# Red Right Hand
**Red Right Hand** is a 1994 song by the Australian rock band [Nick Cave](https://www.edgepedia.org/nick-cave) & The Bad Seeds, released in October 1994 as the third single from their eighth album *Let Love In* on [Mute Records](https://www.edgepedia.org/mute-records)[1](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RrxePKps87k). Written by Nick Cave, it became the opening theme of the BBC crime drama *Peaky Blinders* in 2013 and is also associated with the *Scream* film franchise, and it has been covered by artists including [Arctic Monkeys](https://www.edgepedia.org/arctic-monkeys), PJ Harvey, Iggy Pop with Jarvis Cocker, Patti Smith, and FIDLAR[2](https://americansongwriter.com/ranking-covers-of-nick-caves-red-right-hand-based-on-how-dramatically-theyre-used-in-peaky-blinders/).
| Key fact | Detail |
|---|---|
| Release | Third single from *Let Love In*, the band's eighth album, released October 1994 on Mute Records[1](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RrxePKps87k) |
| Title source | From John Milton's epic poem *Paradise Lost*, where "the red right hand" represents the vengeful hand of God[3](https://theses.cz/id/j3i8ht/BA_Thesis_Cave.pdf) |
| Single lineup | Nick Cave, Mick Harvey, Blixa Bargeld, Martyn P. Casey, Thomas Wydler, and Conway Savage; video directed by Jesse Dylan[1](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RrxePKps87k) |
| *Peaky Blinders* | Opening theme of the series from its 12 September 2013 premiere on BBC Two; Cave has contributed 16 tunes to the show's soundtracks[4](https://peaky-blinders.wiki/en/facts) • [5](https://www.netflix.com/tudum/features/peaky-blinders-by-the-numbers-who-dies-timeline-history?inapp=trueOs) |
| 2026 re-recording | "Red Right Hand (Immortal)", recorded with Mick Harvey and Thomas Wydler for the film *Peaky Blinders: The Immortal Man*[6](https://www.nickcave.com/news/peaky-blinders-ost-out-now/) • [7](https://los40.com/2026/03/20/la-banda-sonora-mas-ambiciosa-de-peaky-bliders-el-hombre-inmortal-36-canciones-con-nick-cave-fontaines-dc-o-versiones-de-clasicos-de-massive-attack/) |
| Musical character | A dark, brooding gothic rock track in 4/4 meter, mostly sparse in texture, ending on a C and G-flat, dissonant and unresolved[8](https://museum.wa.gov.au/sites/default/files/Nick%20Cave-the%20Exhibition%20Music%20Teacher%20Resource.pdf) |
## The song
The lyrics describe a tall, handsome man in a dusty black coat who arrives in a rundown town, offering money, cars, and restored self-respect, while "hidden in his coat is a red right hand". The figure is called "a god, he's a man, he's a ghost, he's a guru", and the song closes with the listener as "one microscopic cog in his catastrophic plan, designed and directed by his red right hand"[1](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RrxePKps87k).
**The title.** The phrase comes from *Paradise Lost*, John Milton's epic poem, where "the red right hand" represents the vengeful hand of God[3](https://theses.cz/id/j3i8ht/BA_Thesis_Cave.pdf). Commentators on the song note that Cave borrowed the image and turned it into something much less clearly divine, an ambiguity that later helped make the song a fitting theme for *Peaky Blinders*[9](https://routenote.com/radar/what-does-red-right-hand-mean/).
**Musical character.** The track is a dark, brooding gothic rock song in 4/4 meter, with a mostly sparse texture accented after the lyric "red right hand" by bell and percussion, and it ends on a C and G-flat, dissonant and unresolved[8](https://museum.wa.gov.au/sites/default/files/Nick%20Cave-the%20Exhibition%20Music%20Teacher%20Resource.pdf). What Hi-Fi? describes a sly bass groove, a bell struck at the climax of each chorus followed by booming timpani hits, reverb-drenched synthesizers emulating howling wind, and Cave's resonant baritone at the forefront[10](https://www.whathifi.com/hi-fi/10-of-the-best-nick-cave-songs-to-test-your-hi-fi-system).
**How it was written.** In a 1994 interview, Cave said that "Red Right Hand was almost completely improvised at the moment of actually singing it"[11](https://markmordue.blogspot.com/2008/03/nick-cave-lets-love-in.html). A Nick Cave exhibition resource notes that the song's notebooks clearly outline its lyrical development, and that Cave created more lyrical detail than eventually reached the recording[8](https://museum.wa.gov.au/sites/default/files/Nick%20Cave-the%20Exhibition%20Music%20Teacher%20Resource.pdf) • [9](https://routenote.com/radar/what-does-red-right-hand-mean/).
