NICK CAVE & WARREN ELLIS – Hand of God (2021)

Nick Cave & Warren Ellis’s “Hand of God”, featured on the 2021 album Carnage, is an intense, raw, and hypnotic piece that blends biblical imagery, existential yearning, and visceral energy. The title evokes profound, spiritual connotations, suggesting divine intervention, judgment, or power. The phrase “hand of God” often appears in religious texts and traditions to signify God’s active role in shaping or intervening in human affairs. In Cave’s hands, the concept becomes a complex metaphor, embodying both salvation and destruction, divine grace and wrath, reflecting humanity’s turbulent relationship with the divine.

There are some people trying to find out who There are some people trying to find out why There are some people who aren’t trying to find anything But that kingdom in the sky, in the sky

I’m going to the river where the current rushes by I’m going to the river where the current rushes by I’m gonna swim to the middle, where the water is real high Hand of God coming from thе sky Hand of God coming from the sky Gonna swim to the middle and stay out thеrе a while Way down low, way down low Let the river cast its spell on me Let the river cast its spell on me (Hand of God, hand of God, hand of God, hand of God Ooh (Hand of God, hand of God, hand of God, hand of God)

Singing boy sitting on the bridge Singing boy sitting on the bridge Throwing pennies off the edge, peasants working in the fields Keep their heads way down low, way down low Don’t want to let on what they know (hand of God, hand of God, hand of God) Way down low, way down low (hand of God, hand of God, hand of God) Grab those pennies, count them, ten Grab those pennies, count them, ten Hand of God, never come back up again Let the river cast its spell on me (Hand of God, hand of God, hand of God) Ooh (Hand of God, hand of God, hand of God)

Near a body of water flowing across the bed Near a body of water spread across the hotel bed Gonna swim to the middle, never come up again Let the river cast its spell on me Let the river cast its spell on me (Hand of God, hand of God, hand of God, hand of God) Ooh (Hand of God, hand of God, hand of God, hand of God)

I’m going to the river where the current rushes by I’m going to the river where the current rushes by Gonna swim to the middle Stay out there a while (hand of God, hand of God, hand of God) Let the river cast its spell on me