Nocturne Credits

NOCTURNE ERA - CREDITS


	Israel Dear Prudence Paradise Place Melt! Cascade Pulled To Bits Night Shift Sin In My Heart Slowdive Painted Bird Happy House Switch Spellbound Helter Skelter Eve White/Eve Black Voodoo Dolly Running Town Head Cut



	Israel Lyrics

	Little orphans in the snow With nowhere to call a home Start their singing, singing Waiting through the summertime To thaw your hearts in wintertime That's why their singing, singing Waiting for a sign To turn blood into wine The sweet taste in your mouth Turn bitter in it's glass Israel, in Israel Israel, in Israel Shattered fragments of the past Meet in veins on the stained glass Like the lifeline in your palm Red and green reflects the scene Of a long forgotten dream There were princes and there were kings Now hidden in disguise Cheap wrappings of lies Keep your heart alive With a song from inside Even though we're all alone We are never on our own When we're singing, singing There's a man who's looking in And he smiles a toothless grin Because he's singing, singing See some people shine with glee But their song is jealousy Their hate is clanging, maddening In Israel, will they sing Happy Noel Israel, in Israel Israel, in Israel In Israel, will they sing Happy Noel

	Israel Credits

	Sioux - Lyrics Sioux - Voice & Bells Severin - Bass Smith - Guitar Budgie - Drums

	Inspiration/Influence/Band Comment

	SIOUXSIE: "No it's not about religion as such, it’s more general. A disillusioned person, or whole race who’ve ceased to understand or believe in what they held to be the truth. It tries to put across, you shouldn’t cover what you feel inside by teaching or attitudes imposed on you. It emphasises the strength of the individual." Source: Sounds 28/02/81. SEVERIN: "We wanted to do a Christmas single, and to get it out on time we had to write it on the road, which was quite unusual for us. We wrote it in a hotel room in Amsterdam (11-12 October 1980), and it came together very quickly at the sound checks." Source: The Authorised Biography 2002. SIOUXSIE: " 'Israel' says that religion is good if it brings disillusioned people together, but without the dogma that usually goes with religion. Source: Trax 17/02/81. SIOUXSIE: "I don't have faith in organised religion. I believe that everyone is different and you've got to work out how to impress yourself, and you know that better." Source: Record Mirror 15/05/86.



	Dear Prudence Lyrics

	Dear Prudence, won't you come out to play Dear Prudence, greet the brand new day The sun is up, the sky is blue It's beautiful and so are you Dear Prudence won't you come out and play Dear Prudence open up your eyes Dear Prudence see the sunny skies The wind is low the birds will sing That you are part of everything Dear Prudence won't you open up your eyes? Look around round Look around round round Look around Dear Prudence let me see you smile Dear Prudence like a little child The clouds will be a daisy chain So let me see you smile again Dear Prudence won't you let me see you smile?

	Dear Prudence Credits

	Lennon/McCartney - Lyrics Sioux - Voice Severin - Bass & Keyboards Budgie - Drums & Percussion Robert Smith - Guitar & Keyboards

	Inspiration/Influence/Band Comment

	SEVERIN: "I think reviews that said it wasn’t particularly different to the Beatles’ version haven’t listened to the original to find out. It’s completely different. On the ‘White Album’, it’s a soft ballad, we’ve just made it sound like the Banshees." Source: Melody Maker 01/10/83 SMITH: " ’Dear Prudence’ is not trying to open another door so we can eventually ingratiate ourselves a little bit more into the popular consciousness." Source: Melody Maker 01/10/83 SIOUXSIE: "As we were recording it I could see it was turning out to be really commercial, so much so that I suggested putting it on the B-side instead." Source: The Authorised Biography 2002 SIOUXSIE: "I think the sound of it sticks out like a sore thumb." Source: Melody Maker 01/10/83 SEVERIN: "When we finished it, I suddenly thought ‘This’ll never get played in clubs because it hasn’t got the disco beat' ." Source: Melody Maker 01/10/83



	Paradise Place Lyrics

	Look to the hills, now look at my face Do you notice my eyes, are they in the right place? There's a Mantovani backdrop To pucker up a tummy tuck A voice soft as lint Mashed up with shades of pink You can hide your genetics Under drastic cosmetics But this chameleon magic Is renowned to be tragic Look to the hills, now look at my face Do you notice my eyes, are they in the right place?