## Peaky Blinders
When [Steven Knight](https://www.edgepedia.org/steven-knight)'s historical crime drama *Peaky Blinders* premiered on [BBC Two](https://www.edgepedia.org/bbc-two) on 12 September 2013, "Red Right Hand" served as its opening theme, soundtracking the first episode's opening scene in which Thomas Shelby, played by [Cillian Murphy](https://www.edgepedia.org/cillian-murphy), rides a black horse into a post-World War I Birmingham slum[4](https://peaky-blinders.wiki/en/facts) • [12](https://www.loudersound.com/bands-artists/how-cillian-murphy-persuaded-nick-cave-to-re-record-red-right-hand). Knight explained the choice: "There is a swagger, poetry, fallibility, flawed masculinity to that song that we aspire to in the show"[13](https://www.tuneintoenglish.com/60-61%20Red%20Right%20Hand.pdf). The original version plays at the beginning and end of almost every episode, with a tubular bell drop at the start of the main title[2](https://americansongwriter.com/ranking-covers-of-nick-caves-red-right-hand-based-on-how-dramatically-theyre-used-in-peaky-blinders/). Cave has contributed 16 tunes to the show's soundtracks in total[5](https://www.netflix.com/tudum/features/peaky-blinders-by-the-numbers-who-dies-timeline-history?inapp=trueOs).
**Cover versions in the series.** From the early series onward, the show commissioned different artists to cover the theme, matching each version to the mood of particular episodes[14](https://www.brooklynvegan.com/iggy-pop-jarvis-cocker-cover-nick-caves-red-right-hand-listen/):
- **Arctic Monkeys** covered the song, recorded in 2009, used in series 2 over the arrival of the [Black Country](https://www.edgepedia.org/black-country) men in [Camden Town](https://www.edgepedia.org/camden-town)[2](https://americansongwriter.com/ranking-covers-of-nick-caves-red-right-hand-based-on-how-dramatically-theyre-used-in-peaky-blinders/).
- **PJ Harvey** recorded a cover for the series, her first track since the protest single "Shaker Aamer" in August 2013[15](https://www.nme.com/news/music/pj-harvey-36-1227249).
- **Iggy Pop and Jarvis Cocker** delivered a heavy version used in series 4 episode 5, during a gunfight between [Tommy Shelby](https://www.edgepedia.org/tommy-shelby) and Luca Changretta's gang; Murphy has called this his favorite cover[2](https://americansongwriter.com/ranking-covers-of-nick-caves-red-right-hand-based-on-how-dramatically-theyre-used-in-peaky-blinders/) • [16](https://www.rollingstone.co.uk/tv/features/playing-a-blinder-cillian-murphy-on-the-music-that-makes-peaky-blinders-8821/).
- **FIDLAR**'s raw, punk-rock version introduced union leader Jessie Eden in series 4 episode 1[2](https://americansongwriter.com/ranking-covers-of-nick-caves-red-right-hand-based-on-how-dramatically-theyre-used-in-peaky-blinders/).
- **Patti Smith** recorded a cover for series 6 episode 5[2](https://americansongwriter.com/ranking-covers-of-nick-caves-red-right-hand-based-on-how-dramatically-theyre-used-in-peaky-blinders/).
**The 2026 re-recording.** For the Netflix film *Peaky Blinders: The Immortal Man*, co-producer Murphy and music supervisors Anthony Genn and Martin Slattery found that the original version did not work in a pivotal scene Knight had always envisaged using it in, because it was too swaggering. Murphy phoned Cave, who had not read the script, and asked him to re-record the song; Cave did so with [Mick Harvey](https://www.edgepedia.org/mick-harvey) and Thomas Wydler, and the result, "Red Right Hand (Immortal)", appears on the film's 36-track soundtrack released on 6 March 2026[12](https://www.loudersound.com/bands-artists/how-cillian-murphy-persuaded-nick-cave-to-re-record-red-right-hand) • [6](https://www.nickcave.com/news/peaky-blinders-ost-out-now/) • [7](https://los40.com/2026/03/20/la-banda-sonora-mas-ambiciosa-de-peaky-bliders-el-hombre-inmortal-36-canciones-con-nick-cave-fontaines-dc-o-versiones-de-clasicos-de-massive-attack/). Murphy said of the new version: "It has all that weight, all that history, all that pain, that the original version doesn't have"[12](https://www.loudersound.com/bands-artists/how-cillian-murphy-persuaded-nick-cave-to-re-record-red-right-hand).
## Scream and other screen uses
The song also became the anthem of the *Scream* horror franchise. For *Scream 3*, Cave used the original master from the "Red Right Hand" sessions and brought in a thirty-piece string section, and he reportedly appreciated how the song was used[17](https://bloody-disgusting.com/editorials/3760941/red-right-hand-an-oral-history-how-the-nick-cave-song-became-the-anthem-of-the-scream-franchise/).
