Q: Have you ever imagined that Bob Dylan would be attending your shows and writing nice tweets about them? [ John, NYC]
Dear John,
Sitting in bed with Susie in a post-tour stupor, watching ‘Carry On Up the Khyber’ and eating Belgian chocolates (gift from a fan), my phone suddenly lit up as excited friends started sending me Bob Dylan’s tweet–
‘Saw Nick Cave in Paris recently at the Accord Arena and I was really struck by that song Joy where he sings “We’ve all had too much sorrow, now is the time for joy.” I was thinking to myself, yeah that’s about right.
I hadn’t known Bob was at the concert and his tweet was a lovely pulse of joy that penetrated my exhausted, zombied state.
‘You’ve perked up!” said Susie.
I was happy to see Bob on X, just as many on the Left had performed a Twitterectomy and headed for Bluesky. It felt admirably perverse, in a Bob Dylan kind of way. I did indeed feel it was a time for joy rather than sorrow. There had been such an excess of despair and desperation around the election, and one couldn’t help but ask when it was that politics became everything.
The world had grown thoroughly disenchanted, and its feverish obsession with politics and its leaders had thrown up so many palisades that had prevented us from experiencing the presence of anything remotely like the spirit, the sacred, or the transcendent – that holy place where joy resides. I felt proud to have been touring with The Bad Seeds and offering, in the form of a rock ‘n ’roll show, an antidote to this despair, one that transported people to a place beyond the dreadful drama of the political moment.
I was elated to think Bob Dylan had been in the audience, and since I doubt I’ll get an opportunity to thank him personally, I’ll thank him here. Thank you, Bob!
“You’ve definitely perked up!” said Susie.
Love, Nick.
PS I appreciate everyone’s patience with The Red Hand Files over the last few months. Finding the time, energy, and concentration on tour to give your questions the answers they deserve has been challenging. But I’m home now, so it will be business as usual. I’m thrilled to be back! Indeed, I’m overjoyed!