Nick Cave is widely recognised as one of Australia’s most influential indie music exports, and he is back again with the title track, Skeleton Tree, from his 2016 album of the same name. I covered a lot of music from his follow-up 2019 album Ghosteen, and in those discussions Skeleton Tree was mentioned, so I did some digging and found a couple of nuggets.
Skeleton Tree is one of those songs that made me wonder how I hadn’t heard it already, and I felt some remorse that it hadn’t been with me earlier. It’s a wistful and dreamy song carried by a delicate yet alluring piano melody and imagery that is both desolate and evocative.
As the title suggests, the tree has been stripped of its canopy and foliage, leaving only its exposed frame – a skeleton tree. The narrator is alone; a solitary candle burns in the window and the television glows white like fire. He calls out across the sea, yet not even his own echo returns. Still, he repeats, “it’s alright now,” as though he is trying to reassure himself and find solace in his desolation.
Skeleton Tree was written around the period of the death of Cave’s son, so it can be read not just as a portrait of loneliness but also as a landscape of grief. Musically, its minimal production and less polished sound feel stripped back to the essentials, reflecting the aftermath of immense loss. However, as the information below suggests, the song may be more allegorical and not directly related to the death of his son.
Nick’s follow-up album Ghosteen was more focused on, and reflective of, how he processed grief over time, while Skeleton Tree in some respects captures the immediate impact of bereavement. Even so, as mentioned earlier, this remains conjecture, as most of the Skeleton Tree album was written before the death of Nick Cave’s son, Arthur, in July 2015
Some lyrics were altered after Arthur’s death and came to feature stronger themes of loss, mortality, and personal grief. Like the stark black album cover, which seems to depict a state of mourning, one might naturally make that connection.
Cave himself has remarked that people found it hard to believe that most of the album predated the accident because the lyrics appeared almost prophetic. The lyrics of Skeleton Tree are often described as allegorical and, according to Cave, never directly address the death of Arthur.
One More Time with Feeling, a documentary film about the aftermath of Cave’s son’s death and the recording of Skeleton Tree, accompanied the album’s release. You can watch it in its entirety via the previous link.
Both the film and the album received widespread critical acclaim. Skeleton Tree became one of only two albums by the band to enter the U.S. Top 30, reaching No. 27, which remains their highest chart position there.
[Verse 1]
Sunday morning, skeleton tree
Well, nothing is for free
In the window, a candle
Well, maybe you can see
Fallen leaves thrown across the sky
A jittery TV
Glowing white like fire
Nothing is for free
[Chorus 1]
I call out, I call out
Right across the sea
But the echo comes back empty
And nothing is for free
[Verse 2]
Sunday morning, skeleton tree
Pressed against the sky
A jittery TV
Glowing white like fire
[Chorus 2]
I call out, I call out
Right across the sea
I call out, I call out
Nothing is for free
[Outro]
And it’s alright now
And it’s alright now
And it’s alright now
References:
1. Skeleton Tree – Wikipedia
“The more I live, the more I learn. The more I learn, the more I realize, the less I know.”- Michel Legrand
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