# The Good Son (album)

Professional ratings :
| Review scores ||
| Source | Rating |
| AllMusic | |
| Drowned in Sound | 9/10 |
| Entertainment Weekly | B |
| Los Angeles Times | |
| NME | 8/10 |
| Paste | 7.8/10 |
| Q | |
| Record Mirror | 4/5 |
| The Rolling Stone Album Guide | |
| Uncut | |
The Good Son is the sixth studio album by the Australian rock band Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds, released on 17 April 1990 by Mute Records.
After two dark and harrowing studio albums with Your Funeral... My Trial (1986) and Tender Prey (1988), The Good Son was a substantial departure with a lighter and generally more uplifting sound. The change of mood was greatly inspired by lead vocalist Nick Cave falling in love with Brazilian journalist Viviane Carneiro, and an apparently salutary spell in rehab which purged much of the despair and squalor reflected in the previous two studio albums. Cave later said, "I guess The Good Son is some kind of reflection of the way I felt early on in Brazil. I was quite happy there. I was in love and the first year or two was good. The problem I found was ... in order to survive you have to adopt their attitudes towards everything, which are kind of blinkered."

## Singles and release history

The Good Son was preceded by the release of "The Ship Song" single. A different version of "The Weeping Song" was later released as a single, with a different mix from the album version.
The closing track "Lucy" was resurrected in 1993 as a B-side of "What a Wonderful World", a collaboration of the Bad Seeds and the Pogues' Shane MacGowan.
The album was remastered and reissued on 29 March 2010 as a collector's edition CD/DVD set.

## Track listing

All tracks are written by Nick Cave, except where noted.

## Song details

"Foi Na Cruz" is based partly upon the traditional Brazilian Protestant hymn of the same title. The title translates roughly as "It Happened on the Cross".
"The Good Son" – the opening chant is based loosely upon the African American traditional song "Another Man Done Gone". A recording of this traditional song, by the American folk singer Odetta, later appeared on Original Seeds Vol. 1 (1998), a compilation of material that influenced Cave. The Biblical story of Cain and Abel is an obvious influence on the song, which describes a "a tiller and he has a tiller's hand" like Cain, a farmer who feuds with and kills his brother.
"The Witness Song" is based loosely upon the traditional American gospel song "Who Will be a Witness?".
Four of the songs on the album were left with their working titles ("The Ship Song", "The Weeping Song", "The Hammer Song", "The Witness Song").
The instrumental B-side "Cocks 'n' Asses" was retitled "The B-side Song" for the USA release.

## Singles

* "The Ship Song" (MUTE 108) (12 March 1990)
** b/w: "The Train Song"
* "The Weeping Song" (MUTE 118) (17 September 1990)
** b/w: "Cocks 'n' Asses" / "Helpless"

## Personnel

Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds
* Nick Cave – vocals; piano; Hammond organ; harmonica
* Mick Harvey – bass; acoustic guitar; vibraphone; percussion; backing vocals; all guitars on "The Hammer Song"
* Blixa Bargeld – guitar; backing vocals; co-lead "Father" vocals on "The Weeping Song"
* Kid Congo Powers – guitar
* Thomas Wydler – drums; percussion
with:
* Roland Wolf – piano on reprise section of "Lucy"
* Clóvis Trindade, Rubinho – vocals on "Foi Na Cruz"
String Section
* Alexandre Ramirez, Altamir Téa Bueno Salinas, Helena Akiku Imasoto, Léa Kalil Sadi – violin
* Akira Terazaki, Glauco Masahiro Imasato – viola
* Braulio Marques Lima, Cristina Manescu – cello
* Cláudia Ferreti – string and singer coordinator
* Mick Harvey and Billy McGee – string arrangements