Nick Cave at Beacon Theatre
photo by Dana Distortion

Nick Cave on Dylan's "Murder Most Foul": "I have been extremely moved by it"

Nick Cave at Beacon Theatre
Nick Cave at Beacon Theatre in 2017 (more by Dana Distortion)

Nick Cave‘s latest missive from his Red Hand Files website, where he answers fan questions, is about Bob Dylan’s new song, the 17-minute “Murder Most Foul,” which is about the JFK assassination. Asked by multiple people for his thoughts on the song (Dylan’s first original in eight years), Nick writes, “like many people, I have been extremely moved by it.” He continued, “Lyrically it has all the perverse daring and playfulness of many of Dylan’s great songs, but beyond that there is something within his voice that feels extraordinarily comforting, especially at this moment. It is as though it has travelled a great distance, through stretches of time, full of an earned integrity and stature that soothes in the way of a lullaby, a chant, or a prayer.”

Answering a follow-up question as to whether this could be “the last song we will hear from him,” Nick offers up some typically thoughtful advice:

I certainly hope not. But perhaps there is some wisdom in treating all songs, or for that matter, all experiences, with a certain care and reverence, as if encountering these things for the last time. I say this not just in the light of the novel coronavirus, rather that it is an eloquent way to lead one’s life and to appreciate the here and now, by savouring it as if it were for the last time. To have a drink with a friend as if it were the last time, to eat with your family as it were the last time, to read to your child as if it were the last time, or indeed, to sit in the kitchen listening to a new Bob Dylan song as if it were the last time. It permeates all that we do with greater meaning, placing us within the present, our uncertain future, temporarily arrested.

You can read Nick’s full Red Hand Files entry here.

Meanwhile, Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds have rescheduled their 2020 European tour for 2021 and those dates are on the tour poster below. Nick’s fall North American tour with Weyes Blood is still on, but stay tuned for any further updates.

nick-cave-2021-european-tour

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