Nick Cave would be “very happy” to have Elvis Presley’s music played at his funeral.
The 63-year-old musician was asked by a fan, whose father had an Elvis-themed funeral, which songs he’d like to have at his service when he passes on and admitted he’d love to have the late King of Rock and Roll’s 1970 hit ‘Kentucky Rain’ play “with heaven and all its angels listening”.
The fan wrote on Nick’s Red Hand Files website: “No, we didn’t dress up in white jumpsuits, but his coffin had Elvis pictures and lyrics, and Elvis songs were played for him. I don’t know if anyone has asked you this before in The Red Hand Files, but what songs would you like played at your own funeral?
To which the “moved” singer replied: “I was very moved by your letter. I’m sure your dad would have been very happy with his Elvis-themed funeral. Thinking about it, I would be very happy with one too — to be ushered into the next world by the voice of the greatest rock ‘n’ roll singer of them all.
“’Kentucky Rain’, that’s what I’d like, ‘Kentucky Rain and How Great Thou Art’ — Elvis singing gospel, with heaven and all its angels listening. It was a lovely thing to do for your dad. Sounds like you did a great job.”
Meanwhile, Nick previously admitted he was “deeply possessive” over his son’s death on the site.
The Bad Seeds frontman’s son Arthur, who was just 15, fell off a cliff near the family’s home in Brighton in 2015 and died from his injuries.
And Nick and his wife Susie Bick struggled with the fact the tragic accident impacted everyone who lived in the area.
In 2019, he was asked for advice on coping with grief by a fan named Hannah whose mother had been killed and he wrote: “The tragedy of my son’s death is inscribed into the collective consciousness of the town where we live and where he died. I have had to learn to share the reality of his passing with the town itself because it affected us all.
“I doubt there was a mother in Brighton who did not feel a chill of horror and cling to her own children a little tighter upon hearing the news of Arthur’s senseless accident. But Arthur was our child, our own flesh and blood; Susie and I didn’t want to share him with anyone, and we were deeply possessive over his absence.”
But eventually, the couple grew to “understand” that Arthur was mourned by their wider community and a lot of people shared the feelings he and Susie had.
He continued: “It took us some time to understand that, while he belonged to us, he belonged to the world too.
“In time, we understood that, although we were the ultimate custodians of Arthur’s memory, he was in fact mourned by many and many people felt outraged at the cruelty and randomness of the event, just as we did.
“Susie and I individually and together had to find a way to be with Arthur, but also to share him with a multitude.”
The rocker and his wife were eventually able to find their own place to grieve Arthur and have a “necessary and ongoing conversation” with him.