	Paradise Place Credits

	Sioux - Lyrics Sioux - Voice & Guitar Severin - Bass Smith - Guitar Budgie - Drums

	Inspiration/Influence/Band Comment

	SIOUXSIE: "There's one song that I've recently done called 'Paradise Place' which is about plastic surgeons in the Beverley Hills, that operate a a cut price (slice), very cheap, and they end up messing up someone's features at the cost of how cheap it is." Source: Zigzag 05/80.



	Melt! Lyrics

	You are the melting man You are your situation There is no time to breathe And yet one single breath Leads to an insatiable desire Of suicide in sex So many blazing orchids Burning in your throat Making you choke Making you sigh Sigh in tiny deaths So Melt! My lover, melt! She said melt! My lover, melt! You are the melting man And as you melt You are beheaded Handcuffed in lace, blood & sperm Swimming in poison Gasping in the fragrance Sweat carves a screenplay Of discipline and devotion So Melt! My lover, melt! She said melt! My lover, melt! Can you see? See into the black of a long, black car Pulling away from a funeral of flowers With my hand between your legs Melting

	Melt! Credits

	Severin - Lyrics Sioux - Voice Severin - Bass Budgie - Drums Smith - Guitar

	Inspiration/Influence/Band Comment:

	SIOUXSIE: "We’d just come back from our first tour of Japan, and it made a real impression on us all." Source: Melody Maker 17/10/92 SEVERIN: "There wasn't (a promotional video made for 'Melt!) but (if there had been) it would have involved a giant ice phallus!" Source: Banshees & Other Creatures Interview 2000 SEVERIN: "Both 'Melt!' and 'Slowdive' were risky choices as singles and we knew that, but it didn't really bother us, because we knew that 'Dreamhouse' was successful, not in sales terms but we were pleased with how it had gone." Source: NME 24/12/83



	Cascade Lyrics

	Oh the air was shining Shining like a wedding ring Barbed like sex I felt 10,000 volts My chest was full of eels Pushing through my usual skin I opened up new wounds Pouting, shouting Oh love, like liquid falling Falling in cascades Oh love lorn victims Laughing in cascades The sun was rich Rich with a song of sin My breath melted my words Into strange alphabets Tormenting my tongue Pouting, shouting- Oh love, like liquid falling Falling in cascades Oh love lorn victims Laughing in cascades The heartbeats were echoing Echoing the revolver Emptying into my mouth I pulled a face from my pocket And smiled a Leper's grin I felt somebody close Pouting, shouting- Oh love, like liquid falling Falling in cascades Oh love lorn victims Laughing in cascades

	Cascade Credits

	Severin - Lyrics Sioux - Voice Severin - Bass Smith - Guitar Budgie - Drums



	Pulled To Bits Lyrics

	Tongues are clacking Words of one vision One tiny incision And teeth are cracking On thin air, on thin air Pulled to bits In silence Left rotting on the ground Slowly pulled to bits In silence Without a sound, without a sound Buildings bleached with chatter chatter clatter Fill their senses with cement Watch the people shatter One by one, one by one Pulled to bits In silence Left rotting on the ground Slowly pulled to bits In silence Without a sound, without a sound Young lungs snapping, coming up for air The mindless ones yapping Slashing through the thoroughfare One by one, one by one Oh one by one Without a fucking care Pulled to bits in silence Left rotting on the ground Slowly pulled to bits In silence Without a sound, without a fucking sound Pulled to bits Yackety Yackety yack yack yack Pulled to bits Shatter shatter shatter clatter Pulled to bits Yap yap yap yapping Pulled to bits Without a sound

	Pulled To Bits Credits

	Severin - Lyrics Sioux - Voice & Tambourine Severin - Bass Smith - Guitar Budgie - Drums

	Inspiration/Influence/Band Comment

	Inspiration/Influence/Band Comment: The acts of copy cat violence that followed the release and subsequent withdrawal of Stanley Kubricks A Clockwork Orange .



