There’s just over a month left until the release of ‘Wild God’, the new album by Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds, which comes out on August 30. ‘Wild God’ and ‘Frogs’ have been the first two singles available from this album that will serve as a follow-up to the acclaimed ‘Ghosteen’ (2019).
The third one has been available for a few hours now. ‘Long Dark Night’ is a country ballad inspired by ‘Noche oscura del alma’, the poem written in the 16th century by the Spanish poet and mystic San Juan de la Cruz; the same poem that has inspired a song by Van Morrison in the past and also a collaborative album by Danger Mouse and Sparklehorse.
As in ‘Dark Night of the Soul’, a feeling of deep loneliness pervades Nick Cave in ‘Long Dark Night’. In the lyrics, Cave recounts a dream and, in it, the visit of a mysterious man who is “combing his long white hair”. Throughout, Cave predicts that a “long, deep night awaits him”.
Nick Cave has said of ‘Long Dark Night’ that it is “inspired by one of the greatest and most powerful poems of conversion ever written” but that, at its core, it is “still a beautiful country song”. He sees ‘Long Dark Night’ as a “companion” to his previous piece, ‘Wild God’.
We remind you that Nick Cave & the Bad Seeds will perform in Spain at the end of 2024. The dates are on October 24 at the Palau Sant Jordi in Barcelona, on October 25 at the WiZink Center in Madrid and on October 27 at the MEO Arena in Lisbon.
