I agree mostly with what's been said, but just thought I'd add a little extra tidbit i picked up on
I always read this song as a bit closer to Nick Cave's own position, though transposed into the centre of todays world--the economy. I think the character speaking is a man who, as several people have mentioned, had good intentions, but was slowly drained of them along the way. Suddenly, the focus sharpens again and he realises where he is and what he has become. He can see that everything around him is dead and decaying, yet he does nothing about it, and he doesn't k ow why. He even finds himself sinking deeper into it. I feel this is akin to Cave himself, who started out as this crazy man with so much to say about the terrible condition of the world, but as he has gotten older finds himself more and more at home. He watches himself go docilely into the abbattoir that kills everyone. The song perfectly captures the modern malaise, even musically, as it is repetitive but entrancing, with a slowly driving beat propelling it to its conclusion, "I've got the abbattoir blues" and there's not much we can do about it. Which is a fucking awesome line to go around singing or whistling.
I agree mostly with what's been said, but just thought I'd add a little extra tidbit i picked up on
I always read this song as a bit closer to Nick Cave's own position, though transposed into the centre of todays world--the economy. I think the character speaking is a man who, as several people have mentioned, had good intentions, but was slowly drained of them along the way. Suddenly, the focus sharpens again and he realises where he is and what he has become. He can see that everything around him is dead and decaying, yet he does nothing about it, and he doesn't k ow why. He even finds himself sinking deeper into it. I feel this is akin to Cave himself, who started out as this crazy man with so much to say about the terrible condition of the world, but as he has gotten older finds himself more and more at home. He watches himself go docilely into the abbattoir that kills everyone. The song perfectly captures the modern malaise, even musically, as it is repetitive but entrancing, with a slowly driving beat propelling it to its conclusion, "I've got the abbattoir blues" and there's not much we can do about it. Which is a fucking awesome line to go around singing or whistling.