Nick Cave Likes Poetry, Is a 'Berryman Nut'

Suh-weet! Who knew?! The dashing ranconteur behind Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds and a plethora of other musical incarnations LOVES poetry. Especially, John Berryman.

Nick Cave is best known for his music, working with four different bands over the past three decades, but the Australian rocker seems to be a poet at heart.

He writes lyrics that journey from the macabre to the lovelorn, and his literary bent doesn't stop there: He has also penned two novels, two screenplays and two volumes of lyrics and plays. For inspiration, he returns to poets such as Frederick Seidel, John Berryman, Ezra Pound and the ancient, anonymous poets of Jerome Rothenberg anthologies.

All this is endorsed by "20,000 Days on Earth," opening Wednesday, a film which can best be described as a dramatized documentary of a single day in Mr. Cave's life. Directed by Jane Pollard and Iain Forsyth, it shows Mr. Cave as he types in his cramped office and records at the piano in a 19th-century French mansion, both times surrounded by books.

At one point, the camera lingers on a pile of them, showing "Berryman's Henry" and "Dream Song, The Life of John Berryman."

"I'm a Berryman nut," Mr. Cave said.

He gets really excited when you bring up Pound and Seidel, whose book "Ooga-Booga" can also be glimpsed in the film. "As a kid I used to carry Pound's 'Cantos' around," he said, remembering its red cover. "I have no absolutely idea what goes on in them at all, but they're beautiful to read." [...]

The beat goes on at The Wall Street Journal..