Red Right Hand by Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds
Red Right Hand by Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds

Red Right Hand

Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds * Track #5 On Let Love In

Download "Red Right Hand"

Red Right Hand by Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds

Release Date
Mon Apr 18 1994
Produced by
Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds & Tony Cohen
Writed by
Nick Cave & Thomas Wydler & Mick Harvey
About

The notion of a Red Right Hand goes back to John Milton’s Paradise Lost where it also plays the role of an undefined threat. There are discussions among scholars whether it concerns the hand of Satan or the punishing hand of God himself.

To back up the lyrics, the whole song has a threatening allur...

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Red Right Hand Lyrics

[Verse 1]
Take a little walk to the edge of town and go across the tracks
Where the viaduct looms, like a bird of doom as it shifts and cracks
Where secrets lie in the border fires in the humming wires
Hey man, you know you're never coming back
Past the square, past the bridge, past the mills, past the stacks
On a gathering storm comes a tall handsome man
In a dusty black coat with a red right hand

[Verse 2]
He'll wrap you in his arms, tell you that you've been a good boy
He'll rekindle all the dreams, it took you a lifetime to destroy
He'll reach deep into the hole, heal your shrinking soul
But there won't be a single thing that you can do
He's a god, he's a man, he's a ghost, he's a guru
They're whispering his name through this disappearing land
But hidden in his coat is a red right hand

[Verse 3]
You don't have no money? He'll get you some
You don't have no car? He'll get you one
You don't have no self-respect, you feel like an insect
Well don't you worry buddy 'cause here he comes
Through the ghettos and the barrio and the Bowery and the slums
A shadow is cast wherever he stands
Stacks of green paper in his red right hand

[Instrumental Break]

[Verse 4]
You'll see him in your nightmares, you'll see him in your dreams
He'll appear out of nowhere but he ain't what he seems
You'll see him in your head, on the TV screen
Hey buddy, I'm warning you to turn it off
He's a ghost, he's a god, he's a man, he's a guru
You're one microscopic cog in his catastrophic plan
Designed and directed by his red right hand

[Instrumental Outro]

Red Right Hand Q&A

Who wrote Red Right Hand's ?

Red Right Hand was written by Nick Cave & Thomas Wydler & Mick Harvey.

Who produced Red Right Hand's ?

Red Right Hand was produced by Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds & Tony Cohen.

When did Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds release Red Right Hand?

Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds released Red Right Hand on Mon Apr 18 1994.

Does the symbolism of the song's lyrics run deeper than Milton?

Arguably, I would say yes it does. Another possible interpretation could be that the song is to do with the Ulster Voluntary Force and there actions during The Troubles in Northern Ireland. The paramilitary section of the UVF referred to themselves as the ‘Red Right Hand’, quite possibly deriving fr...

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What did Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds say about "Red Right Hand"?

Bad Seeds' former guitarist and co-founder Mick Harvey, who is also credited as co-writer of the song, said:

It’s a song that has fairly humble beginnings. Much of it came from a jam we were working on when we writing songs for our album Let Love In. […] I still find it all mysterious. I don’t want...

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