THE CAVE WHISPERER
Still reeling from the response to their book, Cave’s interlocutor Seán O’Hagan braces for the “über-atheist” backlash. By Danny Eccleston.
AT THE BEGINNING of their series of conversations for Faith, Hope And Carnage, says Seán O’Hagan, Nick Cave seemed to have much the clearer idea of where their book was heading. The writer was also amazed from the off by the singer’s candour.
“I had started out very tentatively talking about music and collaboration, and the recording of Ghosteen, and improvisation,” says O’Hagan. “I was sort of building up to getting to Arthur. But Nick talks about Arthur even in the first chapter. Arthur is the abiding presence in the book, rather than God. Maybe God transmitted through Arthur? I don’t know. But, yeah, it became very clear very early on that he wanted somehow to make sense of that, and also articulate his beliefs and feelings more clearly.”
With acclaim for the book proving instant and deafening, O’Hagan can certainly pack away what he calls his “quiet moment of doubt”.
“I always thought that the book would find its place, but that it might take some time,” he says. “It hasn’t had any bad reviews yet. I’m sure that there’s one down the line coming from some über-atheist (laughs).”
Indeed, if there’s one aspect of the book you can imagine some readers finding perplexing it’s the broad seam of theology, or spiritual questing, that runs throughout.
“In the book he mentions an interview with a writer from a music paper, who’d been told by his editor, ‘Don’t get him started on God!’” O’Hagan chuckles. “That’s interesting to me because people didn’t turn off when John Coltrane or Alice Coltrane or Pharoah Sanders started making their spiritual records. But I think in rock music, it’s seen as a no-no, maybe because there’s not a great tradition – I mean, there are some bloody awful ‘Christian Rock’ records. But the God stuff never worried me because I knew he was gonna go there. I just was surprised constantly by his articulation of it. But I guess it’s all linked to the loss of his son.”
Inevitably, Cave’s bereavement will resonate most with the largest number of readers. As the singer is at pains to point out, his experience, however horrific, could not, in a way, be more ordinary. What’s unusual is his hard-won belief in the value of sharing it.
“I think he’s broken the silence on a lot of this stuff,” says O’Hagan. “People, particularly in England, don’t tend to talk about loss and grief.”
The bravery Cave has shown may have further knock-on effects. The latter stages of the book are marked by an invigorated tone, a refreshment of creative energies.
“I really think he has gone to places that no rock star has gone,” says O’Hagan. “I’m very intrigued by where he goes next. The more narrative song will make a comeback, I think. He said to me he’s missing the beats!”