Nick Cave and Johnny Cash

Johnny Cash is one of Nick Cave's heroes; Cave covered his songs "Muddy Water" and "The Folksinger" (shortened to "The Singer") on Kicking Against the Pricks. Nick Cave wrote a piece about Johnny Cash for his compilation album The Essential Johnny Cash. After this, Cash covered one of Nick Cave's songs and also asked Nick Cave to duet with him.

Nick Cave wrote "The Mercy Seat," originally on the 1988 album Tender Prey. It has been called Nick Cave's "signature song" because he plays it at almost every show he performs. Later, in 2000, Johnny Cash covered Nick Cave's song "The Mercy Seat" on his album American III: Solitary Man.

Together, Nick Cave and Johnny Cash recorded a duet of Hank Williams' "I'm So Lonesome I Could Cry" for Cash's 2002 American IV: The Man Comes Around. Another collaboration of theirs, the American folk song "Cindy", was released posthumously on the "Johnny Cash: Unearthed" boxset.

Now, I'm not trying to compare Nick Cave and Johnny Cash. Both were geniuses in their own genres, but both of their versions of "The Mercy Seat" are stunning and compelling in different ways. Enjoy these four songs. Nick Cave and Johnny Cash both have startling, sometimes creepy, crooner voices that often sing dark lyrics. When they sing together, the effect is even more beautiful, and creepy, than their single counterparts.

-Caroline

Nick Cave - The Mercy Seat
Johnny Cash - The Mercy Seat
Johnny Cash w/ Nick Cave - I'm So Lonesome I Could Cry
Johnny Cash w/ Nick Cave - Cindy