Released: October 2, 1995

Featuring: Kylie Minogue

Songwriter: Nick Cave

Producer: Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds Victor Van Vugt

[Chorus: Kylie Minogue & Nick Cave]
They call me The Wild Rose
But my name was Elisa Day
Why they call me it, I do not know
For my name was Elisa Day

[Verse 1: Nick Cave]
From the first day I saw her, I knew she was the one
She stared in my eyes and smiled
For her lips were the colour of the roses
That grew down the river, all bloody and wild

[Verse 2: Kylie Minogue]
When he knocked on my door and entered the room
My trembling subsided in his sure embrace
He would be my first man, and with a careful hand
He wiped at the tears that ran down my face

[Chorus: Kylie Minogue & Nick Cave]
They call me The Wild Rose
But my name was Elisa Day
Why they call me it, I do not know
For my name was Elisa Day

[Verse 3: Nick Cave]
On the second day, I brought her a flower
She was more beautiful than any woman I've seen
I said, "Do you know where the wild roses grow
So sweet and scarlet and free?"

[Verse 4: Kylie Minogue]
On the second day, he came with a single red rose
He said, "Give me your loss and your sorrow"
I nodded my head as I lay on the bed
If I show you the roses, will you follow?

[Chorus: Kylie Minogue & Nick Cave]
They call me The Wild Rose
But my name was Elisa Day
Why they call me it, I do not know
For my name was Elisa Day

[Verse 5: Kylie Minogue]
On the third day, he took me to the river
He showed me the roses and we kissed
And the last thing I heard was a muttered word
As he knelt above me with a rock in his fist

[Verse 6: Nick Cave]
On the last day I took her where the wild roses grow
She lay on the bank, the wind light as a thief
And I kissed her goodbye, said, "All beauty must die"
And lent down and planted a rose between her teeth

[Chorus: Kylie Minogue & Nick Cave]
They call me The Wild Rose
But my name was Elisa Day
Why they call me it, I do not know
For my name was Elisa Day
My name was Elisa Day
For my name was Elisa Day

Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds

Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds were formed in Melbourne, Australia. For the first 6 months of their existence they went by ‘Nick Cave and the Cavemen’, but that moniker was replaced after the dissolution of their previous project The Birthday Party (originally called ‘The Boys Next Door’) whose last EP was titled The Bad Seed. The original lineup featured Nick Cave on vocals, multi-instrumentalist Mick Harvey (left the band in 2009), and guitarist Blixa Bargeld (left the band in 2003). Since then they’ve expanded their repertoire and now consist of virtuoso Warren Ellis, Martyn P. Casey on bass, Barry Adamson on keyboards, guitarist George Vjestica, and drummers Thomas Wydler and Jim Sclavunos.

Between 1983 and 1985, Record producer Flood worked on From Her To Eternity and The Firstborn Is Dead. During the creation of the latter the band was living in Germany, slightly vexing considering the complete infusion of gothic Southern Americana and blues.

1986-1988 saw two of their darkest works—Your Funeral My Trial and Tender Prey. Their first taste of fame coming from the ‘condemned man’ narrative in Tender Prey’s “The Mercy Seat”, an album Cave has described as “one long cry for help”.