"I’ve Nothing Against Miley Cyrus" – Nick Cave Explains New Album Lyrics

In a recent interview with Alexis Petridis for The Guardian, Nick Cave explains the lyrics of ‘Higgs Boson Blues,’ which ends with the image of Miley Cyrus floating in a pool. The Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds song is taken from their forthcoming album, entitled Push The Sky Away (due for release on February 18, 2013) but Cave insists he’s got “nothing in particular against Miley Cyrus.”

“I don't know that she's face down," he explains to Petridis. "Maybe she's on a lilo. In some ways, if she is lying on a lilo then it's even more of a devastating image, considering the nature of the song and the absolute spiritual collapse that's happening all around her. No, let's say she's just on a lilo.” Cave goes on to explain how Miley Cyrus ended up becoming embroiled in the lengthy song (the album version is just shy of 8 minutes long) in the first place. “I was in Madame Tussauds with my kids and they were hugging Miley Cyrus's waxwork,” he explains. “Elizabeth Taylor as Cleopatra was in the next room. They were groping Miley Cyrus, and I'm going, well, hang on a second, you've got Elizabeth Taylor here. 'Who?' And that had some impact on me, and that's why she's floating in the pool."

Watch a recent performance of 'Higgs Boson Blues'

The Australian songwriter started out in the garage punk band The Birthday Party in th 1980s and evolved into something of a sophisticated songwriter, penning duets (well, murder ballads) with the likes of Kylie Minogue and Polly Jean Harvey. Push the Sky Away is Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds’ 15th album and their first since 2008’s Dig, Lazarus, Dig.