Palaces of Montezuma: The sweetest love song Nick Cave never meant to write

Nick Cave's side project Grinderman was supposed to be all grit and growl, a garage-rock howl against civility. Yet, in 'Palaces of Montezuma,' the band delivers something startling: a love song radiant with joy, dressed in Cave's sardonic wit, but glowing with tenderness.

The track, from the band's album, Grinderman 2, is a catalogue of gifts-'the spinal cord of JFK,' 'the Amazonian tribesman's head-dress,' 'the palaces of Montezuma/ And the gardens of Akbar's tomb'/ I give to you'-each surreal offering piling up like mythic treasures. But beneath it all lies utter love that transforms even the strangest relics into tokens of devotion.

Grinderman's guitars, usually snarling, here shimmer with restraint while Cave's baritone croons with a warmth that borders on divine.


The song is simultaneously playful and heartfelt. The listener is swept into a palace of affection, where the architecture is held up by the pillars of one chorus: 'C'mon baby, let's get out of the cold/ And gimme, gimme, gimme your precious love for me to hold.'