And No More Shall We Part

I thoroughly agree with mackka on this one - where they hell are you guys getting murder, much less murder suicide. It seems murder ballads has done it's damage, but lets be fair here - nick's been killing chicks in songs long before murder ballads - 6" Gold Blade comes to mind - Your Funeral, My Trial - hell he even covered Hey Joe. Granted he's written more plain old murder ballads before Murder Ballads, but there's been some ladies in there too.

But i digress....

To me this song seems like a negative take on marriage as a whole - similar to what appars66 is saying. Look at the language he's using. "Locked upon this finger" "contracts are drawn up" "hatchets are buried" - perhaps its him hoping to trap her and never feel lonely again - but someone who's stoked about marriage certainly isn't going to talk about it in such a way.

Even the phrase No more shall we part itself almost seems like a prison sentence. Who wants that? No one in there right mind anyway. To never part from someone is either the wish of a seriously maladjusted individual or someone who's trying to point out a significant flaw in either marriage or simply just monogamy itself.

I think this guy regrets this decision - whether he felt it was ever a good idea or not, i'm not sure, but he's certainly not happy with it now.

Nick's always petitioning god for no good reason - hell this albums full of it, so i don't know that there's anything overly significant about that bit, but maybe i'm wrong - i usually am. Either way, this song is not the love song it would cleverly disguise itself as.

There's no need to overanalyze this song. It seems to convey the idea of finding the ideal partner to marry for life. Once married, men (more than women) often question, “Do I need to be monogamous for life?” Ideally, the answer is yes. In reality, however, while it's a nice thought, it’s seldom the case.

He killed her and himself

I'm not sure about him killing himself... but he definitely knocks her off. It wouldn't be out of place on 'Murder Ballads'.

This song has always reminded me of the Robert Browning poem 'Porphyria's Lover'. It's about a Lady (like Lord) who visits the gardener (or servant or local hand or whatever) for some lurve (Lady Chatterley's Lover kinda thang). Anyway he's pissed right off cos he wants her all to himself and so, when she is in her arms, he strangles her with her own hair ('That moment she was mine, mine, fair,/Perfectly pure and good: I found/A thing to do, and all her hair/In one long yellow string I wound/Three times her little throat around,/And strangled her'). He then sits with her all night, with vague connotations that he's been indulging in some death-sex ('And thus we sit together now,/And all night long we have not stirr'd,/And yet God has not said a word!').

Mind you that's well off the point; just a cool poem. I don't see how he kills himself. The birds are singing 'to your beautiful heart'; not 'our beautiful hearts'.

In this song God does have something to say about it (unlike in Porphyria). However, God's lines are implied as we only hear the (clearly insane) narrator. The conversation probably goes something like this

God: Nick ol' son... what in the name of FUCK have you just done?

Nick: Chill out man. Don't go off on one. I had to do it cos I never was free.

God: You stupid little prick. What the fuck are you talking about. You were always free. I fuckin gave you free will and look what you've done with it. ASSHOLE!!! Listen I know the missus was a bit of a nag, and ok yeah it did look like she was about to leave you, but to silence her 'chain of command'... what are you sick?

Nick: Whoaoa. Dude... this is when I need you most. Don't go down now. I was never free. What are you talking about?

The narrator thinks that by 'lock'ing the 'ring upon the finger' he will be able to stop his wife's independent thought. The only way he can 'lock' it on is by removing her ability to take it off. So he kills her.

I agree with mackka and StickityWicket - there's absolutely nothing about murder or suicide here.

At one of his concerts, Nick introduced this as 'the wedding song'.

Frankly, as a non-native english speaker, I always thought it a bit different. The protagonist of this song had a very troubled relationship with that woman, but now, when they're getting married, it could all be good. At least, he hopes it and hopes that the marriage will save it.

It's a religious song. The Bible refers to the Church as the "Bride of Christ." I think it's about a guy who's struggled with women, loneliness, and life then achieved a forlorn salvation. He's not joyous, but he knows something is different.

To bury the hatchet is a common term for reconciliation, which the Crucifixion of Jesus is. The line that the "birds would have sung to your beautiful heart anyhow" sounds referential to a passage in the New Testament that if Jesus' followers would have stopped rejoicing during the Triumphal Entry, the rocks and stones would sing instead.

And the ending lines? Referential to writing of Paul. He spoke that a free man became a slave to Christ and a slave became a free man in Christ. It also refers to the idea that the unbelieving think themselves free, but a Christian knows they were always a slave.

It's a religious song, but not upbeat...because upbeat is not really the kind of songs that Nick Cave sings.

At the very begining it seems like a love song, he found a woman of his life ("the ring is locked upon the finger" - marriage, he will no longer be alone...) But then again... what's with the "And no more shall we part Your chain of command has been silenced now..."? And why is he saying that he's not free? On what kind of freedom is he refering to?

Please! Someone! :)

This isn't Join Me in death, nobody gets whacked, wouldn't you consider other one's death as parting?

I think the chain of command is saying her family has been silenced now. They are their own family. That is just my take.