Wild God – Nick Cave

Nick’s music has been coming out here like hot cakes of late. He is yet another artist, like David Bowie, whose music I didn’t realise would feature here as prominently as it has. The reason being that much of that music, like David’s, has been uncovered sporadically since the commencement of this Music Library Project.

In both cases, you could say I have developed a newfound musical appreciation of them. The sole difference with Nick’s music, however, is that in my early adolescence I picked up a few of his early records, like The First Born Is Dead, The Good Son and Henry’s Dream. It was probably one song above all which I treasured, called The Ship Song, which remains at the summit of my favourite ever songs.

Then there was a long hiatus where I didn’t keep up with his subsequent discography until his fairly recent 2019 masterpiece Ghosteen. His exceptionally moving Bright Horses from that record, about the aftermath of the tragic death of his son Arthur, put him well and truly back on my music radar. Well, today’s featured track is Wild God, the title track from his most recent record, released in 2024.

In his later career, Nick has largely moved away from the rebellious punk focus of his precocious early music towards more reflective, mature and spiritual output, both lyrically and musically. He’s always been one of contemporary music’s standout storytellers, but what you find now, at least I do, is more of him drawing upon mythology, religion and biblical imagery and integrating them into contemporary real-world situations. His later work seems less concerned with provocation for its own sake and more with grappling with themes like grief, mortality, love and suffering.

When I first heard Wild God, not too long ago, it had an immediate impact and I was so keen to write about it that it pained me to have to wait until it reached the alphabetical order of listing. But the day has finally arrived, so I can unleash on it. The irony is that I find myself a bit lost for words since it’s just so grand, this song, not only in its poetic and symbolic references, but musically it feels like someone preaching, with the music anthemic in its realisation.

It’s like, where do you start with this song of epic proportions, reaching a level of ecstatic passion that I’ve rarely heard? What a ride! By its end, it feels like having been blasted by a musical tornado where there is almost too much for the senses to take in. But you want to go back into the frenzied and untamed windstorm of the beast.

She would hang onto the rail as he blew ’round the room

Nick references the girl from his 2013 gem Jubilee Street, which, if there was just about any song of his I’d consider obligatory listening, apart from those aforementioned, it’s that one. It’s wild, man – like Wild God also is – and this Wild God searches for the girl. But he says, But she’d died in a bedsit in 1993, so this Antichrist figure of sorts goes elsewhere, saying: “Where are my people? Where are my people to bring your spirit down?” He means business like a wrecking ball.

When later the ‘people’ plead with him — when is their suffering going to come to an end? – he answers: Well, it depends, but it mostly never ends. But he’s an old and tired god moving through the flames of anarchy and nearing the end of his wild-natured existence — old, sick god dying and crying and singing, he says. And he’s just so real – He’s moving through your body like a prehistoric bird.

But there’s the possibility of transcendence which he sings about in the outro.

Swim to the hymn, swim to the prayer
And bring your spirit down

Nick seems to be confronting his demons head-on in this, and it’s one wild ride. It’s like reading ancient scripture set in modern secular times of materialism and the obsession with progress and the machine – i.e. AI, digital technology, pseudo-reality and language.

The Wild God he talks about is him, myself and many others in existence. “…in his mind, he was a man of great virtue and courage.” You think you are this… then think again, sunshine. It’s like Dostoevsky in music form, in the sense of looking hard at yourself in the reflection of the mirror, if you have the audacity.

It’s not always pretty if you’re being honest about it. That’s why he proclaims, “Bring Your Spirit Down.” Your spirit of ‘self’ – in some ways, you have to retract it. This song is so transcendental but also transformative when you let it in. I wish Cohen had been alive to hear it. Oh, and I’ve also included Cave’s exuberant, fully fleshed out performance Live at Accor Arena Paris below the original version.

I could write on and on about it, but I’ve got a date with destiny. I hope you enjoy it, and thanks for reading.

[Verse 1]
Once upon a time, a wild god zoomed
All through his memory, in which he was entombed
It was rape and pillage in the retirement village
But in his mind, he was a man of great virtue and courage
And he flew out the window with his long, trailing hair
And the smoke from the bodies went straight up in the air
He was a wild god searching for what all wild gods are searching for
And he flew through the dying city like a prehistoric bird
He went searching for the girl down on Jubilee Street
But she’d died in a bedsit in 1993
So he flew to the top of the world and looked around
And said, “Where are my people? Where are my people to bring your spirit down?”

[Verse 2]
A wild god searching for a faraway girl
Who was basically a mirage but nevertheless loomed large
She would hang onto the rail as he blew ’round the room
And make love with a kind of efficient gloom
And the people on the ground cried, “When does it start?”
And the wild god says, “It starts with the heart, with the heart, with the heart, with the heart”
And the people on the ground cried, “When does it end?”
And the wild god says, “Well, it depends, but it mostly never ends
‘Cause I’m a wild god flying and a wild god swimming
And I’m an old, sick god dying and crying and singing”

[Outro]
Bring your spirit down
Oh, we’re wild gods, baby, we’re wild gods
Yeah, bring your spirit down
Oh, well, he’s moving through the flames of anarchy
And he’s moving through the winds of tyranny
And the sweet, sweet tears of liberty
Yeah, moving ’round the world
He’s moving through your body like a prehistoric bird
He’s moving ’round the world
Oh Lord, well, if you’re feeling lonely and if you’re feeling blue
And if you just don’t know what to do
Bring your spirit down
Oh, we’re wild gods, baby, we’re wild gods
I’m a wild god, baby, I’m a wild god
Oh, here we go, we’re going to the cradle of Africa
We’re going to Russia, we’re going to China
To the United States of America
Yeah, moving ’round the world
Yeah, moving like a great, big, beautiful bird
We’re moving ’round the world
Yeah, and he’s swimming at the end of the rotting pier
He swims to the end of his rotting idea
Swim to the hymn, swim to the prayer
And bring your spirit down
I’m a wild god, baby, I’m a wild god
Here we go, yeah, here we go

References:
1. Wild God – Wikipedia