'' is the seventh album released by
Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds , on
May 12 ,
1992 . There are possible references to
John Berryman's series of poems ''The Dream Songs'', which logs the dreams of the protagonist Henry. This album remains a big favourite amongst Bad Seeds fans, although Nick Cave himself was reportedly unhappy with the production by American
David Briggs . Briggs preferred a "live-in-the-studio" method he had used with
Neil Young . This led to Cave and Harvey re-mixing the album, and ultimately to the ''
Live Seeds '' recordings, as Cave wanted the songs to "done justice".
It was the first album to feature long-standing members Martin P Casey (bass) and Conway Savage (piano, organ), both Australian. The latter is a singer-songwriter in his own right and has contributed distinctive backing vocals to a handful of Bad Seeds songs; here he and Cave deliver a rousing duet in the chorus of 'When I First Came To Town'. The album is considered by some to have a vague "concept", i.e. song narratives overlapping and/or sharing characters.
# Papa Won't Leave You, Henry (5:43)
# I Had a Dream, Joe (3:42)
# Straight to You (4:35)
# Brother, My Cup Is Empty (3:02)
# Christina the Astonishing (4:50)
# When I First Came to Town (5:21)
# John Finns' Wife (5:13)
# The Loom of the Land (5:07)
#
Jack The Ripper (3:45)
"Christina the Astonishing" - Cave's lyrics are based upon an entry in
Alban Butler 's book ''The Lives of the Saints''
"When I First Came to Town" is based partly on
Karen Dalton 's recording of the traditional song "Katy Cruel". Dalton's version was later issued on ''
Original Seeds '' Vol. 1.
