Issue #371 / July 2026
30 SHORTS
Are you ever on tour, sitting in Room 104 of the Fairmont Hotel in Montreux, too tired to write a proper, thoughtful Red Hand File, so you just bang out 30 quick ones?
NICK, MONTREUX, SWITZERLAND
THE CARYATIDS ON THE ERECHTHEION, THE ACROPOLIS, 421 - 406 BCE
|
Yes.
Was ‘Do You Love Me’ inspired by John 21:15?
EWAN, TEXAS, USA Of course.
Is “the little white shape dancing at the end of the hall” a shadow of your beloved son?
EDUARDO, VINCENZA, ITALY Yes, I love this song and the little white shape dancing at the end of the hall coupled with is a wish that time can’t dissolve at all is its beautiful heart.
You say your favourite colour is pistachio, are you nuts
BRIAN, LONDON, UK I love you for this.
Where is your favourite cave?
ANNA, CANTERBURY, UK Next to me.
Why do so many artists go soft after having kids? Is that what happened to you, you think?
SUNE, COPENHAGEN, DENMARK Definitely.
Are you interested in feminist art? Any in particular?
WANDA, ADELAIDE, AUSTRALIA Sure. Mad Meg by Pieter Bruegel the Elder, and the Erechtheion on the Acropolis.
 MAD MEG BY PIETER BRUEGEL THE ELDER, C. 1562 how do you feel about lesbians?
MARIKA, WARSAW, POLAND I’m a big fan. I think I am one.
You’re the biggest sellout of the 21st Century. Why did you allow Red Right Hand to be in the Netflix Hulk Hogan documentary? Wax on all you want about the higher power, but Nick Cave’s God is the All Mighty Dollar.
JAYDEN, LONDON, CANADA Two things, Jayden – number one, you’re writing your complaint on a free, non-monetised platform, and number two, I’m not the one watching a fucking Hulk Hogan documentary.
Why doesn’t Warren play a REAL guitar?
SHAUN, OXFORD, UK I asked him. He said, because when you pick up a real guitar in the Bad Seeds, you end up getting thrown out of the band.
“Carlito’s Way” is better than “Scarface”. Face facts.
PAUL, UP NORTH, UK Not even close.
With the army of scribes writing to you for the Files, do you get to read them all — or is there a myopic minion chained to the radiator in the cellar tasked with this Herculean effort of wheat & chaff sifting?
STEPHEN, MALAHIDE, IRELAND No. I read every question as a matter of duty. It’s beautiful, actually, a beautiful thing to do.
I recently watched the Chronology of Water, and your son, Earl, was in it. His performance was sensitive and vibrant. You must be immensely proud of him.
KATHRYN, LEEDS, UK Chronology of Water is a powerful and important film. And I’m always proud of Earl.
Have you ever eaten a dolphin?
THOR, REYKJAVIK, ICELAND Only its smile.
It is painful to watch my parents age and see their bodies gradually fall apart. How do you cope with that?
YUKO, TOKYO, JAPAN I don’t undress in front of my children.
I remember reading somewhere about you doing a bungee jump but have been unable to track down the source. Is it true or am I remembering falsely?
DAVE, ANDOVER, UK It’s true. I bungee jumped over the Hudson River in New York in the nineties.
When you answer the questions in the red hand files, what is the ratio between the truth and storytelling?
KIRSTY, PALMERSTON NORTH, NEW ZEALAND There is truth, and there is storytelling. While the stories aren’t strictly true, they are made of the stuff of truth, truth’s essence, and often feel truer than true itself, and thus more compelling.
(Re: Issue #369) Jesus. Imagine meeting some lovely sounding people like Dorrie and Sven doing their relational best to connect with you after loving your music for much of their lives and then behind their back you decide to use them as a medium to answer that vacuous question. So uncharming. Major loser, mean energy from you. Get the fuck over yourself.
