Iconic Songwriter, 68, Stuns with Emotional Performance of 'Legendary' Song Johnny Cash Once Covered

In the singer-songwriter canon, one of the most unique musicians I can think of is the Australian legend Nick Cave.

The gothic singer is best known for his project, Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds, a tour de force of stylistic marriages with musical storytelling. In a similar way to how Paul Thomas Anderson is in a love affair with the film epic, Nick Cave is a creative, who to me, is obsessed with the idea of the song.

Every Nick Cave song is an elaborate, grandiose, and sweeping journey. Listening to one of his songs is like being immersed in some grand drama. In shades of sometimes Shakespeare and other times Melville, Cave paints these intricate stories of death, love, violence, and religion. One of the most emblematic of these is his 1988 classic, “The Mercy Seat.” He’s on tour right now, and he recently gave us a stunning version of the song, stripped back to just his voice and the piano.

@nickcave

The Mercy Seat, alone at Alexandra Palace #NickCave

♬ The Mercy Seat – Remastered 2010 – Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds

“The Mercy Seat” was notably covered by Johnny Cash during my favorite period of his career, where in his later years, he took on the songwriting canon and gave us some of music’s greatest covers.

The song is classic Nick Cave, following the final thoughts of a death row inmate as he contemplates his impending appointment with the electric chair. The Bad Seeds back up his sardonic vocals masterfully with an instrumental that builds and builds until it reaches a boiling point that never breaks. It’s one of the best musical representations of rising tension I’ve ever heard.

In the London show linked above, all of the musical flair is gone, leaving Cave and the piano. It showcases one of the things I love about him as a musician — at the core of the grandiosity and magnitude of the original, it’s a song about a man facing his own death. There’s a great wealth of emotion and honesty that comes out in this take of the song, and fans were very moved.

“Masterpiece.”

“Such a good song, and such a good record.”

“Legendary.”

Nick Cave is an enigmatic and fascinating songwriter. If anybody is getting into him for the first time, I highly recommend “Let Love In,” or “Murder Ballads.” They really get to the core of what Cave does so, so well.

Related: 1966 Classic Hit, Which Bob Dylan Never Performed, Is Ranked His No. 1 Best Song

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