weeping Annaleah

  4. Long Black Veil

  5. Hey Joe

  6. The Singer

  7. Black Betty (bonus track)

  8. Running Scared (bonus track)

  9. All Tomorrow’s Parties

  10. By the Time I Get to Phoenix

  11. The Hammer Song

  12. Something’s Gotten Hold of My Heart

  13. Jesus Met the Woman at the Well

  14. The Carnival Is Over 

Other clips used 

Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds:

  • The Mercy Seat (Live Seeds version)

  • Suzanne

  • Red Right Hand

  • Up Jumped the Devil

  • From Her to Eternity

  • Tupelo

  • By the Time I Get to Phoenix (Live in Toronto 2/14/1989)

  • What a Wonderful World (with Shane MacGowan)

  • Into My Arms

  • Foi Na Cruz

  • Loverman

  • We Call Upon the Author

  • Stagger Lee

  • Waiting for You 

Others:

  • Genius/GZA - Liquid Swords

  • The Pogues - If I Should Fall From Grace With God

  • Aphex Twin - Cornish Acid

  • Black Sabbath - N.I.B.

  • Dave Matthews Band - Ants Marching

  • Pavement - Flux = Rad

  • The Moody Blues - Question

  • The Magnetic Fields - Let's Pretend We're Bunny Rabbits

  • Def Leppard - Animal

  • The Boys Next Door - The Nightwatchman

  • The Birthday Party - Happy Birthday

  • The Birthday Party - Release the Bats

  • Einstürzende Neubauten - Durstige Tiere (Amsterdam 1982)

  • The Seldom Scene - Muddy Water

  • John Lee Hooker - I'm Gonna Kill That Woman

  • Liars - Let's Not Wrestle Mt. Heart Attack

  • Tom Jones - Weeping Annaleah

  • Lefty Frizzell - Long Black Veil

  • Johnny Cash - Long Black Veil

  • The Band - Long Black Veil

  • John Cale - Fear Is a Man's Best Friend

  • The Jimi Hendrix Experience - Hey Joe

  • Johnny Cash - The Folk Singer

  • U2 - The Wanderer

  • Leadbelly - Looky, Looky Yonder/Black Betty

  • Ram Jam - Black Betty

  • Rayman Legends - Black Betty

  • Roy Orbison - Running Scared

  • Carl Stalling - Merrily We Roll Along

  • The Velvet Underground - All Tomorrow's Parties

  • Glen Campbell - By the Time I Get to Phoenix

  • Isaac Hayes - By the Time I Get to Phoenix

  • The Beatles - Maxwell's Silver Hammer

  • MC Hammer - U Can't Touch This

  • Jan Hammer - Miami Vice Theme

  • The Sensational Alex Harvey Band - The Hammer Song

  • Gene Pitney - Something's Gotten Hold of My Heart

  • Scott Walker - Jolson and Jones

  • Scott Walker - The Seventh Seal

  • The Pilgrim Travelers - Jesus Met the Woman at the Well

  • Neko Case - John Saw That Number

  • The Seekers - The Carnival Is Over

  • Oingo Boingo - No Spill Blood

  • Grinderman feat. Robert Fripp - Super Heathen Child

  • Bongwater - Nick Cave Dolls

Band/album personnel 

  • Nick Cave – lead vocals, organ (1, 5), piano interior (1)

  • Blixa Bargeld – guitar, slide guitar (3-4)

  • Mick Harvey – piano, backing vocals, guitar, acoustic guitar, snare (4, 11), drums (5), organ (11), vibes (12)

  • Barry Adamson – bass, backing vocals

  • Thomas Wydler – drums

  • Dawn Cave – violin (1)

  • Hugo Race – guitar (2, 4-5)

  • Tracy Pew – bass (5)

  • Rowland S. Howard – co-lead vocals (9), guitar (10), organ (10)

  • Flood – production

  • Tony Cohen – production 

Credits 

“Discord & Rhyme (theme),” composed by the Other Leading Brand, contains elements of: 

  • Duran Duran - Hungry Like the Wolf

  • Amon Düül II - Dehypnotized Toothpaste

  • The Dukes of Stratosphear - What in the World?? ...

  • Faith No More - Midlife Crisis

  • Herbie Hancock - Hornets

  • Kraftwerk - Autobahn

  • Talking Heads - Seen and Not Seen

  • Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds - Something’s Gotten Hold of My Heart (this episode only)

You can buy or stream Kicking Against the Pricks and other albums by Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds at nickcave.com, your local record store, or the usual suspects such as Spotify, Apple Music, YouTube, and Amazon. Follow Discord & Rhyme on Twitter @DiscordPod for news, updates, and other random stuff. Editing is by Rich Bunnell, and special thanks to our own Mike DeFabio, the Other Leading Brand, for production and original music. See you next album, and keep as cool as you can.

tags / Mike DeFabio

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