FARAH, ABERDEEN, UK Farah, my dear, Dorrie and Sven are not true.
As someone the same age as you, I found this last post rude and offensive to us oldies
CHARLIE, BRIGHTON, UK I’ve heard it said that the first thing to go when you grow old is your sense of humour. Let’s prove ‘em wrong, Charlie, you doddery old fucker.
“The Red Hand Files Issue #369” was the meanest thing I’ve read in a long while. Not cool.
MARCO, RUPPERSWIL, SWITZERLAND 🙄
(Re: Issue #369) Which Cure album did you put on (after meeting Sven and Dorrie)? Surely Disintegration? One of the most beautiful intros to an album ever?
SOPHIE, BRIGHTON, UK Yes, I completely agree. Disintegration is an amazing album, and the first song, ‘Plainsong,’ is a masterpiece.
Today I turn 40. I don’t like my birthday.
All the expectations around it, the rituals of gift giving, the rules for how it’s supposed to be celebrated, the singing, the gathering, the people who only message me on this one day and disappear for the rest of the year, it feels arbitrary, and it makes me genuinely uncomfortable. I’m not sad about getting older, just not amused. What would your perfect birthday look like? MAGALI, MELBOURNE, AUSTRALIA A perfect birthday for me is the ritual of gift-giving, the rules of celebration, singing, gathering, people messaging me out of the blue, and acknowledging with immense gratitude the rare privilege of having these things in my life.
A friend just asked me to sign a petition to ask participating Eurovision countries to boycott the competition due to Israel’s participation and now qualification in the final….
I won’t sign because I feel like there must be lovely people in Israel who dislike the actions of their government. And some who just want to make music. And that these groups may intersect. I’ve been really enjoying the music of Israeli artist Noga Erez recently. Should I not, because the government of the country where she was born are murderous sociopaths? What should I do? LEAH, MELBOURNE, AUSTRALIA Find a new friend.
What would you recommend we see, eat, drink and do in Brighton?
TIM, LOS ANGELES, USA Have lunch at my Brighton local, Nanima Asian Kitchen and Café, on St. George’s Road. Tell them that Nick sent you.
How did your children come to you? How did they take shape in your heart and mind?
ANNA, GRONINGEN, THE NETHERLANDS Unplanned, reckless, beautiful, wonderful.
David Gilmore said that the last album he became obsessed with was one of yours 🙂
ADAM, SYDNEY, AUSTRALIA Very happy to hear that. I love that Dave’s voice sounds the same as his guitar – such a gorgeous tone.
No question for you necessarily, just a quick hello from a particular park bench in Elsternwick. I have noticed your mum, Dawn Cave’s bench many times, but today I’m sitting there with her in my thoughts, and my partner’s mum, who was a Dawn, and all the fine Dawns who continue to be here in spirit.
ROSEMARY, ELSTERNWICK, AUSTRALIA “All the fine Dawns,” lovely. I miss my mum.
Do you like Westerns?
ETHAN, OKLAHOMA CITY, OKLAHOMA, USA Yes, especially The Proposition, the best Western ever made! It’s Australian! Discuss.
Do you realise that you sometimes come across like a right pretentious prick
DAVE, DRIFFIELD, UK Yes, I do, Dave. We creative types often get accused of that.
I am 15, and I’m just wrapping up my freshman year. I am a really big fan of your music. [ ] I have a lot of friends but no one is like me, I can’t relate to anyone. I am a really big fan of poetry and music and I write poetry and music all day long. [ ] What do I do with these 400 poems on my phone I’m so proud of, how do I find people to talk to about it. Thank you, Mr Cave, thanks for changing my life and letting me feel a part of something and being an amazing friend in my head, walking down the school halls.
BEN, …., USA Don’t let it get you down. There are many creative young people out there like you – you’ll find them, or they’ll find you, eventually. In the meantime, send me a couple (not 400!) of your poems, I’d love to read them.
Love, Nick |