	Night Shift Lyrics

	Only at night time I see you In darkness I feel you A bride by my side I'm inside many brides Sometimes I wonder What goes on in your mind Always silent and kind unlike the others Fuck the mothers kill the others Fuck the others kill the mothers I'll put it out of my mind because I'm out of my mind with you In heaven and hell with you My night shift sisters Await your nightly visitor They don't bother me no No they don't bother me The cold marble slab Submits at my feet With a neat dissection Looking so sweet to me, please come to me With your cold flesh, my cold love Hissing, not kissing A happy go lucky chap Always dressed in black He'll come to you, he'll come to you My night shift sisters With your nightly visitor A new vocation in life My love with a knife Fuck the mothers kill the others Fuck the others kill the mothers I'll put it out of my mind because I'm out of my mind with you in heaven and hell with you

	Night Shift Lyrics

	Sioux - Lyrics Sioux - Voice Severin - Bass Smith - Guitar Budgie - Drums

	Inspiration/Influence/Band Comment

	SIOUXSIE: " 'Night Shift' was about the Yorkshire Ripper, not Bela Lugosi, or whatever. Goth was pantomime." Source: Time out 26/09/98



	Sin In My Heart Lyrics

	Sin in my heart Sin in my heart Sin in my heart flying like a dart Oh sin in my heart It's beginning to start It's beginning to start When you're lying like a tart Sin in my heart When you grovel at my feet Oh sin in my heart It's short and sweet Sin in my heart Swift as a dart sin in my heart Oh sin in my heart When you grovel at my feet Keep it short and sweet Sin in my heart

	Sin In My Heart Credits

	Sioux - Lyrics Sioux - Voice & Guitar Severin - Bass Smith - Guitar Budgie - Drums



	Slowdive Lyrics

	Get your head down to the ground Shake it all around A dirty sound Put your knees into your face And see if you can race Real slow It's a slowdive When you die slow Oh it's a low jive Do the slowdive Now you jump back like a hound Emit a howling sound Dig those limbs into the floor And holler out for more And you revel in the dips When your backbone slips Taking honeysuckle sips From your rolling hips It shifts and it shifts It's a slowdive when you die slow When you come alive it's a low jive Do the slowdive

	Slowdive Credits

	Sioux - Lyrics Sioux - Voice Severin - Bass Smith - Guitar Budgie - Drums

	Inspiration/Influence/Band Comment

	SEVERIN: "It was just a drunken evening..." Source: Melody Maker 17/10/92 SIOUXSIE: "Another sexual song, but more playful. It's very open, very relaxed, loose. I wrote it on the spot after a jam in the studio." Source: Record Hunter 12/92 SIOUXSIE: "I remember I wanted the string players to slow down and get tired, so the ’Oh my God!’ in the middle of the song is one of the string players’ wrists falling off! And the video was this boy’s first dance routine! It took months of rehearsal, and getting him to wear false eyelashes." Source: Melody Maker 17/10/92 SIOUXSIE: " 'Slowdive' was an improvised lyric...It's like, umm, if you're making music, what it amounts to is, because you're expressing something you can't say in words. So for me to explain what that is, is taking away something that you lose when you're just using speech. With music it should speak for itself. Source: Elektron Interview 20/12/82



	Painted Bird Lyrics

	On lead poisoned wings You try to sing Freak beak shrieks are thrown At your confusing hue The peacock screaming eyes Show no mercy no mercy Painted bird It's absurd Just a tainted bird Hurting their twisted nerve The flock will make you choke On this sadistic joke And the whippoorwills They make a din In laughing unison You're Hitchcock carrion Carry on Painted bird It's absurd Just a tainted bird Hurting their twisted nerve I hear you sorrow Maybe tomorrow You'll lose your sorrow When a fated weather will cleanse away That painted feather And all that sorrow A coquette in fur purr for the painted bird Confound that dowdy flock With a sharp honed nerve Because we're painted birds by our own design By our own design There's no more sorrow Have you heard About the painted bird Just a tainted bird Hurting their twisted nerve We've lost our sorrow Now it's tomorrow No need to hide your feather Under a fated weather No more sorrow Now we're painted birds Mocking that twisted nerve

	Painted Bird Credits

	Sioux - Lyrics Sioux - Voice Severin - Bass Smith - Guitar Budgie - Drums

	Inspiration/Influence/Band Comment

	Inspired by the book 'The Painted Bird' by Jerzy Kosinksi. SIOUXSIE: "A very violent book," says Siouxsie. "But there's also like an abstract theme in that this guy used to collect birds, and when he was feeling really aggressive, or frustrated, he'd paint this bird with different colours, and then throw it to its flock. And it would recognise its flock, but because it was a different colour, they would attack it." Source: NME17/04/82



	Happy House Lyrics

	This is the happy house We're happy here In the happy house Oh it's such fun We've come to play In the happy house And waste a day In the happy house It never rains We've come to scream In the happy house We're in a dream In the happy house We're all quite sane This is the happy house We're happy here There's room for you If you say "I do" But don't say no Or you'll have to go We've done no wrong With our blinkers on It's safe and calm If you sing along This is the happy house We're happy here In the happy house To forget ourselves And pretend all's well There is no hell

