Original autograph first draft of the lyrics to the Grinderman song "Fire Boy". London, July 2009.
- Softcover
- Used
Seller: Douglas Stewart Fine Books, Armadale, VIC, AustraliaDouglas Stewart Fine Books
AbeBooks seller since February 15, 2018
Condition: Used
£ 8,180.49
Quantity: 1 available
Add to basketItem description from seller
Nick Cave's own first draft of the lyrics toFire Boy,written for Grinderman, his Bad Seeds side project. Fire Boy was recorded in London in late July 2009 and appeared as an iTunes bonus track on the album Grinderman 2, released in September 2010 onMute Recordsin the United Kingdom andANTI-in the United States. Handwritten by Cave in black ballpoint on unruled white paper (A4 sheet, 297 x 211 mm), with Cave's annotations in red felt-tip (these seem to refer to chords); verso blank. The lyrics are written without a title at head, and contain a number of minor textual variants from the recorded version, as well as several revisions and underlinings. Condition: clean and well preserved, with a faint original horizontal fold and some very light creasing. With its sexually charged voice, the lyric might reasonably be described as a pyrophiliac's vision. '. Take me down some petroleum A rag and a box of matches You better hide, you better hide, you better hide away Thefireboy is purging You better hide, you better hide away The cops they are surging . I'm gonna wake up Mary, & together we'll get loaded I'm gonna bite deep into her cherry while the government houses exploded Yeah I love the way she jumps the counter in her miniskirt & her leather boots I don't know what I ever did without her as we hide in alleyways & the garbage shoots [sic]' Cave's approach to song-writing has always been a methodical and idiosyncratic one, and he is acknowledged as a meticulous archivist of his own creative work. It is an extremely rare occurrence for the artist to part with any of his lyrics, from whatever stage of the creative process. (The notable exception to this rule, however, has been Cave's release of handwritten song lyrics to charity auctions on a handful of occasions). 'My process of lyric writing is as follows: For months, I write down ideas in a notebook with a Bic medium ballpoint pen in black. At some point, the songs begin to reveal themselves, to take some kind of form, which is when I type the new lyrics into my laptop. Here, I begin the long process of working on the words, adding verses, taking them away, and refining the language, until the song arrives at its destination. At this stage, I take one of the yellowing back pages I have cut from old second-hand books, and, on my Olympia typewriter, type out the lyrics. I then glue it into my bespoke notebook, number it, date-stamp it, and sticker it. The song is then ?officially? completed.' (Interview Magazine, 16 December 2020). Provenance: Acquired from a private collection, The Netherlands, in 2024 According to the previous owner, these lyrics to Fire Boy were acquired by them from Mute Records audio engineer Kevin Paul, who was an assistant producer during the Grinderman 2 recording sessions in London in July 2009; the lyrics are accompanied by an autograph signed statement by Nick Cave that reads: 'I give this stuff to Kevin' (Cave also presented Paul with a group of 12 figurines he had made by hand during the sessions).…
Seller Inventory # 46193
Bibliographic details
- Title
- Original autograph first draft of the lyrics to the Grinderman song "Fire Boy". London, July 2009.
- Author
- CAVE, Nick (1957- )
- Binding
- Soft cover
Douglas Stewart Fine Books
Armadale, VIC, Australia
Shipping rates from Australia to U.S.A.
| Item | 8 to 14 business days | 25 to 45 business days |
|---|---|---|
| First item | £ 27.76 | £ 27.76 |
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Douglas Stewart Fine Books is an antiquarian bookseller based in Melbourne, Australia. Our showroom is in High Street, Armadale, a precinct famous for its antique dealers, art galleries and bookshops. We buy and sell books both locally and around the world, working closely with clients to understand their collecting priorities and to source appropriate material. Our clients include libraries, galleries, museums, private collectors and fellow members of the trade. Douglas Stewart is a member of the major international trade associations, and his business is conducted according to their high ethical standards. For many years he has been a Board member of the Australian and New Zealand Association of Antiquarian Booksellers (ANZAAB) and is currently its President; he is also a Mentor for the International League of Antiquarian Booksellers. Douglas Stewart Fine Books sells rare books across all fields, but our strengths are in travel and exploration – particularly of Australia and the Pacific – and Australian art. In addition, we deal in all types of heritage material, including photographs, manuscripts, ephemera, maps and globes, and fine art. Each month we issue a new online catalogue of recent acquisitions; we recommend that you join our email list so you can be among the first to see what’s available. Please do not hesitate to contact us regarding any works you see online – we are always happy to assist with your enquiries. We are also keen to buy rare and interesting books, photographs and ephemera, from important single items to entire libraries or collections. You are welcome to contact us if you have something to sell which you think may be of interest to us. We love meeting new people and welcoming visitors to our shop (open Monday to Saturday), but if you can't make it to Melbourne you can find probably find us at one of the major fairs in London, New York, Los Angeles, Amsterdam, Toronto, San Francisco, Boston, Hong Kong or Sydney - all places we have exhibited in since 2009. Douglas Stewart Fine Books…
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Douglas Stewart Fine Books Pty. Ltd.
720 High Street
Armadale, VIC Australia 3143
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Douglas Stewart Fine Books Pty. Ltd.
ABN: 44 143 361 479
720 High Street
Armadale VIC 3143
Australia
+61 3 9066 0200
info@douglasstewart.com.au
douglasstewart.com.au
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