ForeverAvalanche Lyrics - Nick Cave

Song Facts:

• Artist: Nick Cave


• Soundtrack: From the "Invincible (TV Series)" soundtrack, it adds a profound, introspective feel to the already
  

Annotations and Meaning:

"ForeverAvalanche" by Nick Cave on the "Invincible (TV Series)" soundtrack is a chillingly clear and at the same time poetic account of vulnerability and suffering, but how love wrapped in self-awareness can be the source of change. The words seem to tread a convoluted path of personal introspection, hurt, and reaching out, all in layers of allegorical imagery.
In its opening lines, "I stepped into an avalanche / It covered up my soul," one gets the picture devastatingly dark of too much being borne down by the struggles and tugs of life, or from some personal crisis. It is this very powerful, uncontrollable, encompassing image of an avalanche that serves as a metaphor for those times when the difficulties of life can indeed dominate completely, to the point of disappearing that aspect of one's essence or identity.
Cave is presenting the persona as a witness and a sufferer, too: "When I am not this hunchback that you see / I sleep beneath the golden hill". "This tension of the visible self versus the potentially real hidden self illustrates themes of identity, perception, and the parts of ourselves we decide to leave open, aired, or secret.

The chorus, "You who wish to conquer pain / You've got to learn to serve me well," underlines the paradox of conquering suffering either through its acceptance or through discovering the place of suffering in life. It suggests that true mastery over one's pain comes not from avoidance but from a deep, empathetic engagement with it.

Cave questions the normal perspective of power and vulnerability with the lines: "This cripple here that you clothe and feed / Is neither starved nor cold". This serves to remind that the help or needs visited and received by the outside party may not be what is truly needed by the said party.

He says, "I, myself, am the pedestal / For this ugly hump at which you stare," asserting a statement of independence and dignity from the look or opinion of another. Cave's lyrics strongly declare dignity and independence from another set of eyes, intrinsic value, apart from simple physical or social standards.

The song then continued to develop the sophisticated idea of love and want with the line: "The crumbs of love that you offer me / Are the crumbs I’ve left behind". It is said that in superficial or shallow offerings of love or affection, a person is left in need of the greater and deeper bonding of love.

"ForeverAvalanche" closes on a note of mutual necessity and very much evokes interdependence: "It is your turn, my beloved one / It is your flesh that I wear". This line discloses the deepest—almost mystical—relationship of the speaker with his beloved, where the boundaries blur and love becomes a powerful, transforming force.

Briefly, "ForeverAvalanche" is a very thoughtful track about suffering, identity, and love, pleading to include one in "Invincible (TV Series)" just to add yet another philosophical line, this time to let viewers think of the dramas of human experience and the role of empathy and connection in its redemption.