Throughout his Red Hand Files, in which Nick Cave writes back and forth in answer to questions from fans around the world, he has returned to the idea that the song, or any work of art, ceases to be the possession of the artist once it is released. Outside in the world, Cave reasons with typical thoughtfulness, that the song belongs no more to the musician, and becomes the property of the listener to do with and interpret as they please.
The declaration seemed to first coincide with Cave and his Bad Seeds choosing in 2017 to play two shows in Tel Aviv, Israel. The band will return there again next year. Already a controversial decision, Cave provoked the chagrin of Palestinians and Palestine activists, but also the quieter dismay of many fans, when his early, Birthday Party punk spirit rose-up in defiance of the criticism and proclaimed antagonistically that he would not be silenced, and nor should art ever be silenced.
[Cave] proclaimed antagonistically that he would not be silenced, and nor should art ever be silenced.
Releasing his own letter in response to Brian Eno’s request that he reconsider playing Tel Aviv, Cave cautioned against “scaring-off artists” and insisted he was taking a “principled stand against those who wish to bully, shame and silence musicians”. The same letter referred to Israel as a “vibrant, functioning democracy” and reduced human rights abuses against Palestinians (and Israeli non-Jews and, increasingly, Arab Jews) to only footnotes in “disputed territories”. Cave omitted that the dispute remains centred around Israel’s insistence on keeping recognised Palestinian territory, and the Palestinians in it, under military rule.
