Nick Cave names the Kanye West song he wants played at his funeral

Posted On January 30, 2025January 30, 2025

Nick Cave has taken to his newsletter to reveal the Kanye West song he would like played at his funeral in response to his recent appearance on BBC’s Desert Island Discs.

The musician, whose community The Red Hand Files contains everything from musical anecdotes and creative process secrets to answering fan questions, recently appeared on the aforementioned BBC radio programme to pick eight of his favourite tracks that he would take to a remote desert island for company.

One of them was West’s ‘Yeezus’, which he explained was “a kind of family song.” He said: “My kids love it, Susie loves it, I love it. It’s an extremely playful, extremely dark, complex song where on the one hand, Kanye is presenting himself as a god, and then towards the end of the song, he’s screaming in terror.” Cave also described the song as “unbelievably deep” and a “complete, amazing work of art.”

Afterwards, Cave took to his newsletter to answer some fan questions regarding his radio appearance, including one about which song he would want to be played at his funeral. For this, he named West’s ‘I Am A God’.

Cave has praised the rapper’s work on multiple occasions, including in 2020 when he described him as the greatest artist ever, saying that this title was achieved by how he became “committed to” his own “derangement.” His remarks came within a broader statement about art, with Cave saying making music is “a form of madness—we slip deep within our own singular vision and become lost to it.”

However, he later criticised some comments made by West, acknowledging that his antisemitic comments were “distasteful” and “deeply disappointing” but maintained that he still “loves” his music.

“It’s a personal choice as to whether you can go on and listen to that person’s music. I personally can. I love Kanye’s music,” he said. Continuing: “I feel that he’s done the best music of anybody in some time, the most interesting, challenging, bold music.”

This is in keeping with Cave’s broader ethos about seemingly controversial artists, and he explains that he doesn’t let himself get swept up in negativity so long as the art they create is “authentic”. He also said that most of the “legacy” acts he enjoys have all “disappointed” him at some point during their career, but while he has felt “discomforted” by many of them, he still remains “captivated” and “forever alert” to what they “might do next.”

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