Red Right Hand

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1994 single by Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds

title: "Red Right Hand" type: doc version: 1 created: 2026-02-28 author: "Wikipedia contributors" status: active scope: public tags: ["songs-about-criminals", "songs-about-stalking", "1994-singles", "nick-cave-songs", "arctic-monkeys-songs", "songs-written-by-nick-cave", "songs-written-by-mick-harvey", "pj-harvey-songs", "1994-songs", "music-videos-directed-by-jesse-dylan", "mute-records-singles", "television-drama-theme-songs", "scream-(film-series)"] description: "1994 single by Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds" topic_path: "arts" source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Red_Right_Hand" license: "CC BY-SA 4.0" wikipedia_page_id: 0 wikipedia_revision_id: 0

::summary 1994 single by Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds ::

::data[format=table title="Infobox song"]

FieldValue
nameRed Right Hand
coverRedRightHand.jpg
typesingle
artistNick Cave and the Bad Seeds
albumLet Love In
B-side* "That's What Jazz Is to Me"
released
recordedSeptember – December 1993
genre* Southern gothic
* blues{{cite weblast
* gothic folk{{cite weblast
* gothic rock{{cite booklast1
length* 6:10 (album version)
labelMute
writer* Nick Cave
producerTony Cohen
prev_titleLoverman
prev_year1994
next_titleWhere the Wild Roses Grow
next_year1995
misc{{Extra track listing
albumLet Love In
typesingle
::

::callout[type=note]

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| name = Red Right Hand | cover = RedRightHand.jpg | alt = | type = single | artist = Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds | album = Let Love In | B-side = * "That's What Jazz Is to Me"

  1. "Do You Love Me?"
  2. "Nobody's Baby Now"
  3. "Loverman"
  4. "Jangling Jack"
  5. "Red Right Hand"
  6. "I Let Love In"
  7. "Thirsty Dog"
  8. "Ain't Gonna Rain Anymore"
  9. "Lay Me Low"
  10. "Do You Love Me? Pt 2" "Red Right Hand" is a song by the Australian rock band Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds. It was released as a single from their eighth studio album, Let Love In (1994), on 24 October 1994 by Mute Records. An edited version was included on the single, while the longer version was included on the album. The title comes from John Milton's epic poem Paradise Lost (1667), in which it refers to the vengeful hand of God.

The song has become one of Nick Cave's signature songs, being performed at most of his concerts; only "The Mercy Seat" has appeared in more of his live sets since 1984. It has since become best known for its use in the Scream film series and later as the theme song to the British period crime drama TV series Peaky Blinders, which resulted in the song receiving a re-release single in 2014. It has been covered by ex-partner PJ Harvey, Arctic Monkeys, Iggy Pop, Pete Yorn, Jarvis Cocker and Snoop Dogg, among others.

In 2005, Cave was a guest performer on his former girlfriend Anita Lane's cover of the song.

Background

::figure[src="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/7/75/Wangaratta_rail_yards.jpg" caption="The town described in the song is loosely based on Cave's hometown of [[Wangaratta]]. (Pictured: [[Wangaratta railway station]], 1954)."] ::

The liner notes for Murder Ballads state that the phrase "red right hand" is from a line in John Milton's epic poem Paradise Lost that refers to divine vengeance. The opening song on the album, "Song of Joy," states of a murderer: "It seems he has done many, many more, / quotes John Milton on the walls in the victim's blood. / The police are investigating at tremendous cost. / In my house he wrote 'his red right hand'. / That, I'm told, is from Paradise Lost."

The aforementioned appearance in Paradise Lost (Book II, 170-174) is: "What if the breath that kindled those grim fires, / Awaked, should blow them into sevenfold rage, / And plunge us in the flames; or from above / Should intermitted vengeance arm again / His red right hand to plague us?" The term itself appears to be Milton's translation of the term "rubente dextera" in Horace's Ode I.2,2-3.

Co-writer Mick Harvey recalled that the song originated during the songwriting process for the band's 1994 album Let Love In. The lyrics describe "a shadowy, alluring, and manipulative figure, stalking the land and striking a combination of fear and awe everywhere he goes" who is "seemingly part deity, part demon". While writing the lyrics, Cave "filled an entire notebook" with descriptions of the town the song is set in, "including maps and sketches of prominent buildings, virtually none of which made it into the lyrics." Cave later said that the town and landscape depicted in the song is a "reconstructed" version of Wangaratta, his hometown. Biographer Mark Mordue notes that it is "still somewhere real enough for those lyrics to serve as a map that could guide you from one point to another with an eerie familiarity."

In 2004, researcher Kim Beissel claimed that "Red Right Hand" was loosely based on the 1987 Tom Waits song "Way Down in the Hole".

