Siouxsie And The Banshees - Metal Postcard / Mittageisen (1978)

4th single from the band, and the first to not chart (although Love In A Void became wildly successful a year later).

Originally titled “Letter To Heartfield”, single cover comes from John Heartfield’s “Hurrah, die Butter ist alle!” The chorus is taken from one of Goerring’s speeches during the Second World War. 

Siouxsie: “It’s a warning song. The whole propaganda of the Nazis at that time was very dangerous and it could easily creep its way in without there being all the hysteria of killing the Jews. Their whole propaganda could easily fit in today… Not being able to get away from the commands of the day, not being able to escape, the idea of having cameras in your room and having people watching you…” [1 2]

Siouxsie And The Banshees - Peek-A-Boo (1988)

 The bands first hit too be a wide success outside of the established European alternative community, also the first song in history to reach the then-recently created Modern Rock Charts. The lyrics were made by Siouxsie herself after hearing Budgie’s sample of John Cale’s ‘Gun’ (originally meant to be used on Shadowtime) and 1938 jazz standard Jeepers Creepers. Choosing the name ‘Peek-A-Boo’, another name for a peepshow, gives Siouxsie another song to add in her recurring theme of songs dealing with the fashion industry, the sex-trade and prostitution (Despite many aesthetic, musical and line-up changes, those themes are always guaranteed on any Siouxsie And The Banshees album).

Catwalk is essentially just Bugdie experimenting with what eventually become the wonderful Face To Face, but the real draw for me personally is False Face. Starting off only with Siouxsie’s echoing voice, it bursts with Budgie’s ace drum work and rounded by Steven’s intense bass. Though nowhere near as enjoyable as my favorite S&B song, The Killing Jar, it still always finds a way into every I-Pod I’ve had.

Christine - Siouxsie and the Banshees (1980)

 Released in my favorite Banshees album, Kaleidoscope. The song is the first part of two that are based on Christine Costner-Sizemore, whose struggles with multiple personality disorder are documented in the 1957 book and film, Three Faces of Eve.

 The band first became interested in the case of Christine Sizemore following the discovery of an article in a 1977 Observer magazine about the strange case history of Sizemore. Steve Severin got hold of the book I’m Eve, co-written by Sizemore and her cousin Elen Sain Pittillo. Inspired, Steve Severin wrote the lyrics, focusing on Christine’s two main personalities, The Banana Split Lady and The Strawberry Girl. Not only using lyrics as a form of story expression, Budgie changes the tempo throughout the song based on whichever personality is being sung about at the time.

 The equally amazing B-Side Eve White/Eve Black is possibly the band’s darkest an gloomiest song. The second part to complete the ‘Christine’ narrative, it can also be found on the cover album Through The Looking Glass (and if you haven’t listened to it yet, get it ASAP). Not to be outdone, Siouxsie took control of the musical direction for the song. Starting off slow and ambient, using the same synth pattern Steven uses in nearly every song on Kaleidoscope, it eventually builds up into a screaming crescendo the true extent of Siouxsie’s vocals are on full display. If anyone wonders why Siouxsie and the Banshees are considered one of the ‘classics’ of the goth genre, they need only to listen.

Swimming Horses - Siouxsie and the Banshees (1984)

This is based on a programme I saw about a female version of Amnesty, called ‘Les Sentinelles’. They rescue women who are trapped in certain religious climates in the Middle East, religions that view any kind of pre-marital sexual aspersion as punishable by death - either by the hand of the eldest brother in the family, or by public stoning. And there was this instance of a woman whose daughter had developed a tumour, and, of course, gossip abounded that she was pregnant. The doctor who removed the tumour allowed her to take it back to the village to prove that, no, it wasn’t a baby - but they wouldn’t believe her. The woman knew her daughter would have to be stoned to death so she poisoned her, out of kindness, to save her from a worse fate. Now this organisation has all these escape routes for women like her, mainly through the elder brother who pretends to have killed them. But once they’ve been saved, they can never go back. So the song starts, Kinder than with poison… I also used the imagery of, He gives birth to swimming horses, from the fact that male sea horses give birth to the children, so they’re the only species that have a maternal feel for the young. It was, I suppose, an abstract way of linking it all together without being sensationalist. I remember just being really moved by that programme, and wanting to get the sorrow out of me - Siouxsie Sioux

One of the most influential singles in the bands history along with the likes of to “Metal Postcard”, “Spellbound”, and “Melt!”. The title song being sampled by Crystal Castles to Skinny Puppy.

Siouxsie and Budgie

Siouxsie

Siouxsie Sioux

Siouxsie sioux

(Source: everythingisgoneforever, via jaelandrea)

Siouxsie Sioux

vintagegal:

Siouxsie