Where the Wild Roses Grow

Ah the joys of social media, constantly reminded of classics that just sit round the corners of consciousness yet always play a part in our daily lives.

I fell in love with this one, possibly as far back as 1995 when I first saw the music video. "Where the Wild Roses Grow" is a duet between Nick Cave and Kylie Minogue. While they may seem an unlikely duo Cave penned this song with Kylie in mind.

While a rather macabre song (as most of Cave's tend to be) the imagery is truly beautiful, which is part of the point behind the song. In this case Cave's character ends up killing Kylie's character in order to preserve beauty. But as with so many things, dying young rarely keeps things as beautiful as they should be.

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

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

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

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

On the second day I brought her a flower
She was more beautiful than any woman I'd 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?"

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

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 (stood smiling) above me with a rock in his fist

On the last day I took her where the wild roses grow
And 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 tween her teeth

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

In the end, the only thing that was left of Elisa Day was a bed of roses. Perhaps even the most grim of circumstances can leave something of beauty behind even if it is totally unintended. Perhaps it's hope that needs us and not the other way around.