The Nick Cave Lyric That Turned Into a Ubiquitous Needle Drop

Who knows where a song will end up these days? Artists, especially those who don’t really deal in singles, put out albums and hope that their various efforts will take hold. When one of those songs finds a home somewhere other than on the listening devices of the core audience, it can be a huge boon for an artist’s exposure and reputation.

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Nick Cave’s reputation didn’t need much burnishing when he released the song “Red Right Hand” in 1994. But the song did indeed provide an exposure explosion, thanks to how it caught on with television and film producers.

Seeing “Red”

“Red Right Hand” started out with a jam session involving Cave, the legendary Australian singer-songwriter, and Mick Harvey and Thomas Wylder, both members of Cave’s band The Bad Seeds. They created a quirky piece that landed somewhere between 60s spy music and a spaghetti Western theme.

Cave initially wasn’t all that thrilled with the musical bed. But he nonetheless went off and wrote lyrics for it, envisioning a charismatic, devious stranger not unlike Bob Dylan’s “Man In The Long Black Coat”. The phrase “Red Right Hand” came from the John Milton poem Paradise Lost.

“Red Right Hand” appeared on the Nick Cave And The Bad Seeds’ album Let Love In in 1994. Almost immediately, it started appearing on screen. The classic Jim Carrey comedy Dumb And Dumber used the menacing song in a counterintuitive fashion that same year.

A few years later, the horror film Scream included the song, and it would appear in several sequels as well. Most notably, the television crime drama Peaky Blinders used Cave’s version as its theme song and then contracted several other artists to do memorable covers of it throughout the years. As a result, “Red Right Hand” has turned into Cave’s most well-known track to much of the world.

Examining the Lyrics of “Red Right Hand”

In the first verse, Cave seems to be describing a post-apocalyptic wasteland, although it could also be a stand-in for any hardscrabble location where poverty lurks, and sinister figures can do the most damage. After the narrator details viaducts and border fires, the anti-hero makes a memorable entrance: “On a gathering storm comes a tall handsome man/In a dusty black coat with a red right hand.”

This malevolent force appears as a friend, but his ultimate effect will be devastating. “He’ll wrap you in his arms, tell you that you’ve been a good boy,” Cave sings. “He’ll rekindle all the dreams it took a lifetime to destroy.” And he can’t be pinned down. “He’s a god, he’s a man, he’s a ghost, he’s a guru,” Cave sneers.

In the third verse, the stranger acts as a kind of fixer and psychiatrist all at once. Only the narrator can seemingly see him for the danger that he represents: “A shadow is cast wherever he stands.”

No matter where you turn, this character appears. “You’ll see him in your head, on the TV screen,” Cave warns. “Hey buddy, I’m warning you to turn it off.” No matter what he promises, the end result is his own gain. “You’re one microscopic cog in his catastrophic plan,” Cave moans. “Designed and directed by his red right hand.”

Nick Cave’s catalog swells with wonderful songs, but this one in particular has spread like unstoppable wildfire. Much like the character it depicts, “Red Right Hand” turned out to be far too memorable to be ignored.

Photo by Gus Stewart/Redferns