## Legacy
The song's association with *Peaky Blinders* brought it to new generations of listeners and a resurgence in popularity[10](https://www.whathifi.com/hi-fi/10-of-the-best-nick-cave-songs-to-test-your-hi-fi-system). It has also carried beyond the screen: the stage show *Peaky Blinders: The Redemption of Thomas Shelby*, created by Knight with choreographer Benoit Swan Pouffer, uses the song as its theme, with a reprise ending the evening[18](https://www.britishtheatreguide.info/reviews/peaky-blinders-sadler-s-wells-24700.pdf).
## References
1. [Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds - Red Right Hand (Official Video), YouTube](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RrxePKps87k)
2. [Ranking Covers of Nick Cave's "Red Right Hand" in Peaky Blinders, American Songwriter](https://americansongwriter.com/ranking-covers-of-nick-caves-red-right-hand-based-on-how-dramatically-theyre-used-in-peaky-blinders/)
3. [Bakalářská práce: Nick Cave (thesis citing Paradise Lost as the title source)](https://theses.cz/id/j3i8ht/BA_Thesis_Cave.pdf)
4. [Peaky Blinders production notes, peaky-blinders.wiki](https://peaky-blinders.wiki/en/facts)
5. [Peaky Blinders Stats, Netflix Tudum](https://www.netflix.com/tudum/features/peaky-blinders-by-the-numbers-who-dies-timeline-history?inapp=trueOs)
6. [PEAKY BLINDERS OST - OUT NOW, nickcave.com](https://www.nickcave.com/news/peaky-blinders-ost-out-now/)
7. [La banda sonora de Peaky Blinders: El hombre inmortal, LOS40](https://los40.com/2026/03/20/la-banda-sonora-mas-ambiciosa-de-peaky-bliders-el-hombre-inmortal-36-canciones-con-nick-cave-fontaines-dc-o-versiones-de-clasicos-de-massive-attack/)
8. [Nick Cave - the Exhibition, Music Teacher Resource, Museum of Western Australia](https://museum.wa.gov.au/sites/default/files/Nick%20Cave-the%20Exhibition%20Music%20Teacher%20Resource.pdf)
9. [What Does "Red Right Hand" Mean?, RouteNote Radar](https://routenote.com/radar/what-does-red-right-hand-mean/)
10. [10 of the best Nick Cave songs to test your hi-fi system, What Hi-Fi?](https://www.whathifi.com/hi-fi/10-of-the-best-nick-cave-songs-to-test-your-hi-fi-system)
11. [The Basement Tapes: Nick Cave, Let Love In (1994 interview), Mark Mordue](https://markmordue.blogspot.com/2008/03/nick-cave-lets-love-in.html)
12. [How Cillian Murphy persuaded Nick Cave to re-record Red Right Hand, Louder](https://www.loudersound.com/bands-artists/how-cillian-murphy-persuaded-nick-cave-to-re-record-red-right-hand)
13. [Music by Fergal Kavanagh, Tune into English](https://www.tuneintoenglish.com/60-61%20Red%20Right%20Hand.pdf)
14. [Iggy Pop & Jarvis Cocker cover Nick Cave's "Red Right Hand", BrooklynVegan](https://www.brooklynvegan.com/iggy-pop-jarvis-cocker-cover-nick-caves-red-right-hand-listen/)
15. [PJ Harvey covers Nick Cave's 'Red Right Hand' for Peaky Blinders, NME](https://www.nme.com/news/music/pj-harvey-36-1227249)
16. [Cillian Murphy on the music that makes Peaky Blinders, Rolling Stone UK](https://www.rollingstone.co.uk/tv/features/playing-a-blinder-cillian-murphy-on-the-music-that-makes-peaky-blinders-8821/)
17. [Red Right Hand: An Oral History - the Scream franchise, Bloody Disgusting](https://bloody-disgusting.com/editorials/3760941/red-right-hand-an-oral-history-how-the-nick-cave-song-became-the-anthem-of-the-scream-franchise/)
18. [Peaky Blinders: The Redemption of Thomas Shelby review, British Theatre Guide](https://www.britishtheatreguide.info/reviews/peaky-blinders-sadler-s-wells-24700.pdf)
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*Topic: Encyclopedia › Arts and culture › Music › Musical works and recordings › Discographies and musical catalogues › Production and songwriter credit lists › Songs recorded by lists › Songs recorded by bands and groups*
*Initially written Sep 17, 2026 · Reviewed: Oct 25, 2026 · Edited: Oct 15, 2026; Oct 25, 2026 · Last review: Oct 25, 2026*
*Copyright 2026 EdgeChat AI, a subsidiary of Biostate AI.*
License: Edgepedia Community License 1.0, https://www.edgepedia.org/edgepedia/license