Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds have released 17 albums, with an 18th, Wild God, on the way. So, Cave has written a ton of songs over a long period of time, as the group’s first album arrived in 1984. That doesn’t mean he likes it.
In an interview with Mojo (as NME notes), Cave said that he just doesn’t like songwriting. He explained, “I don’t like writing songs. To write a song is this deeply mysterious, abstract, anxiety-ridden process that’s just not fun. Playing around with the kid is fine but to get the kid out is a f*cking nightmare. So I put it off until I can’t put it off any further.”
He also said of Wild God, “I don’t think the songs have begun to reveal themselves to me until we start playing them live. I was worried about this interview because I was like, ‘F*ck, what is this record even about?’ If I try to explain to you now, I’m going to do a poor job of it because I don’t really know. The songs seem to me to be about a series of conversions – one thing changing into another thing.”
Cave previously said of the album in a statement, “I hope the album has the effect on listeners that it’s had on me. It bursts out of the speaker, and I get swept up with it. It’s a complicated record, but it’s also deeply and joyously infectious. There is never a master plan when we make a record. The records rather reflect back the emotional state of the writers and musicians who played them. Listening to this, I don’t know, it seems we’re happy.”