Nick Cave on Grief, Faith and Music
The Archbishop of Canterbury in conversation with the musician Nick Cave
The songwriter, poet and author, Nick Cave has a conversation about grief, faith and the spirituality of music with the Archbishop of Canterbury Justin Welby.
Nick writes hauntingly beautiful songs 鈥� the themes of which tackle deep questions about humanity 鈥� often drawing from biblical sources.
He was born in rural Victoria in Australia in the late 50s 鈥� a Cathedral chorister turned chaotic teenager who dropped out of art school to pursue a music career. After his first band 鈥楾he Birthday Party鈥� broke up in 1983, he formed 鈥楴ick Cave and the Bad Seeds鈥� - and went on to have hits including The 鈥楳ercy Seat鈥�, 鈥榃here the Wild Roses Grow鈥�, and 鈥業nto My Arms鈥�.
He and his second wife Susie moved to Brighton in the early 2000s, where they raised their twin sons, Arthur and Earl. In 2015, Arthur died in a tragic accident, at the age of 15, after falling from a cliff. Last year, Nick鈥檚 eldest son Jethro also died in Melbourne at the age of 31.
Much of Nick鈥檚 art in recent years has dealt with grief, suffering and forgiveness. He reflects on this in his remarkable book, 鈥楩aith, Hope and Carnage鈥�, written during the pandemic with the journalist Sean O鈥橦agan. And he openly explores love and loss with those who write to him on his online forum called, 鈥楾he Red Hand Files鈥�.
