Nick Cave Songs Ranked

Nicholas Edward Cave AO (born 22 September 1957) is an Australian singer, songwriter, author, screenwriter, composer, and occasional actor, best known for fronting the rock band Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds. Cave’s music is generally characterized by his baritone voice, emotional intensity, a wide variety of influences, and lyrical obsessions with death, religion, love, and violence. Cave co-wrote, scored, and starred in the 1988 Australian prison film Ghosts… of the Civil Dead (1988), directed by John Hillcoat. He also wrote the screenplay for Hillcoat’s bushranger film The Proposition (2005) and composed the soundtrack with frequent collaborator Warren Ellis. The pair’s film score credits include The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford (2007), The Road (2009), Lawless (2012), and Hell or High Water (2016).  Cave’s work has become the subject of academic study, and his songs have been covered by a wide range of artists, including Johnny Cash (“The Mercy Seat”), Metallica (“Loverman”), and Snoop Dogg (“Red Right Hand”). He was inducted into the ARIA Hall of Fame in 2007 and named an Officer of the Order of Australia in 2017. Here are all of Nick Cave’s songs ranked.

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15. The Ship Song (The Good Son, 1990)

“Together with “Lament” my favorite. It’s so melancholic, sad and hopeful, larger than life. I really like listening to this kind of music though.”

14. Bring It On (Nocturama, 2003)

“My favourite Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds song, actually saw them on this tour. Just absolutely fantastic when performing the song I think there was a 10 minute standing ovation”

13. Where the Wild Roses Grow (The Abbey Road Sessions, 2012)

“It would seem bizarre for this song to work but honestly it does brilliantly. This is a contender for me not just of his best song but even one of my favorite songs ever.”

12. Babe, I’m on Fire (Nocturama, 2003)

“Not his best song, sure, but it eludes me why everyone hates it. Yes, it’s repetitive and extremely egotistical, but it’s satire. It’s amazing!”

See more: Nick Cave Albums Ranked

11. Dead Man in My Bed (Nocturama, 2003)

“I know, it is niche to hate Nocturama, but besides Bring it on and Babe I’m on fire, this song is my favourite regarding its uptemponess, its quirky-bitter lyrics always tingles me into dancing, which is strange from a grown-ass man.”

10. Into My Arms (The Boatman’s Call, 1997)

“My new favorite song. I heard this on the About Time soundtrack and had to download it. Since then, I’ve listened to it about 100 times. I can’t believe Nick Cave can be so romantic.”

9. Magneto (Skeleton Tree, 2016)

“Incredible album, inspire of and because of his recent tragedy. Lovely and heartbreaking. Each listen reveals more and more. I’ve only listened to it a half dozen times all the way through, but I have no problem giving it a solid 5 stars. You know what to expect from Nick Cave in quality.”

8. Girl in Amber (Skeleton Tree, 2016)

“Art, instinct and pain. For perhaps the first time, Cave has been forced to let go, abandoning his usual, meticulous craftsmanship in favor of the howls of his subconscious. Far from his most consistent album, but easily his most breathtaking. And, I think, it will go down in history as his most celebrated.”

7. Skeleton Tree (Skeleton Tree, 2016)

“Now that I’ve played the album multiple times, I am absolutely in love with it. Nick Cave and Warren Ellis should have been together from day one. Their synergy has created the most beautiful and most emotional music I have ever heard. Warren Ellis is like no other producer in the way he arranges haunting melodies and incorporates live instruments with digital ones. Nick Cave is of course just being Nick, connecting the listener to his ethereal lyrics that are written by the heart itself.”

6. From Her to Eternity (From Her to Eternity, 1984)

“Nick Cave has always done what he wanted to do, and had some misses in career. But in his start as a solo artist he nailed it. If you love music as ART, then get this. But I’m guessing if your even reading this review, you’ve heard some Nick and you should only expect true sincerity anyway.”

See more: Dead Kennedys Albums Ranked

5. The Weeping Song (The Good Son, 1990)

“This is a great song that should have received more airplay when it came out. Why is everyone, men, women and children weeping? Why is the Father weeping ? It is a weeping song. Give this song a listen, it will make you think, you won’t forget it and you will want to hear it again.”

4. The Mercy Seat (Tender Prey, 1988)

“This is one of the greatest songs from Nick Cave!! It is about someone on death row coming to terms with his crime and his punishment. Best song ever!!”

3. Red Right Hand (Let Love In, 1994)

“If you want to know why is Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds a one of a lifetime band this is your song. Nick Cave surely improved as a lyricist in his later years, but musically some of those songs are rather simple. (No issue with that, see Leonard Cohen) But the whole Let Love In album gives you the keys to a world so terrifying yet so hypnotic.”

2. Distant Sky (Skeleton Tree, 2016)

“Jubilee street” and “Distant Sky” these two tracks alone in my opinion are worth the cost of the entire album, purely based on the live atmospheric sound, sat listening in a totally chilled out environment probably on your own turned up pretty load, absolute quality.”

1. Jesus Alone (Skeleton Tree, 2016)

“I love Nick Cave since 80’s. Every album he improves his music. Weird to say that every classic rock musician, their masterpiece somewhere oldies hit or debut era.”