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Nick Cave tells of love that can never die for tragic son Arthur

Nick Cave and wife Susie leave the 2015 coronial hearing into son Arthur's death.

Nick Cave and wife Susie leave the 2015 coronial hearing into son Arthur's death. Photo: Getty

A message from Nick Cave to a fan posted on his website The Red Hand Files discusses “communication” with his dead son, Arthur.

The 15-year-old fell to his death from Ovingdean Gap near Brighton, England, in July, 2015, while tripping on LSD, according to the coroner’s report.

The artist’s 2016 film One More Time With Feeling documented the process of Cave returning to recording music following Arthur’s passing.

Two years after his death, Arthur Cave remains a constant presence in his parents’ hearts and minds. Photo: Sussex Police

The question from the fan in the US reads “I have experienced the death of my father, my sister, and my first love in the past few years and feel that I have some communication with them, mostly through dreams. They are helping me. Are you and Susie feeling that your son Arthur is with you and communicating in some way?”

Cave’s answer discusses his grief before explaining how he feels Arthur communicates with him and his wife.

“It seems to me, that if we love, we grieve. That’s the deal. That’s the pact,” the cult rocker writes.

“Grief and love are forever intertwined. Grief is the terrible reminder of the depths of our love and, like love, grief is non-negotiable.

“There is a vastness to grief that overwhelms our minuscule selves. We are tiny, trembling clusters of atoms subsumed within grief’s awesome presence.”

Later in the letter Cave explains how he and wife Susie still feel connected to Arthur, saying “I feel the presence of my son, all around, but he may not be there.

“I hear him talk to me, parent me, guide me, though he may not be there.

“He visits Susie in her sleep regularly, speaks to her, comforts her, but he may not be there.”

You can read the full letter here, as well as the five previous entries on the site. Check out the trailer for Nick Cave’s One More Time With Feeling below

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