"Deanna"
Single by Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds
from the album Tender Prey
B-side"The Girl at the Bottom of My Glass"
Released5 September 1988
GenreGarage rock[1]
Length3:45
LabelMute
Songwriter(s)Nick Cave, Mick Harvey
Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds singles chronology
"The Mercy Seat"
(1988) 		"Deanna"
(1988) 		"The Ship Song"
(1990)

"Deanna" is a song by Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds.[2][3] It is the second single from their 1988 album Tender Prey.[4] An acoustic version of the song opens the 2005 compilation B-sides & Rarities and includes phrases from the Edwin Hawkins Singers' song Oh Happy Day on which the song was based.[5]

Inspiration

Biographer Ian Johnston claimed that Deanna was a woman Nick Cave had recently had a "passionate, intense relationship with".[6] Cave later said the song is "seen as a particularly brutal act of betrayal, and thirty years on I still haven’t been fully forgiven. I console myself with the thought that I was unflinching in my duties as a songwriter, even though it broke a heart (or two) in the process."[7]

Recording

Initial recording was done at Vielklang Studios, near the Berlin Wall. Producer Tony Cohen said, ""Deanna" was a loose idea Nick had for a song. He fiddled around with a Hammond organ while Mick hit a floor tom. It wasn't meant for the record. Drums were recorded over the top and the track grew."[8]

"The Girl at the Bottom of My Glass"

The B-side of "Deanna" is "The Girl at the Bottom of My Glass", recorded for but not released on Tender Prey.[9] It remained unreleased on an album until 2005, with the release of B-Sides & Rarities.

Reception

AllMusic called the song, "a garage rock-style rave-up that lyrically is everything Natural Born Killers tried to be, but failed at -- killing sprees, Cadillacs, and carrying out the work of the Lord, however atypically".[10] Stereogum noted, "the irresistible, danceable sway of the organ and drumbeat distract - if only momentarily - from such lines as 'I cum a death’s head into your frock'".[11]

The Quietus wrote, "The rousing garage pop of "Deanna" would quickly become one of Cave's best-known songs (it was almost 'radio friendly') and a live favourite. The track was based on a version of Edwin Hawkins' "Oh Happy Day". The lyrics were particularly memorable."[12]

Charts

Chart (1988) Peak
position
UK Indie Chart[13] 4

References

  1. ^ Raggett, Ned. "Tender Prey – Nick Cave / Nick Cave & the Bad Seeds". AllMusic. Rovi Corporation. Retrieved 24 January 2011.
  2. ^ Murfett, Andrew (8 January 2009). "Basking in eclectic glow of Cave light". The Age. Retrieved 19 May 2010.
  3. ^ "Nick Cave dedicates career-spanning Glastonbury set to Farrah Fawcett". New Musical Express. 28 June 2009. Retrieved 19 May 2010.
  4. ^ Diver, Mike (18 March 2010). "Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds Tender Prey / The Good Son / Henry's Dream Review". British Broadcasting Corporation. Retrieved 20 May 2010.
  5. ^ John Freeman. "An Eye For An Eye: Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds' Tender Prey Revisited". The Quietus.
  6. ^ Ian Johnston (2017). Bad Seed. Little, Brown and Company. p. 237. ISBN 978-0349107783.
  7. ^ "ISSUE #59". The Red Hand Files.
  8. ^ Tony Cohen with John Olson (2023). Half Deaf, Completely Mad. Black Inc. Books. p. 149. ISBN 978-1-74382-308-8.
  9. ^ Johnston, Ian (2020-03-05). Bad Seed: The Biography of Nick Cave. Little, Brown Book Group. ISBN 978-0-349-14435-1.
  10. ^ Ned Raggett. "Tender Prey". AllMusic.
  11. ^ Dan Lawrence. "Tender Prey (1988)". Stereogum.
  12. ^ John Freeman. "An Eye For An Eye: Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds' Tender Prey Revisited". The Quietus.
  13. ^ Lazell, Barry (1997). Indie Hits 1980-1989. Cherry Red Books. Archived from the original on June 5, 2011. Retrieved September 5, 2014.



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