Nick Cave wants his children to “grow into somewhat better versions of” him.
The 66-year-old musician has suffered a great deal of grief over the past decade, losing his 15-year-old son Arthur in 2015 and his 31-year-old son Jethro in 2022, but Nick – who also has sons Luke, 33, from his marriage to his first wife, Viviane Carneiro and Earl, 24, with spouse Susie Cave – revealed his hopes that his children will continue to do their “bit to improve the world”.
Writing on his blog, ‘The Red Hand Files’, in which he responds to questions from fans, Nick said: “One of the enduring privileges of advanced parenthood is finally being able to abandon any attempt to live up to the impossible standards set by our children. Instead, we lean back and fall unapologetically into our obsolescence. We understand that we are what we are and hope our children grow into somewhat better versions of ourselves. We feel we have done our bit to improve the world and pray that our children will continue to do so. We also hope that we have raised our children to be strong enough to withstand the generational contempt that will almost certainly come their way when they, in turn, have their own children.”
Nick also revealed that he and his sons occasionally disagree but they all try to learn from each other.
He added: “We old people are mostly content to see the world trip and falter toward a more tolerant, inclusive, and merciful version of itself. But we also want it to become less judgemental and sanctimonious, and we pray this is the case as we seek indications of a better world in the actions and opinions of our children. When one of my sons criticises me for holding a view that is a little out of order, or rather less progressive than they would like, I am, on some level, encouraged to see this as evidence that the world is moving in a more positive direction – even as I request they exercise some humility and stop being so self-righteous.”