"Shivers" - The Boys Next Door

Nick Cave's first band, The Birthday Party, was originally called The Boys Next Door. Their first album was called Door, Door and it came out in 1979. "Shivers" is the only track I've heard from it. The lyrics are pretty great, I think, and it's inspiring to see that Cave was so good even at this early stage. This was almost thirty years ago--he was just twenty at the time--and you can hear a distinct difference in his voice. He's definitely crooning on this one, and one of the best moments is when he goes pretty flat on the line "My heart is really on it's knees." It's still really great though, and thinking about it now, I'm reminded of listening to "Lay Lady Lay" for the first time and not really believing it was Bob Dylan singing.





"She makes me feel so ugly
My heart is really on it's knees
But I keep a poker face so well
That even mother couldn't tell

But my baby's so vain
She is almost a mirror
And the sound of her name
Sends a perennial shiver down my spine."

SPY-YI-YI-YI-YI-YI-YI-YI-YI-YINE!