A “positive” version of Death Is Not the End featuring Nick Cave, Kylie Minogue, and Shane MacGowan has been praised by fans.
The Bad Seeds‘ classic track from Murder Ballads was hailed as a “comforting” piece of work, with Cave even suggesting it was a “tongue-in-cheek” end to the album. Listeners paid tribute to MacGowan’s additions to the song as well as Cave and Minogue’s efforts. MacGowan, Cave and Mingoue would feature on the studio version of the song, as well as PJ Harvey and Anita Lane. Bad Seeds members Thomas Wydler and Blixa Bargeld would also cover a verse of the song each, with Cave’s Bob Dylan cover hailed by many members of the public.
One fan praised Cave’s rendition of the song, with the live version featuring MacGowan and Minogue singled out for praise. An upload of it to YouTube saw fans hail the track, with one writing: “I love that Nick Cave sang this on a very positive note, it is very uplifting and comforting.” Another wrote: “Murder Ballads. Brilliant record. What a line-up.”
A third wrote: “It’s the most darkly humoured track on the album, you’re just after going through an onslaught of death in O’Malley’s Bar, almost an hour of songs about horrific deaths, and you’re supposed to think it’s not the end?” The song itself, a Dylan track featured on Down in the Groove, does not actually feature a death, despite its title.
Cave would reflect on the cover, with a “beautiful rendition” offered by the veteran songwriter. He said it was “just kind of a jokey little punctuation mark to the whole thing. There’s tongue-in-cheek to that song, even though I think it’s quite a beautiful rendition.”
Others have called the song one of the “scariest” tracks in Cave’s discography. One user suggested: “Doesn’t anyone think that this is the scariest song ever written. Life’s miserable. And it goes on forever. Give me oblivion.” Another hailed the song as being a crossover of many popular genres, and yet somehow working.
They wrote: “These guys are all from different genres of music, but in this song they sound in unison.” A third added: “Nick Cave is a fucking legend and that’s no shit.” Others have hailed Cave for finding the beauty in a Dylan song, which is rarely shown much love.
One listener praised Cave, writing: “Nick Cave did a great job recasting the original. With the help of musicians he respected, he turned a good song into a masterpiece.” Death Is Not the End originally featured on Dylan’s 1986 album, Down in the Groove.
The album was met with unanimous disdain at the time from critics, though opinions have softened in the years to follow. The album would feature an all-star cast of studio personnel, including Eric Clapton, Robert Hunter, and Jerry Garcia. You can see Cave, Minogue, and MacGowan perform Death Is Not the End below.
