The Firstborn Is Dead
Encyclopedia
The Firstborn Is Dead is the second studio album
released by the post-punk
band Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds
. It was first released in 1985. On this record, singer Nick Cave
continued his fascination with the American South, with its references to Elvis Presley
and blues
men like Blind Lemon Jefferson
. The photography is by Jutta Heinglein.
The album's name is a reference to Jesse Garon Presley, the stillborn identical twin of Elvis Presley
.
The album was remastered and reissued on April 27, 2009 as a collector's edition CD/DVD set. The CD features the original 7-song vinyl LP's track listing, while "The Six Strings That Drew Blood" is featured as a bonus audio track on the accompanying DVD.
Studio album
A studio album is an album made up of tracks recorded in the controlled environment of a recording studio. A studio album contains newly written and recorded or previously unreleased or remixed material, distinguishing itself from a compilation or reissue album of previously recorded material, or...
released by the post-punk
Post-punk
Post-punk is a rock music movement with its roots in the late 1970s, following on the heels of the initial punk rock explosion of the mid-1970s. The genre retains its roots in the punk movement but is more introverted, complex and experimental...
band Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds
Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds
Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds are an Australian alternative rock band, formed in Melbourne in 1983. The band is fronted by Nick Cave and has featured international personnel throughout their career.-Formation and early releases :...
. It was first released in 1985. On this record, singer Nick Cave
Nick Cave
Nicholas Edward "Nick" Cave is an Australian musician, songwriter, author, screenwriter, and occasional film actor.He is best known for his work as a frontman of the critically acclaimed rock band Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds, established in 1984, a group known for its eclectic influences and...
continued his fascination with the American South, with its references to Elvis Presley
Elvis Presley
Elvis Aaron Presley was one of the most popular American singers of the 20th century. A cultural icon, he is widely known by the single name Elvis. He is often referred to as the "King of Rock and Roll" or simply "the King"....
and blues
Blues
Blues is the name given to both a musical form and a music genre that originated in African-American communities of primarily the "Deep South" of the United States at the end of the 19th century from spirituals, work songs, field hollers, shouts and chants, and rhymed simple narrative ballads...
men like Blind Lemon Jefferson
Blind Lemon Jefferson
"Blind" Lemon Jefferson was an American blues singer and guitarist from Texas. He was one of the most popular blues singers of the 1920s, and has been titled "Father of the Texas Blues"....
. The photography is by Jutta Heinglein.
The album's name is a reference to Jesse Garon Presley, the stillborn identical twin of Elvis Presley
Elvis Presley
Elvis Aaron Presley was one of the most popular American singers of the 20th century. A cultural icon, he is widely known by the single name Elvis. He is often referred to as the "King of Rock and Roll" or simply "the King"....
.
The album was remastered and reissued on April 27, 2009 as a collector's edition CD/DVD set. The CD features the original 7-song vinyl LP's track listing, while "The Six Strings That Drew Blood" is featured as a bonus audio track on the accompanying DVD.
Track listing
All lyrics by Nick Cave- "TupeloTupelo (Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds song)"Tupelo" is the second single by Australian post-punk band Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds and the only single from the band's second album The Firstborn Is Dead.-Background and production:...
" – 7:17 (Adamson, Harvey) - "Say Goodbye to the Little Girl Tree" – 5:10 (Harvey)
- "Train Long-Suffering" – 3:49 (Cave)
- "Black Crow King" – 5:05 (Bargeld, Cave)
- "Knockin' on Joe" – 7:38 (Cave)
- "Wanted Man" – 5:27 (Bob DylanBob DylanBob Dylan is an American singer-songwriter, musician, poet, film director and painter. He has been a major and profoundly influential figure in popular music and culture for five decades. Much of his most celebrated work dates from the 1960s when he was an informal chronicler and a seemingly...
, Johnny CashJohnny CashJohn R. "Johnny" Cash was an American singer-songwriter, actor, and author, who has been called one of the most influential musicians of the 20th century...
) - "Blind Lemon Jefferson" – 6:10 (Adamson, Bargeld, Harvey, Cave)
- "The Six Strings That Drew Blood" – 4:50 (CD only) (Cave, Rowland S. HowardRowland S. HowardRowland Stuart Howard was an Australian rock musician, guitarist and songwriter, he played electric guitar in the post-punk group The Birthday Party. Howard died of liver cancer in December 2009, aged 50 years....
