Jubilee Street

Album: Push The Sky Away (2013)
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Songfacts®:

  • This prostitute-centric song finds Cave singing of "a girl named Bee" who lived on Jubilee Street. She would say to "all those good people," who also lived on the street, that they, "ought to practice what they preach." Asked by The Sun if he is referencing the Jubilee Street located in his hometown of Brighton, Cave replied: "If people think they're going to have a good time down Jubilee Street, I'd say forget about it unless they're particularly interested in going to the library or Yo Sushi. When I was writing that, I had it in my mind that Jubilee Street was another, more colourful street. Then I was actually walking along it, looked up and went, 'Oh no, this is f---ing Jubilee Street'.

    "So let's just say it's a Jubilee Street of the imagination," he continued. "But I can say, in a rather lovely, serendipitous way, that the song reflects how Jubilee Street used to be before they regenerated it - a very sleazy down-at-heel place."
  • John Hillcoat (The Road) directed the cinematic music video, which guest-stars actor Ray Winstone (The Departed). Hillcoat helmed 2005's The Proposition from Cave's script, which also starred Winstone.
  • Cave explained during a Twitter Q&A with fans that the "fetus on a leash" line from this song is "to do with rebirth."
  • Cave wrote another song on Push The Sky Away about the creation of "Jubilee Street." On "Finishing Jubilee Street," Cave puts down his pen on Bea's world and spins into a dream where he has a young bride called Mary Stanford.

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