Red Right Hand

"Red Right Hand"
Single by Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds
from the album Let Love In
Released	1994
Genre	Post-punk
Length	6:10
Label	Mute Records
Writer(s)	Mick Harvey, Nick Cave and Thomas Wydler
Producer	Tony Cohen
Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds singles chronology
"Loverman" (1994) "Red Right Hand" (1995) "Where the Wild Roses Grow" (1995)
Let Love In track listing "Do You Love Me?" "Nobody's Baby Now" "Loverman" "Jangling Jack" "Red Right Hand" "I Let Love In" "Thirsty Dog" "Ain't Gonna Rain Anymore" "Lay Me Low" "Do You Love Me? Pt 2"

"Red Right Hand" is a 1994 song and single from Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds.

It first appeared on the album Let Love In, where it ran at 6:10. It was later released as a single at the condensed length of 4:48. It has since become one of Cave's signature tunes, performed at most of his concerts.

Song title

The liner notes for Murder Ballads say that "red right hand" is a phrase from John Milton's Paradise Lost which refers to the vengeful hand of God. The opening song on the album, "Song of Joy", states of a murderer: "It seems he has done many, many more, / quotes John Milton on the walls in the victim's blood. / The police are investigating at tremendous cost. / In my house he wrote 'his red right hand'. / That, I'm told, is from Paradise Lost."

The original line in Paradise Lost (Book II, 170-174) is: "What if the breath that kindled those grim fires, / Awaked, should blow them into sevenfold rage, / And plunge us in the flames; or from above / Should intermitted vengeance arm again / His red right hand to plague us?"

In popular culture

The song has appeared in several films and TV shows, such as Dumb and Dumber, Hellboy, Cirque Du Freak: The Vampire's Assistant and The X-Files television series, whose producer Chris Carter explained in the liner notes for the compilation album Songs in the Key of X that the song was the direct inspiration for the anthology. The song is also the main theme of the Russian art film "Boginya: Kak Ya Polyubila" ("The Goddess: How I Fell in Love").

It has also been used in the first three films in the Scream trilogy. The original version is featured on the soundtrack album for the first film while a remixed version by DJ Spooky appears on the Scream 2 album, and has since been accepted by many fans as the official theme song to the Scream series .

Another version, sometimes referred to as "Red Right Hand 2", was recorded by Nick Cave for Scream 3 and released on Cave's B-Sides & Rarities album; composer Marco Beltrami also incorporates elements from the song into a track in his score for the third film. The song also appears on the soundtrack for the film Hellboy in a cover version by Pete Yorn.

"His Red Right Hand" is the title of a second-season episode of The Mentalist.

• In The Dark Tower series by Stephen King, when asked who he is by the main protagonist, Roland Deschain, the sorcerer Randall Flagg answers "I am the furthest minion of He who now rules the Dark Tower, and Earth has been given into that king's red hand."

• In the first book of the Skulduggery Pleasant series, the arch-villain, Nefarian Serpine has a red right hand which when pointed at a person sends them into unbearable agony, ultimately killing them.

• In the "Last Stand of the Silver Samurai" story in Wolverine Vol. 3, the Silver Samurai is attacked and killed by samurai-armor clad demons who claim to be soldiers of the Red Right Hand who seek vengeance in their name.

• In Batman and Robin, Jason Todd, as the Red Hood, leaves behind red calling cards bearing a passage more directly derived from Paradise Lost ("Vengeance arms again his red right hand") and decorated with a handprint at the bodies of his victims.

The song was also used in promos for UK TV show Hollyoaks during Fire Week in 2010 featuring some of the main cast in a restaurant which sets on fire.

Covers

• English alternative rock band Arctic Monkeys performed a cover of "Red Right Hand" during their tour of Australia in early 2009, and during their performance in the Reading and Leeds Festival in August 2009, as well as in their North American tour in December 2009. A recorded version of the song appears on the Japanese version of their third album, Humbug and as a b-side on the single "Crying Lightning".
• Pegasus Award-winning filk duo Vixy & Tony recorded a cover of "Red Right Hand" on their album, "Thirteen."
• American singer-songwriter Pete Yorn covered the song for the Hellboy soundtrack.
• Giant Sand covered the song on their 2002 album Cover Magazine.

Track listing

• Euro 3 Track CD Single

1. Red Right Hand
2. That's What Jazz Is To Me
3. Where The Action Is

Charts

Chart (1995)	Peak Position
Australian ARIA Singles Chart	62
UK Singles Chart	68

See also

• Nick Cave and The Bad Seeds discography