) - "Tupelo" (single version) – 5:01 (CD only)
Songs
- "Tupelo" is loosely based on the John Lee HookerJohn Lee HookerJohn Lee Hooker was an American blues singer-songwriter and guitarist.Hooker began his life as the son of a sharecropper, William Hooker, and rose to prominence performing his own unique style of what was originally closest to Delta blues. He developed a 'talking blues' style that was his trademark...
song of the same title, which is about a floodFloodA flood is an overflow of an expanse of water that submerges land. The EU Floods directive defines a flood as a temporary covering by water of land not normally covered by water...
in Tupelo, MississippiTupelo, MississippiTupelo is the largest city in and the county seat of Lee County, Mississippi, United States. It is the seventh largest city in the state of Mississippi, smaller than Meridian, and larger than Greenville. As of the 2000 United States Census, the city's population was 34,211...
(Hooker's song appears on Original SeedsOriginal SeedsOriginal Seeds: Songs that inspired Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds are two compilation CDs. Volume one was issued in 1998, Volume two in 2004, initially on the Rubber Records label in Australia, but also in the U.K....
). Tupelo is the birthplace of Elvis Presley. Cave's song incorporates imagery of the birth of Elvis and the apocalypseApocalypseAn Apocalypse is a disclosure of something hidden from the majority of mankind in an era dominated by falsehood and misconception, i.e. the veil to be lifted. The Apocalypse of John is the Book of Revelation, the last book of the New Testament...
at the second comingSecond ComingIn Christian doctrine, the Second Coming of Christ, the Second Advent, or the Parousia, is the anticipated return of Jesus Christ from Heaven, where he sits at the Right Hand of God, to Earth. This prophecy is found in the canonical gospels and in most Christian and Islamic eschatologies...
of Christ. However, the "Looky, Looky Yonder" motif that features in the song is derived from a song of the same name recorded by Lead Belly, usually found as part of a medley which Cave himself covered under the title "Black Betty" on his third album, Kicking Against the PricksKicking Against the PricksKicking Against the Pricks is the third album released by Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds. First released in 1986, the album is a collection of cover versions...
. - "Wanted Man" evolved from a song composed by Bob DylanBob DylanBob Dylan is an American singer-songwriter, musician, poet, film director and painter. He has been a major and profoundly influential figure in popular music and culture for five decades. Much of his most celebrated work dates from the 1960s when he was an informal chronicler and a seemingly...
and Johnny CashJohnny CashJohn R. "Johnny" Cash was an American singer-songwriter, actor, and author, who has been called one of the most influential musicians of the 20th century...
. Cave was granted permission to alter the lyrics. Cave's lyrics include references to his friends, such as photographer Polly Borland. - "The Six Strings that Drew Blood" is included on the CD version of the album, but not on the LP. It was the B-side of the "Tupelo" single and a re-recording of a song Cave originally recorded with The Birthday PartyThe Birthday Party (band)The Birthday Party were an Australian rock band, active from 1973 to 1983.Despite being championed by John Peel, The Birthday Party found little commercial success during their career...
during the MutinyMutiny/The Bad SeedMutiny/The Bad Seed is a compilation album by The Birthday Party. It is compiled from 2 EPs recorded in October 1982 and released in 1983, The Bad Seed and Mutiny!, and was released in 1989. It is written by Nick Cave, Mick Harvey, Rowland S...
sessions in 1982.
Singles
- "TupeloTupelo (Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds song)"Tupelo" is the second single by Australian post-punk band Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds and the only single from the band's second album The Firstborn Is Dead.-Background and production:...
" (MUTE 038) (July 29, 1985)- "Tupelo" (Single Version) b/w: "The Six Strings That Drew Blood"
Personnel
- Nick CaveNick CaveNicholas Edward "Nick" Cave is an Australian musician, songwriter, author, screenwriter, and occasional film actor.He is best known for his work as a frontman of the critically acclaimed rock band Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds, established in 1984, a group known for its eclectic influences and...
– Vocals, Harmonica - Barry AdamsonBarry AdamsonBarry Adamson is a British rock musician who has worked with rock bands such as Magazine, Visage, The Birthday Party, Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds, and the electronic musicians Pan sonic and Depeche Mode. Adamson created the seven-minute opus "Useless " remix for the latter band in 1997...
- Bass, Guitar, Organ, Drums, Backing Vocals - Blixa BargeldBlixa BargeldBlixa Bargeld is a composer, author, actor, singer, musician, performer and lecturer in a number of artistic fields...
- Guitar, Slide Guitar, Piano, Backing Vocals - Mick HarveyMick HarveyMichael John Harvey , is an Australian rock musician, composer, arranger and record producer. He is best known for his long-time collaboration with the singer and songwriter Nick Cave...
– Drums, Piano, Guitar, Organ, Bass, Backing Vocals