Abattoir Blues/The Lyre of Orpheus is the 13th studio album released by Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds. It is a double CD, with 17 songs (9 on Abattoir Blues and 8 on The Lyre of Orpheus), and was released on the 20th of September 2004.

The double album was recorded by Nick Launay at Studio Ferber in Paris in Spring 2004 by The Bad Seeds line up of Nick Cave, Mick Harvey, Thomas Wydler, Martyn Casey, Conway Savage, Jim Sclavunos, Warren Ellis, and James Johnston. It was the first album by the band in which Blixa Bargeld did not take part. Cave decided to split drumming duties for the two albums, having Wydler and Sclavunos drum on each CD.

Its release was shortly followed by the Abattoir Blues Tour, which took place around Europe between the 3rd of November and the 5th of December 2004.

Track listing

Disc one: Abattoir Blues

1. "Get Ready for Love" (Cave, Ellis, Casey, Sclavunos) – 5:05
2. "Cannibal's Hymn" (Cave) – 4:54
3. "Hiding All Away" (Cave) – 6:31
4. "Messiah Ward" (Cave) – 5:14
5. "There She Goes, My Beautiful World" (Cave) – 5:17
6. "Nature Boy" (Cave, Ellis, Casey, Sclavunos) – 4:54
7. "Abattoir Blues" (Cave, Ellis) – 3:58
8. "Let the Bells Ring" (Cave, Ellis) – 4:26
9. "Fable of the Brown Ape" (Cave) – 2:45

Disc two: The Lyre of Orpheus

1. "The Lyre of Orpheus" (Cave, Ellis, Casey, Sclavunos) – 5:36
2. "Breathless" (Cave) – 3:13
3. "Babe, You Turn Me On" (Cave) – 4:21
4. "Easy Money" (Cave) – 6:43
5. "Supernaturally" (Cave) – 4:37
6. "Spell" (Cave, Ellis, Casey, Sclavunos) – 4:25
7. "Carry Me" (Cave) – 3:37
8. "O Children" (Cave) – 6:51

Personnel

• Nick Cave – Vocals, Piano
• Martyn P. Casey – Bass
• Warren Ellis – Violin, Mandolin, Bouzouki, Flute
• Mick Harvey – Guitar
• James Johnston – Organ
• Conway Savage – Piano
• Jim Sclavunos – Drums & Percussion
• Thomas Wydler – Drums & Percussion

Connection to the Orphic myth

The album's second disc, The Lyre of Orpheus, can be interpreted as an abstract retelling of the original orphic myth, separate from the version in the title track. Breathless could be seen as Orpheus grieving for Eurydice, whilst Babe, You Turn Me On is his memory of the moment of her death -

We stand awed inside a clearing.

We do not make a sound.

The crimson snow falls all about,

carpeting the ground.

Easy Money is a version of Orpheus' bargain with Hades, with heavy emphasis on the theme of the ease of getting what you want, as long as you are prepared to pay the price. Supernaturally could cover several bases, interpreted as both the protagonist's drive to rescue his wife, and as a lament for his failure to do so.

Spell is about the doubt slowly taking over Orpheus as he ascends the stairs out of hell - about his uncertainty regarding Hades' intentions to honour their bargain - and about the final confused moments before his climactic turn—

I call you by your name, I know not where you are.

Carry Me is the album's climax, the point at which Orpheus turns to look upon Eurydice, breaking his bargain with Hades, and condemning her to being pulled back into the underworld. The song could almost be described as a duet from one mouth, the chorus (possibly from Eurydice's point of view) asking Orpheus to either give in to his doubt or stick to his word -

Turn to me, turn to me, turn to me

Turn to me and drink of me

Or look away, look away,

look away and never more think of me

Orpheus also speaks of -

The many voices

Speaking to me from the depths below

This ancient wound

This catacomb

Beneath the whited snow

In the end, of course, he turns, and she is carried away.

O Children, the album's coda, describes the grief of Orpheus, and his death by his own hand, as well as a plea to be forgiven for his sins and to be allowed into heaven.

See also

• Nick Cave and The Bad Seeds discography

External links

• Official Website
• Lyrics
• Anti (American distributor) biography and album description.