What excatley is the song 'Where the wild roses grow' by Nick Cave and the bad seeds/Kylie Minogue about?

Question

I get he kills her after seducing her, but why does he do it? And why in the river with the roses? I get it and don't get it at the same time... Please explain?

They call me The Wild Rose
But my name was Eliza Day
Why they call me it I do not know
For my name was Eliza Day

From the first day I saw her I knew she was the one
She stared in my eyes and smiled
For her lips were the colour of the roses
That grew down the river, all bloody and wild

When he knocked on my door and entered the room
My trembling subsided in his sure embrace
He would be my first man, and with a careful hand
He wiped at the tears that ran down my face

They call me The Wild Rose
But my name was Eliza Day
Why they call me that I do not know
For my name was Eliza Day

On the second day I brought her a flower
She was more beautiful than any woman I've seen
I said: "Do you know where the wild roses grow
So sweet and scarlet and free?"

On the second day he came with a single red rose
He said: "Will you give me your loss and your sorrow?"
I nodded my head, as I lay on the bed
"If I show you the roses will you follow?"

They call me The Wild Rose
But my name was Eliza Day
Why they call me that I do not know
For my name was Eliza Day

On the third day he took me to the river
He showed me the roses and we kissed
And the last thing I heard was a muttered word
As he knelt above me with a rock in his fist

On the last day I took her where the wild roses grow
She lay on the bank, the wind lied as a thief
And I kissed her goodbye, said "All beauty must die"
And I lent down and planted a rose between her teeth

They call me The Wild Rose
But my name was Eliza Day
Why they call me it I do not know
For my name was Eliza Day

My name was Eliza Day
For my name was Eliza Day

Answer 1

Best Answer - Chosen by Asker

They way I thought the song went was he had to kill Eliza as she was beautiful. She was killed where they wild roses grow & was named the "Wild Rose" presumably because she became an unidentified body. She was trying to let people know her real name.

Asker's Rating:

Asker's Comment:

That's chilling 'trying to let people know her real name.'

thanks!!

Answer 2

Nick Cave was inspired to write "Where the Wild Roses Grow" after listening to the traditional song, "Down in the Willow Garden", a tale of a man courting a woman and killing her while they are out together.

Source(s):

Wikipedia