Skeleton Tree

Album: Skeleton Tree (2016)
Play Video

Songfacts®:

  • This is the title track of Skeleton Tree, an album recorded over several sessions from late 2014 to early 2016. On July 14, 2015, Cave's 15-year-old son, Arthur, fell from a cliff near the family's Brighton home and died from his injuries. This exploration of grief, written by Cave after the tragedy, evokes a stark image of a tree with no leaves in the pale light of dawn.

    Sunday morning, skeleton tree
    Well, nothing is for free


    The price of Cave's love for his son is heartbreak. Inside he feels bare, like a skeleton tree, as he steps out again into the waking world. The sorrow will remain with him for the rest of his life, which he accepts in the closing lines.

    And it's alright now
    And it's alright now
    And it's alright now
  • "Skeleton Tree" was the first lyric Nick Cave wrote after losing Arthur. He sent a voice recording to his longtime collaborator, Warren Ellis, around mid-September 2015. "It was the first time he tried to sing and he'd written chords and a melody," Ellis recalled to Uncut magazine.

    When Cave and company resumed the sessions at La Frette Studios in France in autumn 2015, they laid it down as per the demo. "We then tried the song in different ways," said Ellis, "but we couldn't make it work as a band - there was something about the broken and uncertain nature of the demo."

    Cave pulled up the demo track from the sessions and he sang over that instead. That's the version which ended up on the album.
  • Skeleton Tree received rave reviews from music critics, with Flood Magazine naming it the best album of 2016 and both Uncut and Mojo ranking it third.
  • Audiences lapped the record up as well. Skeleton Tree topped the album charts in several countries, including Australia, Belgium (Flanders), Denmark, Finland, Ireland, New Zealand, Norway and Portugal. It also became Cave's highest charting album in the United States, peaking at #27 on the Billboard 200.

Comments

Be the first to comment...

Editor's Picks

Gary Brooker of Procol Harum

Gary Brooker of Procol HarumSongwriter Interviews

The lead singer and pianist for Procol Harum, Gary talks about finding the musical ideas to match the words.

Don Felder

Don FelderSongwriter Interviews

Don breaks down "Hotel California" and other songs he wrote as a member of the Eagles. Now we know where the "warm smell of colitas" came from.

Allen Toussaint - "Southern Nights"

Allen Toussaint - "Southern Nights"They're Playing My Song

A song he wrote and recorded from "sheer spiritual inspiration," Allen's didn't think "Southern Nights" had hit potential until Glen Campbell took it to #1 two years later.

Donnie Iris (Ah! Leah!, The Rapper)

Donnie Iris (Ah! Leah!, The Rapper)Songwriter Interviews

Before "Rap" was a form of music, it was something guys did to pick up girls in nightclubs. Donnie talks about "The Rapper" and reveals the identity of Leah.

Al Kooper

Al KooperSongwriter Interviews

Kooper produced Lynyrd Skynyrd, played with Dylan and the Stones, and formed BS&T.

Emilio Castillo from Tower of Power

Emilio Castillo from Tower of PowerSongwriter Interviews

Emilio talks about what it's like to write and perform with the Tower of Power horns, and why every struggling band should have a friend like Huey Lewis.