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Darker with the Dawn

Nick Cave's Songs of Love and Death
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( 11 ratings, 7 reviews)
Brief Description
From his early work with The Birthday Party to the future sounds of Ghosteen, Nick Cave has rewritten the language of rock 'n' roll. Darker with the Dawn uncovers the history and deeper meanings behind Nick Cave and The Bad Seeds’ most well-known songs from “Tupelo”,... Read More
Format: Paperback / softback
$4399
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From his early work with The Birthday Party to the future sounds of Ghosteen, Nick Cave has rewritten the language of rock 'n' roll.

Darker with the Dawn uncovers the history and deeper meanings behind Nick Cave and The Bad Seeds’ most well-known songs from “Tupelo”, “The Mercy Seat”, “Red Right Hand”, “Stagger Lee”, “Into My Arms”, to “Higgs Boson Blues” and beyond.

The book explores Nick Cave’s life in music, drawing upon his inspirations of the Bible, Greek myth, and literature, as well as his enduring passion for gospel, blues, and progressive rock. Steiner reflects upon Cave's journey from his childhood in Australia, struggles with drug addiction, his young fascination with the nightmare landscapes of America's wild west and the southern gothic, towards a reckoning with his own sense of Christian spirituality.

In a career spanning four decades, Cave's songwriting has moved from the saints and sinners of the traditional murder ballad to piano-based heartbreak songs, deconstructed garage rock, and ambient fever dreams delivered through minimalist electronica. Adam Steiner dives into the world of a complex songwriter who, in his universal expressions of love and death, continues to speak to us of the light and shade of humanity.

Book Details

INFORMATION

ISBN: 9798216379652

Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing Plc

Format: Paperback / softback

Date Published: 16 April 2026

Country: United States

Imprint: Rowman & Littlefield

Illustration: 29 b/w photos

Audience: General / adult

DIMENSIONS

Spine width: 24.0mm

Width: 150.0mm

Height: 228.0mm

Weight: 583g

Pages: 344

About the Author

Adam Steiner is the author of Into The Never: Nine Inch Nails and the Creation of The Downward Spiral and Silhouettes And Shadows: The Secret History of David Bowie’s Scary Monsters. He writes about music, street-art culture, architecture, poetry, and transgressive fiction and lives in London, England. Visit adamsteiner.uk/.

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