Birthday Party – Mr. Clarinet // Birthday Party (4AD Records) 1981. A friend of mine made the argument recently that Nick Cave’s best Birthday Party lyrics are to be found on the flipside of this beastly 7inch. I personally think the best Nick Cave lyrics ever are “I was born…And Lord shakin, even then was dumpt into some icy font like some great stinky unclean…From slum-church to slum-church, I spilt mah heart to some fat cunt behind a screen” but then I’m a romanticist. The fact that only two years prior to Mr Clarinet, Mr Cave and company were Aussie new wave pinup boys who could have given INXS a run for their money if so inclined, should not be lost on anyone. That they vomited up this work of utter deviance a mere two years later is a testament to the affects childhood trauma, heroin addiction, epilepsy and musical genius can have on the art of rock-n-roll. And this was just the first slide down the slippery slope that ends with Junkyard, an album so utterly EVIL…ah well, that’s another story. The Birthday Party were always more than the sum of their parts. Reckon!
Hardcore Podcasts
September of 2010 I put together eight Hardcore Podcasts. You can check them out here if you are interested. For more insight into how I came up with the years 78-90 for the First Wave you can read about The Hardcore Superiorty Myth.
The sidewalks are full of love’s ugly children!
Nick Cave can do no wrong in my book. Prayers on Fire remains my favorite of the BP’s output, but Junkyard is as brutal a slab of music as I can think of. And this single ain’t half bad either.
And favorite lyrics by Mr. Cave… wow, now that’s a hell of a challenge.
yes, you are correct. you cited his best lyrics, hands down.
Wings off Flies would have my favorite lyrics
or just about any song on From Her to Eternity