This video was on Open Culture today. I don’t know a lot of Nick Cave’s music, but the letter is great, you can read it here if you’d rather not listen.
It led me down a rabbit hold of Nick Cave’s letters to fans – here are a couple that landed for me:
On his trans fans: I essentially see the world as a collection of individuals, each unique in their brokenness, who have at their core a common and binding sameness of spirit.
On being a source of strength in a time of crisis: I say this as much to myself as I do to you, but being looked to for guidance is a privilege – uncomfortable, baffling and sometimes overwhelming, but a privilege just the same.
On whether sobriety limits the creative capacity: Art is the agent best equipped to bring light to the world. That is its purpose. That is its promise. That it is predicated upon a unique suffering that is somehow linked to drink and drugs is self-serving, self-piteous nonsense. Don’t fall for it.