Nick Cave: the 30 greatest songs according to Mojo magazine

It's no easy task to take on a songbook as rich and varied as Nick Cave's. British magazine Mojo has given it a go, updating its ranking of the 30 greatest songs by the Bard of Melbourne and calling it "the definitive list of the greatest songs" by the Australian artist. "In the early 1980s," Mojo recalls, "the nihilism of the early Birthday Party shows, theatrical standard-bearers of Melbourne's spleen-punk, seemed to be hurtling them at full speed towards self-destruction. And once hard drugs entered the picture too, as is well known, the warning signs of a possible disaster were already plain to see. And yet Nick Cave has become one of the most consistent and reliable artists of our time, endlessly evolving, probing ever-new depths and finding other territories of life and love to explore with his unmistakable baritone, dark and subtly ironic." Today, the British magazine goes on to note, Cave has long since left drugs behind and has reached a more peaceful stage of his life, though one marked by devastating family losses. Meanwhile, the Bad Seeds have undergone a slow transformation: from the fierce blues avant-gardists of their 1984 debut, 'From Her To Eternity', they have become a band of far greater depth and expressive range, surviving even potentially devastating line-up changes, most notably the departures of Blixa Bargeld and Mick Harvey."

So here are Nick Cave's 30 greatest songs according to Mojo (full feature here) And here's our own OndaTop 10.

30. Stranger Than Kindness (from Your Funeral… My Trial, 1986)
29. Breathless (from Abattoir Blues/The Lyre Of Orpheus, 2004)
28. Leviathan (from Ghosteen, 2019)
27. Do You Love Me (Part Two) (from Let Love In, 1994)
26. Jesus Alone (from Skeleton Tree, 2016)
25. No Pussy Blues (from Grinderman, 2007)
24. More News From Nowhere (from Dig, Lazarus, Dig!!!, 2008)
23. Stagger Lee (from Murder Ballads, 1996)
22. City Of Refuge (from Tender Prey, 1988)
21. The Carny (from Your Funeral… My Trial, 1986)
20. Push The Sky Away (from Push The Sky Away, 2013)
19. Saint Huck (from From Her To Eternity, 1984)
18. Dig, Lazarus, Dig!!! (from Dig, Lazarus, Dig!!!, 2008)
17. The Weeping Song (from The Good Son, 1990)
16. Bright Horses (from Ghosteen, 2019)
15. Deanna (from Tender Prey, 1988)
14. Skeleton Tree (from Skeleton Tree, 2016)
13. People Ain’t No Good (from The Boatman’s Call, 1997)
12. We Call Upon The Author (from Dig, Lazarus, Dig!!!, 2008)
11. Jubilee Street (from Push The Sky Away, 2013)
10. Ghosteen (da “Ghosteen”, 2019)
9. Straight To You (da “Henry’s Dream”, 1992)
8. Mutiny In Heaven (da “Mutiny Ep”, 1983)
7. (Are You) The One That I’ve Been Waiting For? (da “The Boatman’s Call”, 1997)
6. Red Right Hand (da “Let Love In”, 1994)
5. The Ship Song (da “The Good Son”, 1990)
4. Tupelo (da “The First Born In Dead”, 1985)
3. From Her To Eternity (da “Her To Eternity”, 1984)
2. Into My Arms (da “The Boatman’s Call”, 1997)
1. The Mercy Seat (single, 1988)

Speaking about the song chosen as number 1 by Mojo, "The Mercy Seat", Nick Cave said: "It's become so indelible because we all feel the weight of the concerns it expresses."

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