Is the song ‘The Mercy Seat’ by Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds based on a true story?
Many artists and writers will tell you to write about what you know, but that does not necessarily mean your work should be limited to your own personal experiences. Over the course of musical history, many songwriters have been inspired to write groundbreaking songs by stories they have heard or read about. Often, these stories are dark and twisted, the kind of thing that is best experienced second-hand. However, sometimes it is not clear whether the stories are actually true or not, as is the case with Nick Cave and ‘The Mercy Seat’.
Originally written and performed by Nick Cave for the 1988 Bad Seeds album Tender Prey, ’The Mercy Seat’ is a tale told from the perspective of a man on death row. This character is awaiting execution via the electric chair for a crime which – he claims in the introduction – “I am nearly wholly innocent”. The song itself does not delve too much into the supposed crime itself, focusing more on the narrator and his internal monologue while waiting to die. In essence, the song is an exploration of morality, good and evil.
‘The Mercy Seat’ is certainly not the only time crime, punishment, and execution have provided artistic inspiration. During the early years of punk in the UK, The Adverts used the execution of murderer Gary Gilmore to inspire their hit single ‘Gary Gilmore’s Eyes’. Meanwhile, multiple notable songs have actually been written by prisoners while locked away for their crimes. Cave, of course, has never been imprisoned, but that does not mean that his 1988 song is entirely a work of fiction.
The Western world has always had something of a fascination with death and true crime stories; it is not unimaginable that Cave watched or read a story about a man awaiting the electric chair for some heinous crime and used that as a jumping-off point for a characteristically dark and brooding track on morality. Given the lack of detail in the lyricism, with regard to the actual crime committed, it is difficult to tie the song to one particular incident.
For his part, Cave has all but confirmed that ‘The Mercy Seat’ was an invention of his mind. In his 2020 memoir Stranger Than Kindness, he recalled its composition. “Songs are ingenious devices that have their own demands. They find their way, whether you like it or not,” he wrote. “I sat in a small room in Berlin, typing away, day and night, sleeping little. When I reached an impasse with the novel, I would scroll the odd lyric line on a scrap of paper beside me, ostensibly a song about a man going to the electric chair.”
That seemingly unimportant scrap of paper eventually led to ‘The Mercy Seat’, which became a defining track of Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds and is still regularly performed by the band to this day. “Even when I was singing it, I had no idea that the song was important,” Cave attested, “It was, as far as I was concerned, an afterthought.”
So, the vast likelihood seems to be that ‘The Mercy Seat’ is not, in fact, based on a true story – or, at least, not one that can be easily identified by its lyricism. However, its dark themes, Christian imagery, and profound exploration of morality make it one of Cave’s strongest songwriting efforts – not bad for something he scribbled on a scrap piece of paper in Berlin.
So, what is a ‘Mercy Seat?’
In Nick Cave’s world, ‘Mercy Seat’ refers to an electric chair, which has been used as a method of execution in the United States since the late 19th century. In the song, the narrator battles with his own mortality while waiting to be taken to the electric chair for his supposed crimes. Cave likely chose this title for the song due to its strong ties to Christianity and religion, which is a theme explored throughout the entire song.
Traditionally, in both Christianity and Judaism, ‘mercy seat’ – or its original Hebrew name ‘kaporet’- is the lid placed on top of the Ark of the Covenant. This sacred chest is purported to contain the Ten Commandments delivered to Moses by God himself. The mercy seat is, according to the Bible, constructed entirely of gold and features two cherubim facing each other. Both the mercy seat and the Ark of the Covenant are incredibly important in Judaism and Christianity, although their whereabouts and actual existence are unknown.
