"Where the Wild Roses Grow" is a duet by Australian rock band Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds and pop singer Kylie Minogue. It is the fifth song and lead single from the band's ninth studio album, Murder Ballads (1996), released on Mute Records. Written by the band's frontman Nick Cave and produced by Tony Cohen and Victor Van Vugt.
The song received a positive reception from music critics and became the band's most successful single worldwide reaching No. 3 in Norway, the top five in Australia, and the top twenty in the United Kingdom, Ireland, Germany and New Zealand. It also received a limited promotional release in the United States. The song was certified Gold in Germany in 1996 for 250,000 copies sold, despite never reaching the top ten in that country. It charted again at the bottom of the German Top 100 in 2008 because of digital downloads after it was used in a soap opera. "Where the Wild Roses Grow" was also certified Gold in Australia for selling 50,000 copies.
Cave was inspired to write "Where the Wild Roses Grow" after listening to the traditional song, "Down in the Willow Garden", a tale of a man courting a woman and killing her while they are out together. Cave arranged this tale as second of two B-sides, "The Ballad of Robert Moore & Betty Coltrane" / "The Willow Garden", released on the CD-Maxi single version.
Although the song does not feature on a Minogue studio album, it can be found on her compilations Hits+, Greatest Hits 1987-1999, Ultimate Kylie and The Abbey Road Sessions. Minogue performed a chorus of the song during her Showgirl and Homecoming tours.
It reached number 8 in Triple J's Hottest 100 1995. In 2012, NME Magazine listed the song in the "100 best songs of the 1990s" at number 35.
Read more about Where The Wild Roses Grow: Background, Music Video, Live Performances, Awards, Covers, Other Version, Formats and Track Listings, Charts
Famous quotes containing the words wild, roses and/or grow:
“Men always do leave off really thinking, when the last bit of wild animal dies in them.”
—D.H. (David Herbert)
“But all its chief delight was still
On Roses thus its self to fill:
And its pure virgin Limbs to fold
In whitest sheets of Lillies cold.
Had it liv’d long it would have been
Lillies without, Roses within.”
—Andrew Marvell (1621–1678)
“Some, for renown, on scraps of learning dote,
And think they grow immortal as they quote.”
—Edward Young (1683–1765)