Few musicians are as word-drunk as Mr. Nick Cave from Warracknabeal, Australia, wouldn’t you agree? As a younger man Cave kept a journal in which he jotted down new words he wanted to remember and arranged them in alphabetical order. It’s definitely a good tip for writers starting out, you’re always learning, there’s always something to learn. Take notes endlessly and don’t waver!
A section from the A’s and a section from the M’s was made available a few years ago, words include AUTOCHTHON (“primitive or original inhabitant”) and MICTURITION (“morbid desire to pass water”). I’d dearly love to see the whole thing. I hope that will happen someday.
Just for kicks, even though it has nothing to do with Cave’s dictionary, here’s a scrap from Cave’s journal, which happen to have the first lyrics to “No Pussy Blues” on it, which song made it on Grinderman’s first album in 2007. I can’t get enough of the line “I picked a bunch of dandelions,” and it’s fun to see that line represented here.
Stolen from Dangerous Minds/Martin Schneider