A SHORT PASSAGE FROM

" THE SECRET LIFE OF
THE LOVE SONG."
by Nick Cave

( Duende and Saudade )**

A great gaping hole was
blasted out of my world by the unexpected death
of my Father when I was 19 years old.
The way I learned to fill this hole,
this void,was to write.

Writing allowed me direct access to my imagination,
to inspiration and,ultimately,to GOD.
I found that through the use of language,
I was writing GOD into existence.
Language became the blanket that I threw over the
invisible man,which gave him shape and form.

The actualizing of GOD through the medium of
the ' Love song ' remains my prime motivation
as an artist.
I found that language became a poultice to the wounds
incurred by the death of my Father.
Language became a salve to longing.

The great W.H.Auden said,
" the so-called traumatic experience is NOT an accident,
but the opportunity for which the child has
been patiently waiting.
" The death of my father WAS the
' traumatic experience ' that Auden talked about, which
left the hole for GOD to fill.

How beautiful the notion that we create our own
personal catastrophes and that it is the
creative forces within us that are instrumental
in doing this.

The " Love Song " comes in many guises...songs of exaltation
and praise,songs of rage and despair,
songs of abandonment and loss.
They all address GOD,for it is the haunted premise
of longing,that the TRUE " Love Song " inhabits.

It is a howl in the void for love
and for comfort,and it lives on the lips of
the child crying for his Mother.
The raving of the lunatic supplicant petitioning his GOD.
I believe the " Love Song " to be a sad song...
It is the noise of sorrow itself.

The Love Song is the light of GOD,
deep down,blasting up through our wounds.

* * * Denotes " Duende " the Portuguese word for SADNESS

" Saudade " Portuguese word for the
" inexplicable yearnings of the soul."

Photo ( above ) left is of Nick at The Communion of Apollo Hammersmith June 7th.
Special thanx to Disciple DEREKSTER for allowing it's use. XX

Thoughts

Any man who can produce a body of work
of such a standard as' The Murder Ballads'
fully deserves their deification..

O.K.Got that? SORTED..Good,
I'll say no more about that then.

Oh by the way did I ever tell you just
HOW much I love ' Lime Tree Arbor '
and ' Brompton Oratory '?.(**)

Well,for the record..
" I REALLY DO love those songs."

(**)See 'Cave of Lists'

#1. on Jonnos list?...

" Answer "
BROMPTON ORATORY..naturally,
" It's my 11th. Commandment."