Day After Day #191: Honey Bee (Let's Fly to Mars)

Day After Day is an ambitious attempt to write about a song every day in 2024 (starting on Jan. 4). 

Honey Bee (Let's Fly to Mars) (2007)

By the mid-2000s, Nick Cave had become primarily known for writing haunting piano ballads and composing film scores. So it was a surprise when Cave returned in 2006 with an album from his Bad Seeds side project Grinderman that rocked furiously. 

Named after a Memphis Slim song ("Grinder Man Blues"), the band was formed by Cave (vocals, guitar, organ, piano) and fellow Bad Seeds Warren Ellis (guitar, electric mandolin, violin, viola), Martyn P. Casey (bass, guitar) and Jim Sclavunos (drums). Cave had started writing new songs on guitar and was coming up with material that was rawer than what the Bad Seeds were playing at the time, so Grinderman was created to explore that different road. 

Recorded in four days, the Grinderman sound was markedly different from the blues, gospel and gothic sound of the previous Bad Seeds album Abattoir Blues/The Lyre of Orpheus. The raw, unhinged power of the project was impressive, especially considering these guys were pushing 50. Some compared it to Cave's early post-punk act The Birthday Party in terms of energy and feel.

The first two singles off the album were "Get It On" and "No Pussy Blues," two absolute rippers. But "Honey Bee (Let's Fly to Mars)" is the standout among standouts. It kicks off with organ and a pummeling riff as Cave rips into the first verse.

"Mad mullahs and dirty bombs/Alert the coastal command/Ack-ack positions everyone/She's my honey bee and here she comes/Cancer, rabies, SARS/Hairy beards and hurtling stars/Won't somebody touch me?/Won't somebody touch me?/Honey bee let's fly to Mars."

The song picks up in intensity as Cave rants and raves.

"There's a kid laying on the lawn/The neighbor's on the telephone/The dispatcher asks, "What's going on?/Please sir, what's going on?"/The kid is laying on the lawn/He's been giving me shit for years/He rides his bike across my lawn/Now he's laying on the lawn/Won't somebody touch me?/Oh, won't someone please touch me!/Honey bee let's fly to Mars."

The intensity of the song was perfectly used in a scene in episode 4 of the first season of the HBO show True Detective. The episode ends with an epic, six-minute tracking shot that follows Matthew McConaughey's character through a robbery/shootout/hostage situation/escape, ending with "Honey Bee" blaring in the background.

Grinderman only played 29 shows in support of the first album, mostly festivals and in Australia. The more raucous Grinderman sound carried over to the next Bad Seeds album, 2008's Dig, Lazarus, Dig!!! After the Bad Seeds toured in the summer of '08, Grinderman 2 was recorded, going in a different direction that included psychedelia and Krautrock in addition to the garage punk sound of the first album. The album came out in 2010 and they came to Boston that fall, a show I was lucky enough to see. It was an early Friday night show at House of Blues, but Cave and the Grindermen raged through 80 minutes of awesomeness. It's the only time I've seen Cave in concert and he was one of the best frontmen I've witnessed. Truly an inspired experience. 

Grinderman toured throughout 2011 and then called it a day at the end of the year, although they reunited to play shows at Coachella in 2013. Cave hinted in 2019 that a third Grinderman album was in the works, but five years later, nothing has been announced yet. The good news is Cave keeps releasing excellent albums, so at least there's that.

Ye Olde Hit Parade: Evil

Editor's note: Ye Olde Hit Parade takes a look back at my favorite songs year by year (starting in 1978, when I really started paying attention to music).

2010: Grinderman - Evil

The new decade began as the previous one ended: In the throes of an economic recession. Fortunately, I still had a job, but it was bad. The stock market continued to plunge, there were more layoffs at my company, and Ronnie James Dio died.


I ran the Providence Marathon in May, but unfortunately for me, it was 80 degrees and super humid that day. I was fine until about mile 20, when I got dehydrated and started struggling with muscle spasms. The last five miles of the race or so were mostly walked. It was not good. In the fall, I was going to run a full in Hampton, NH, but an injury forced me to drop down to the half. Which was a good thing, because it started pouring at mile 9. I was soaked to the bone, but I was glad I didn't have to run another 13 miles.

We went on a different vacation this year, flying in July to Puerto Vallarta, Mexico. It was pretty fun, although the one time I went on a computer in a nearby internet cafe, I found out there were layoffs at work. Crazy.

It was a strong year from a musical perspective. Plenty of good stuff to dig into, from Ted Leo & the Pharmacists to Superchunk to the Henry Clay People to LCD Soundsystem. Concerts included We Were Promised Jetpacks, the Feelies (who had six encores on a late Friday night show that had me begging for it to end, even though it was great), Mission of Burma, Spoon, Drive-By Truckers, Los Campesinos!, the Kominas, Superchunk (on my 43rd birthday), The Hold Steady, Greg Dulli, Black Mountain/Black Angels, Guided By Voices and Grinderman.



My song of the year was by the last band mentioned, Nick Cave's hard rocking side project Grinderman. I will admit to being extremely late to the Cave bandwagon, only really getting into his stuff in the previous few years (something I've worked to remedy over the last decade). They've only done the two albums, but both are glorious works, with Cave presiding over the unholy clatter like a deranged televangelist. "Evil" is but one of several killer tracks on this album. And live, holy crap, what an amazing show. Cave is one of the most magnetic frontmen ever, and this song presents him at the peak of his powers. 


Honorable mentions: Ted Leo and the Pharmacists - "Bottled in Cork"; Ted Leo & the Pharmacists - "Mourning in America"; Titus Andronicus - "A More Perfect Union"; Grinderman - "Heathen Child"; Superchunk - "Digging for Something"; The Black Keys - "Tighten Up"; Black Mountain - "The Hair Song"; The Henry Clay People - "Your Famous Friends"; Spoon - "Written in Reverse"; Los Campesinos! - "Romance is Boring"; Les Savy Fav - "Sleepless in Silverlake"; Drive-By Truckers - "This Fucking Job"; LCD Soundsystem - "Drunk Girls"; Girl Talk - "Oh No"; The Besnard Lakes - "Albatross"; Frightened Rabbit - "Swim Until You Can't See Land"; Das Racist - "Combination Pizza Hut and Taco Bell"; The Hold Steady - "Hurricane J"; The New Pornographers - "Your Hands (Together)"; Wintersleep - "Blood Collection"; Wolf Parade - "Ghost Pressure"; Arcade Fire - "Ready to Start"; Iron Maiden - "El Dorado"; The 20/20 Project - "Back to Work"; Neil Young - "Angry World"; Cee-Lo - "Fuck You"