The greater the stupidity, the greater the clarity. Stupidity is brief and guileless, while wit equivocates and hides. Wit is a scoundrel, while stupidity is honest and sincere.

Fyodor Dostoyevsky, "The Brothers Karamazov"

This album has been a staple of my music collection since it's release in 2008. I think it is one of Nick Cave's best albums. The album is moody and full of lyrical imagery. Dark, trancy at times such as on the track "Night of the Lotus eaters". The lyrics of this album are very strong and is what draws me back to it time and again. The track "Midnight Man" is an absolute gem:

Hold that chrysalis in your palm See it split and change It won't do you any harm It's just trying to rearrange

It was born to live a day Now it flies up from your hand It's beautiful It's the one they call your ever loving man

Wolves have carried your babies away Oh, your kids drip from their teeth The nights are long and the day Is bitter cold beyond belief...

...Close your eyes, sleep in him Dream of your lost sons and daughters Me, I'll raise up my dorsal fin And glide up and down the waters

The closing track "More news from nowhere" though just under eight minutes could go sixteen and I would be quite happy to listen to it all.