"Dig, Lazarus, Dig!!!" is a song written by

Nick Cave Nicholas Edward Cave (born 22 September 1957) is an Australian singer, songwriter, poet, lyricist, author, screenwriter, composer and occasional actor. Known for his baritone voice and for fronting the rock band Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds, Ca ...

and was released by

Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds are an Australian rock music, rock band formed in 1983 by vocalist Nick Cave, multi-instrumentalist Mick Harvey and guitarist-vocalist Blixa Bargeld. The band has featured international personnel throughout its care ...

as a single on February 18, 2008. The song, like much of the band's recent work, was produced by

Nick Launay Nicolas Launay is an English record producer, composer and recording engineer. He is one of the most sought after record producers in the world due to his success with recent albums by Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds, Anna Calvi, IDLES, Black Reb ...

. The song has been available on the band's official website since

Christmas Day Christmas is an annual festival commemorating the birth of Jesus Christ, observed primarily on December 25 as a religious and cultural celebration among billions of people around the world. A feast central to the Christian liturgical year, ...

, 2007, and the video has been viewable on the website since early January. In a journal available at the Nick Cave Exhibition, it is revealed that an earlier version was instead about a man who was dead, who when he was saying "I don't know what it is but there's definitely something going on upstairs" referring to continuing brain activity. The song debuted on the

UK Singles Chart The UK Singles Chart (currently titled Official Singles Chart, with the upper section more commonly known as the Official UK Top 40) is compiled by the Official Charts Company (OCC), on behalf of the British record industry, listing the top-s ...

on 24 February 2008 at number 66. It also appeared as number 35 on

Triple J Hottest 100 The Triple J Hottest 100 is an annual music listener poll hosted by the publicly-funded, national Australian youth radio station, Triple J. Members of the public are invited to vote for their favourite Australian and alternative music of the ...

for 2008.

Music video

The video for the song was directed by

Iain Forsyth and Jane Pollard Iain Forsyth and Jane Pollard are British artists and filmmakers. Life and work Forsyth and Pollard met and began working collaboratively while studying Fine Art and Art Theory at Goldsmiths College, graduating together in 1995. They initially f ...

and features Cave strutting towards the camera, singing the song, whilst images of New York pass by him. During the chorus, the images of New York are replaced by the members of the Bad Seeds dancing to the song. The video is available on the band's website.

Track listing

All songs by Nick Cave. *7" (MUTE377) # "Dig, Lazarus, Dig!!!" – 3:38 # "Accidents Will Happen" – 4:21 *CD (CDMUTE377) # "Dig, Lazarus, Dig!!!" – 3:38 # "Accidents Will Happen" – 4:21 # "Dig, Lazarus, Dig!!!" (video)

Chart performance

References

{{authority control Nick Cave songs 2008 singles Songs written by Nick Cave Song recordings produced by Nick Launay Mute Records singles 2007 songs