Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds - The Carny

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AlysounRI
March 20, 2008

Filmed for Live and Loud on MTV on 18 May 1997 after Nick Cave had been nominated for the best 1996 male artist and refused the honor (see his letter to MTV on www.nick-cave.com). The songs performed were: Into My Arms, Brompton Oratory, West Country Girl, Far From Me, and The Carny. Sorry for the mess up in the middle of the clip, it's how it was on my copy.

Far From Me can be found here: www.youtube.com/watch?v=JHsXMkv9jjo.

Warren Ellis' appearance on the accordion makes version even more mad and circus-like. The Carny is one of my all time favorite pieces of music ever, full of savage beauty and an intensity that only Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds can bring ...

Lyrics:

And no-one saw the carny go
And the weeks flew by
Until they moved on the show
Leaving his caravan behind
It was parked out on the south east ridge
And as the company crossed the bridge
With the first rain filling the bone-dry river bed
It shone, just so, upon the edge
Dog-boy, atlas, half-man, the geeks, the hired hands
There was not one among them that did not cast an eye behind
In the hope that the carny would return to his own kind
And the carny had a horse, all skin and bone
A bow-backed nag, that he named Sorrow.
How it is buried in a shallow grave
In the then parched meadow
And the dwarves were given the task of digging the ditch
And laying the nag's carcass in the ground
And boss Bellini, waving his smoking pistol around
saying "The nag is dead meat"
"We can't afford to carry dead weight"
The whole company standing about
Not making a sound
And turning to dwarves perched on the enclosure gate
The boss says "Bury this lump of crow bait"
And the rain the rain came
Everybody running for their wagons
Tying all the canvas flaps down
The mangy cats growling in their cages
The bird-girl flapping and squawking around
The whole valley reeking of wet beast
Wet beast and rotten hay
Freak and brute creation
Packed up and on their way
The three dwarves peering from their wagon's hind
Moses says to Noah "We shoulda dug a deeper one"
Their grizzled faces like dying moons
Still dirty from the digging done
And as the company passed from the valley
Into a higher ground
The rain beat on the ridge and on the meadow
And on the mound
Until nothing was left, nothing at all
Except the body of sorrow
That rose in time
To float upon the surface of the eaten soil
And a murder of crows did circle round
First one, then the others flapping blackly down
And the carny's van still sat upon the edge
Tilting slowly as the firm ground turned to sludge
And the rain it hammered down
And no-one saw the carny go
I say it's funny how things go

Category: Music

Tags:

Nick Cave Blixa Bargeld Mick Harvey Thomas Wydler Warren Ellis Bad Seeds Carny

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theblindcameras (3 weeks ago) Show Hide

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creepy song. but genuis.
great band.

claireobscure (2 months ago) Show Hide

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I second that, completely.

costas2by4 (2 months ago) Show Hide

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Unbelievable perfomance ...
The Bad Seeds with their best ever line - up (OK, without Barry Adamson and Kid Kongo Powers)

cattotti (2 months ago) Show Hide

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I'm loving it love that you've posted it. Absolutely Brilliant. One of his creepiest songs, ooooh shiversss.

tommiatkins (2 months ago) Show Hide

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Godfather of Goff!

NarajanaJane (3 months ago) Show Hide

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C I A R Y !

lennycohenfan (3 months ago) Show Hide

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Simply the best.

brawler100 (3 months ago) Show Hide

-3

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Halloween Horr Nights FreakZ

aureusx (4 months ago) Show Hide

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Knowing only too albums thus far, The Good Son and Your Funeral (getting more albums this or next week though), this is definitely my favourite. A true masterpiece.

fcoldheart (4 months ago) Show Hide

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I think onle very few can 'appreciate' this song...

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Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds - The Carny

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