Influences on Nick Cave's work
In a 1995 interview with an Israeli newspaper, Nick was asked to name
nine things that had changed his life, so these may be called influences on
his work. These are:
- Vladimir Nabokov - Lolita, read to him by his father when 12 years old.
- Dostoyevskiy - Crime and Punishment, especially for the murder scene...
- The Bible, influenced many of his songs.
- Painting, having been an Art student for two years. Nick likes
religious painting, especially German Gothic art (Gruenwald, Lochner)
and in modern art Giorgio de Chirico, Francis Bacon and L. Freud.
- Bob Dylan, Nick seems to admire "Slow Train Coming".
- John Lee Hooker, all-time favourite.
- Badlands, a movie directed by Terence Malick, a loose retelling of the
story of Charles Starkweather and Caril Anne Fugate, who went on a
killing-spree.
- Anita Lane, once his girlfriend and Bad Seed, seemed to have changed
his life thoroughly.
- Luke, his son. Has filled a gap in his life.
Other assumed influences from music are: Elvis Presley (consider
"Tupelo"), early punk bands such as The Sex Pistols, The Saints, The
Velvet Underground, Leonard Cohen, Madonna, The Stranglers, John Cale,
The Carpenters.
Straub's "The Juniper Tree," and Nick's song "Do you love me? part II),
in which the narrator of the story recounts his molestation in a movie
theater seem to be related. You'll also find Straub's influence in "The
Curse of Millhaven"--Millhaven is the fictional town in Straub's novel
"The Throat" (and in several ancillary pieces).
Next Section | FAQ Index | Menu
|