This month, I’m jumping into the #APlaceInTheSong challenge from @JukeboxJohnny2. Great songs have that special ability to describe places in a way that makes us feel like we’re right there. Each day, I’ll pick a track that I think accomplishes that feat.
Nick Cave is one of those artists that I somehow missed out on for far too long. If I could turn back the clock, I would’ve devoured his catalog a good twenty years before I finally discovered him for myself. And I would’ve caught him on tour. I can imagine his vocal expressiveness translating beautifully and energetically on the live stage. I do prefer his slower ballads, but I appreciate the occasional Nick Cave banger, like the blues rock masterpiece, “There She Goes, My Beautiful World”.
In the middle of the first verse, the track gets rolling quickly like a freight train right into the rockin’ chorus. In this case, the guitar and piano parts are the engine for the song. But the vocals are everything here. The gospel chorus brings the house down. Soaring. Powerful. Absolutely on fire. Even still, Nick is still the man here. His voice is just perfect for this moment and this song. It ain’t the same if you put another singer behind the mic.
“And Gaugin, he buggered off, man And went all tropical While Philip Larkin stuck it out
In a library in Hull.”