Critical reception

"Red Right Hand" is widely regarded as one of Cave's best songs. In 2020, Far Out ranked the song number five on their list of the 20 greatest Nick Cave songs, and in 2023, Mojo ranked the song number six on their list of the 30 greatest Nick Cave songs. In 2025, the song ranked 98 on the Triple J Hottest 100 of Australian Songs.

Music video

The accompanying music video for "Red Right Hand" was directed by American director Jesse Dylan and produced by Liz Friedlander for DNA. It was released on 17 October 1994 and features the band playing creepy house guests with a destructive bent.

Film and television

Advertising

  • The song was used in the South Australian Tourism Board's Barossa Valley television commercial campaign, Barossa, Be Consumed, directed by Jeffrey Darling.
  • The song was used by New York design firm GrandArmy in a promotional clip for the Mexican tequila company El Jimador.

Films and soundtracks

''Scream'' franchise

  • The song was used in the first three films in the Scream franchise and in the fifth installment of the series, also named Scream, as well as the sixth installment. Scream 4 stands as the only film in the franchise not to feature the song. The original version appeared on the soundtrack album for the first film in 1996, while a remixed version by DJ Spooky appears on the Scream 2 (1997) album.
  • Nick Cave recorded another version, sometimes referred to as "Red Right Hand 2", for Scream 3 (2000) and released it on his 3CD compilation album, B-Sides & Rarities (2005).

Television

Covers

Track listing

  • Euro three-track CD single
  1. "Red Right Hand"
  2. "That's What Jazz Is to Me"
  3. "Where the Action Is"

Personnel

Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds

Charts

::data[format=table title="1994 chart performance for "Red Right Hand""] | Chart (1994) | Peak position | Australia (ARIA) | UK Indie (OCC) | |---|---|---|---| | 124 | | | | | 16 | | | | ::

::data[format=table title="2022 chart performance for "Red Right Hand""] | Chart (2022) | Peak position | |---|---| ::

Certifications

References

References

  1. Cutchin, Joshua. (3 October 2015). "Southern Gothic: Ten unconventional songs to put you in the Halloween mood".
  2. Trakin, Roy. (8 February 2018). "Case Study: How a 1994 Nick Cave Song Became a Favorite of Music Supervisors".
  3. Graves, Wren. (8 October 2019). "Nick Cave says Snoop Dogg's "Red Right Hand" cover left "a giant smile on my face"".
  4. (2015). "Goth Music: From Sound to Subculture". [[Routledge]].
  5. "Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds Tour Statistics - setlist.fm".
  6. Phull, Hardeep. (22 June 2016). "The unlikely story behind 'Peaky Blinders' theme song". [[New York Post]].
  7. Wray, John (1 July 2014). [https://www.nytimes.com/2014/07/06/magazine/i-am-the-real-nick-cave.html "I Am the Real Nick Cave"], ''[[The New York Times]]''. Retrieved 21 March 2021.
  8. Mordue, Mark (2020). ''Boy on Fire: The Young Nick Cave''. 4th Estate, {{ISBN. 9781460713211.
  9. [[Original Seeds]] Vol. 2: Songs that inspired Nick Cave & the Bad Seeds, Kim Beissel, CD liner notes, Rubber Records Australia, 2004
  10. Whatley, Jack. (September 22, 2020). "Nick Cave's 20 greatest songs of all time".
  11. (November 14, 2023). "Nick Cave's 30 Greatest Songs Ranked".
  12. "Countdown #1 to #100 - Hottest 100 Australian Songs".
  13. (October 8, 1994). "Promos In Production".
  14. Newstead, Al. (2013-05-23). "Nick Cave Provides Soundtrack For Barossa Valley Tourism Campaign".
  15. "El Jimador".
  16. "Peaky Blinders playlist".
  17. Britton, Luke Morgan. (14 December 2017). "Listen to Iggy Pop and Jarvis Cocker's cover of 'Peaky Blinders' theme 'Red Right Hand'". [[NME]].
  18. Fennessy, Kathleen C.. "Cover Magazine - Giant Sand". [[AllMusic]].
  19. "Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds ARIA chart history (singles) 1989-2025". ARIA.
  20. (12 November 1994). "Independent Singles".

::callout[type=info title="Wikipedia Source"] This article was imported from Wikipedia and is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Content has been adapted to SurfDoc format. Original contributors can be found on the article history page. ::

songs-about-criminalssongs-about-stalking1994-singlesnick-cave-songsarctic-monkeys-songssongs-written-by-nick-cavesongs-written-by-mick-harveypj-harvey-songs1994-songsmusic-videos-directed-by-jesse-dylanmute-records-singlestelevision-drama-theme-songsscream-(film-series)