On Ghosteen

Well, my conspiracy theory about the non existence of Ghosteen, like all the conspiracy theories, collapsed. Ghosteen is here. I heard it in a listening party at the Rough Trade. I bought it. I'll pick it up in November.

I managed to listen to it for the second time today. In the period between the two listenings, I read so many things about it on the internet. My initial thoughts were the same as the majority. Where is the guitar? Where are the drums? What Warren did to Nick? Is this a soundtrack of an non-existent movie? (maybe it is the soundtrack of a movie to come and that's another conspiracy theory) Why did Nick bother to give credits to The Bad Seeds and not circulate this album as a personal one? What is this album about after all?

I'm trying to answer to myself all these questions. For start, I heard the guitar and the drums. They are part of the background musical carpet that allows Nick to express his grief, his loss, his pain and his will to continue with life. And that background musical carpet is what Warren did FOR Nick (and not TO Nick). And yes, sounds like a soundtrack because a soundtrack purpose is to express and to complete musically the story on the screen (find more about the importance of music in the movies of Stanley Kubrick and Alfred Hitchcock). There's no movie here, so it's the soundtrack of the tragedy and aftermath of this tragedy on Nick's life. What could be more real than this?

Having briefly met some of The Bad Seeds, I'm certain that they are not just puppets or instruments to Nick's album. They are fantastic, good-hearted personalities and amazing musicians. Just check what they all did before being in The Bad Seeds and what they are doing in their breaks from The Bad Seeds. I'm also certain that they all contributed to this album.And in the time of loss who would you like to be next to you, if not your friends, those that know you so much, those that will cheer you up, will give you the courage and advices to go on?

This is not a typical album of The Bad Seeds obviously. Lyrics, poetically, express what's in Nick soul all this time. It takes a lot of talent to be able to express what's in your soul through art. It also takes a lot of courage to make public what's in your soul. The results are liberating though.

I don't have the talent to express myself through art. I'm only able to write down what's in my soul. And I sometimes make these writings public, in a small corner I have, somewhere on the internet. That's a reason I love artists of all forms and especially Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds. For their talent and their bravery.

I've been through the greatest loss of my life recently. Many times I thought that my loss can't be compared with someone who is losing his child or his leg or his good health. And that life must go on. That's what Nick does in this album. For the moment, I don't want to listen to it. I'm still in my healing process and I don't find it helpful cause some of the lyrics slap me hard, even if I know it's not about me.