Where the Wild Roses Grow
Producers
Where the Wild Roses Grow Lyrics
They call me The Wild Rose
But my name was Elisa Day
Why they call me it, I do not know
For my name was Elisa Day
[Verse 1: Nick Cave]
From the first day I saw her, I knew she was the one
She stared in my eyes and smiled
For her lips were the colour of the roses
That grew down the river, all bloody and wild
[Verse 2: Kylie Minogue]
When he knocked on my door and entered the room
My trembling subsided in his sure embrace
He would be my first man, and with a careful hand
He wiped at the tears that ran down my face
[Chorus: Kylie Minogue & Nick Cave]
They call me The Wild Rose
But my name was Elisa Day
Why they call me it, I do not know
For my name was Elisa Day
[Verse 3: Nick Cave]
On the second day, I brought her a flower
She was more beautiful than any woman I've seen
I said, "Do you know where the wild roses grow
So sweet and scarlet and free?"
On the second day, he came with a single red rose
He said, "Give me your loss and your sorrow"
I nodded my head as I lay on the bed
If I show you the roses, will you follow?
[Chorus: Kylie Minogue & Nick Cave]
They call me The Wild Rose
But my name was Elisa Day
Why they call me it, I do not know
For my name was Elisa Day
[Verse 5: Kylie Minogue]
On the third day, he took me to the river
He showed me the roses and we kissed
And the last thing I heard was a muttered word
As he knelt above me with a rock in his fist
[Verse 6: Nick Cave]
On the last day I took her where the wild roses grow
She lay on the bank, the wind light as a thief
And I kissed her goodbye, said, "All beauty must die"
And lent down and planted a rose between her teeth
[Chorus: Kylie Minogue & Nick Cave]
They call me The Wild Rose
But my name was Elisa Day
Why they call me it, I do not know
For my name was Elisa Day
My name was Elisa Day
For my name was Elisa Day
About
Track #5 from Nick Cave And The Bad Seeds‘ ninth studio album Murder Ballads, “Where The Wild Roses Grow” is duet between lead singer Nick Cave and pop singer Kylie Minogue, and was released as the album’s lead single.
Cave performed this song live with Minogue at a club called Koko in London as part of the making of the film 20,000 Days on Earth:
Q&A
Find answers to frequently asked questions about the song and explore its deeper meaning
“Where The Wild Roses Grow” was written very much with Kylie in mind. I’d wanted to write a song for Kylie for many years. I had a quiet obsession with her for about six years. I wrote several songs for her, none of which I felt was appropriate to give her. It was only when I wrote this song, which is a dialogue between a killer and his victim, that I thought finally I’d written the right song for Kylie to sing. I sent the song to her and she replied the next day.
— Nick Cave, quoted in Molly Meldrum presents 50 Years of Rock in Australia (2007)
On a list of 30 of Kylie Minogue’s best singles, published on September 25, 2020, The Guardian ranked it as Kylie Minogue 16th best single, saying:
In an era when boundaries between pop and “alternative” music are blurred, it is hard to imagine just how jarring it once was to see Kylie with Nick Cave, singing about having her head smashed in with a rock. But Where the Wild Roses Grow is not a novelty: it is a classic Cave ballad, and the apex of Kylie’s indie period.
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