The story of how Nick Cave created ‘Red Right Hand’
Nick Cave is one of the music industry’s most authentic writers. While some use songwriting as an outlet for various emotions, Cave transforms life’s sinister offerings into artistic excellence. If pain precedes all great art, Cave wears this as a badge of honour, proudly displaying his ability to craft intensely complex realms built on fundamental notions of tragedy.
Nothing irks Cave more than pretence. When putting together 1992’s Henry’s Dream, Cave was so unhappy with the production by David Briggs that he decided to take matters into his own hands. According to Cave, Briggs wanted to apply the same live studio sound that he applied to Neil Young, which resulted in a mix that was far from what he envisioned for the record.
The subsequent live album Live Seeds was also a manifestation of this after Cave decided to do the songs justice and move on from the “fucking nightmare” that was Briggs’ production. Live Seeds saw Cave executing his signature rawness and authenticity as originally intended for Henry’s Dream. Live Seeds effectively arrived as a second chance at Henry’s Dream, providing a more refined and accomplished feel to the studio versions of the tracks.
By the time Cave started working on the following album, 1994’s Let Love In, he was searching for change and growth in a way that took his music to the next level. As a result of feeling “sick” of always going “to the same chords on the piano”, as recalled by guitarist Mick Harvey, Cave wrote ‘Red Right Hand’, a song which saw the musician taking inspiration from John Milton’s Paradise Lost to create a character that was both enticing and sinister.
After Cave requested Harvey play something different, he presented him with a note that he felt certain Cave wouldn’t be able to “dictate”. However, they soon realised that it exuded a particular atmosphere that “was meant to be”. In Harvey’s view, it felt like the right direction as it had “this feel, and that’s what the Bad Seeds are capable of”.
Although Cave entered a new realm of repetition with ‘Red Right Hand’ that would see him perform the track extensively, alongside its inclusion in various films and television songs, the direct step into the line of potential staleness didn’t seem to anger the musician as much as it did the first time he grew tired of playing the same old things. In fact, he became aware of it in a different way, once musing that it “has the ability to continue to reveal itself to you long after you’ve actually written it”.
A staple of the British drama series Peaky Blinders, creator Steven Knight once said the song was selected due to its ability to present a character filled with “flawed masculinity” and one which “gives you that world in your belly”. As a hater of pretence, Cave achieved an entire story in just over six minutes, a feat that most showrunners and filmmakers action over a much lengthier amount of time.
