Nick Cave has been transparent about his experiences with loss and how he overcame “the worst that could happen.” The Bad Seeds vocalist recently spoke with CBS News about his new album, “Ghosteen,” and told how it was inspired by his late son, Arthur. The rocker was asked what ‘the wild, reckless power’ that emerged from his sadness signified during a discussion of his book. He answered in the following way: It simply doesn’t matter what occurs next, to put it simply. A catastrophe has occurred. At the time, it appears that the worst has happened, at least to you. I’m sorry to say that it’s possible that things aren’t as bad as they seem. Simply put, it doesn’t matter what occurs after that. The worse has occurred. At the time, the worst appears to have happened, at least in your eyes. I’m sorry to say that it’s possible that nothing bad has happened. Arthur passed away in 2015, and Jethro in 2022, for Cave. His singing career was influenced by the loss of his younger son.
‘Skeleton Tree,’ an album by Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds, which dealt with bereavement and his marriage to Susie Bick Cave, was shared by the rocker after Arthur passed away. The 2019 album “Ghosteen” also addresses his sorrow at losing his kid and the chance encounter with his followers that ultimately saved his life. On his website, “The Red Hand Files,” where he responds to fan questions, the rock star posted a query from 2018 there. The fan inquired as to if Cave and his wife experience the same communication with Arthur after sharing that she lost her father, sister, and first love and that she remembered seeing them in her dreams and conversing with them. The rocker provided a detailed response, claiming that he senses the presence of his son everywhere around him. What he wrote in brief is as follows: “I sense my son’s presence everywhere, but he might not be there. Though dad may not be present, I can still hear him speaking to me, raising me, and directing me. He frequently speaks to Susie while she is sleeping, consoles her, although he might not be present. Bright phantoms follow dread grief in its wake. In essence, these spirits are only concepts. They are our traumatized imaginations regaining consciousness after the tragedy. These spirits speak of possibility much like ideas.”
