Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds: Red Right Hand Meaning

Song Released: 1995

Red Right Hand Lyrics

Red Right Hand Song
[Verse 1]
Take a little walk to the edge of town
Go across the tracks
Where the viaduct looms
Like a bird of doom
As it shifts and cracks
Where secrets lie in the border fires
In the humming wires
Hey man, you...

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   #1 top rated interpretation:
   anonymous

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   Apr 21st 2019 !⃝

   OK...In FACT (IF you had done a bit of research) the song is indeed based on an epic poem by John Milton's called 'Paradise Lost'& it refers to the vengeful hand, or divine vengeance, of God (no, it is NOT a 'Hellboy' reference).
   
   "What if the breath that kindled those grim fires, / Awaked, should blow them into seven-fold rage, / And plunge us in the flames; or from above / Should intermitted vengeance arm again / His red right hand to plague us?"
   - Paradise Lost (Book II, 170-174)
2. anonymous

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   Jan 4th 2020 !⃝

   The flag of Northern Ireland. There is a red right hand. Check it out. The song is about Ireland an the Troubles.
3. anonymous

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   Dec 6th 2019 !⃝

   I think the right red hand means that he has a bloody fist from fighting. The song describes a man that can give you everything, is charming and goodlooking, he is to be found on "the wrong side of the traks" and has stacks of green paper *money* so he surely does some illegal activity and is powerful. It remonds me of the allure this kind of men can create in people in order to gain followers than can do anything for him. I met a man like this so maybe my interpretation in tainted by this experience. Plus, peaky blinders depict perfectly this kind of profile in Tommy's character.
4. anonymous

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   May 11th 2019 !⃝

   The Ulster* based terrorists, the UVF.
   
   *Well, 6 Ulster counties, not all counties of Ulster are in occupied Ireland.
   26+1=32
5. anonymous

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   May 1st 2019 !⃝

   He was molested as a kid by his dad's brother every day for a year.

   This interpretation has been marked as poor. view anyway
6. anonymous

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   Feb 26th 2019 !⃝

   It's about Hell Boy.

   This interpretation has been marked as poor. view anyway
7. anonymous

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   Sep 25th 2018 !⃝

   I am from the same city in Australia as Nick Cave. Red right hand' is about Nick Caves' uncle, who molested him when he was young. This info comes from the nurse treating Nick when he was in a psychiatric hospital as a young adult - they spoke often about his childhood and his music.
8. anonymous

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   Aug 25th 2013 !⃝

   corruption,temptation, sense of belonging, the vulnerability of people who's basic needs (Maslow) have not been met. We are always looking outside of ourselves to find something to complete us, give us esteem, material items can satisfy us only temporarily, then again we look for more, always projecting forward and rarely living in and enjoying the present moment, the only time that there is, inside is the only place one needs to look, there in is all that is needed for fulfillment, just to know ones self and to realize the amount of insanity our world is operating on, when money comes before life, isn't that insane??
9. anonymous

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   Nov 6th 2012 !⃝

   Obviously this is a seduction by something you know is not good for you.mishes

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