Moonland

The start of the song seems to be from Slaughterhouse Five by Kurt Vonnegut. The character Billy Pilgrim - and Vonnegut himself in world war two - are one of the few survivors of the fire-bombing of dresden, because they were in a meat locker. When they come up, after two days of burning, the city was destroyed and described desolate and covered in ash, looking like the moon.

This song might be about a man killing his loved one because his not her "favourite lover". It begins at the end with the protagonist coming out of the meat-locker in which he might have left the body. Afterwards the events that came before are described - "I followed that car" etc'.

Anyone agrees?

Nick Cave (From The Sun March 7, 2008): "'Moonland' is about a guy whose woman has criticized him sexually. There might be some men on this planet who have never had that experience. Not many. It's part of the male experience and it's devastating. To criticize a man's sexual prowess can reduce that man to a dribbling wreck."

For further info, see the Grinderman song Decoration Day

I agree with the vonnegut quote, I always think of that for the first part of the song, but it seems to change meaning after that. But that is a great book.

This song to me suggests it's an expression of feeling unappreciated by someone for a long time. Giving us imagery of traveling at night in one season and then feeling the same thing dealing with the same scenario in another place in another season still under the moon.

I believe after seeing this song performed by Cave last month, that he is singing about his constant need for recognition from others -through his craft. It is the Cave's vanity that drives him in this case, and it is this same vanity that causes him to conclude 'whispering DJ On the radio, I'm not your favourite lover'. He finally pleads for our attention when he cries 'But somebody needs you/And that somebody is me'.

Quite a narcissistic look at songwrting and the motivations of artists.

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To me this song is a nice twist on the traditional "finding out your lover is cheating" tale. The first few verses see the song's persona in an accusatory mode, describing the night when he discovered his lover going behind his back both bitterly and almost triumphantly. Then, suddenly, everything turns around at the end when the narrator admits that he still loves the woman despite her actions ("but somebody needs you/And that somebody is me". Despite everything, he shows that he's still completely in her thrall.

To me this song is a nice twist on the traditional "finding out your lover is cheating" tale. The first few verses see the song's persona in an accusatory mode, describing the night when he discovered his lover going behind his back both bitterly and almost triumphantly. Then, suddenly, everything turns around at the end when the narrator admits that he still loves the woman despite her actions ("but somebody needs you/And that somebody is me". Despite everything, he shows that he's still completely in her thrall.

To me this song is a nice twist on the traditional "finding out your lover is cheating" tale. The first few verses see the song's persona in an accusatory mode, describing the night when he discovered his lover going behind his back both bitterly and almost triumphantly. Then, suddenly, everything turns around at the end when the narrator admits that he still loves the woman despite her actions ("but somebody needs you/And that somebody is me". Despite everything, he shows that he's still completely in her thrall.