	Happy House Credits

	Sioux - Lyrics Sioux - Voice Severin - Bass Smith - Guitar Budgie - Drums

	Inspiration/Influence/Band Comment

	SIOUXSIE: 'Happy House' started off as a title, as a name for our fan club, the Happy House you see, and it became a song. It was the first thing we wanted to record and we had the bass, drums and vocals worked out for it so we used it in auditions as a test. So no-one did anything off pat, it was used as a guide to try out new guitarists and they had to work out their own sound." Source: Sounds 05/04/80. SIOUXSIE: I got an idea for a song. It's really just a happy song. The kind you make as you go along when you're happy, for no real reason. Y'know, when you're sitting in the bath or when you're walking home late at night." Source: Smash Hits 01/05/80. BUDGIE: "I think Happy House was where I really kind of, you know, started to say something about where I felt like, somewhere between Keith Moon, Ginger Baker and me." Source: Punk Top Ten Interview 08/06/0.



	Switch Lyrics

	Different lives In different places Familiar problems Same old faces Shuffle lives Into wrong categories Cross the wires And fuse humanity Watch the muscles twitch For a brand new switch Scientist G.P.s With patient guinea pigs Curing their head aches With drastic side effects Doctor rectorates Condescending from on high For all hallucinators See druggist in the sky Vicar experiments But 'tis blasphemy Dismissing thoughts of progress As the mark of devilry People walk And even talk People listen Then they halt Something blows up Won't come down Shattered muscles twitch Too late to switch

	Switch Credits

	Sioux - Lyrics Sioux - Voice Severin - Bass Smith - Guitar Budgie - Drums

	Inspiration/Influence/Band Comment

	SIOUXSIE: ""I had in mind that it was going to be very fragmented with three different sections. That's all." Source: Melody Maker 21/10/78. SEVERIN: "The scientist becomes the doctor and applies science to medicine - that kind of thing." Source: Melody Maker 21/10/78. SIOUXSIE: "The vicar becomes the scientist and he applies his religion to science and the doctor becomes the religious person and applies his medicine to religion." Source: Melody Maker 21/10/78. SEVERIN: "It all comes down to the same thing - the hypocrisy of it all." Source: Melody Maker 21/10/78.



	Spellbound Lyrics

	From the cradle bars Comes a beckoning voice It sends you spinning you have no choice You hear laughter Cracking through the walls It sends you spinning You have no choice Following the footsteps Of a rag doll dance We are entranced Spellbound And don't forget When your elders forget To say their prayers Take them by the legs And throw them down the stairs When you think Your toys have gone berserk It's an illusion You cannot shirk You hear laughter Cracking through the walls It sends you spinning You have no choice Following the footsteps Of a rag doll dance We are entranced Spellbound

	Spellbound Credits

	Severin - Lyrics Sioux - Voice Severin - Bass Smith - Guitar Budgie - Drums

	Inspiration/Influence/Band Comment

	SIOUXSIE: "The magic that we want is not textbook magic. We use words like voodoo and spellbound but they're not to be taken literally. The best magic is when something good happens and you don't plan it, it's not in your control. To an extent it's in your control, but to be totally in control of everything then would be boring, life would be boring. If nothing went 'something magic's happened', but it's not like that, it's just a feeling." Source: Elektron Interview 20/12/82



	Helter Skelter Lyrics

	When I get to the bottom I go back to the top of the slide Where I stop and I turn and I go for a ride Till I get to the bottom and I see you again. Do you, don't you want me to love you I'm coming down fast but I'm miles above you Tell me tell me tell me come on tell me the answer You may be a lover but you ain't no dancer So look out! Helter skelter Na la la la la la Helter skelter Na la la la la la Helter skelter Will you, won't you want me to make you I'm coming down fast but don't let me break you Tell me tell me tell me the answer You may be a lover but you ain't no fucking dancer When I get to the bottom I go back to the top of the slide Where I stop

	Helter Skelter Credits

	Lennon/McCartney - Lyrics Sioux - Voice Severin - Bass Smith - Guitar Budgie - Drums

	Inspiration/Influence/Band Comment

	SEVERIN: "It's more than a song now. We felt there was a need to re-do it after all that happened." Source: Melody Maker 21/10/78. SIOUXSIE: "The Beatles had done it... quite innocently with just the intention of a helter skelter, a child's playground or other insinuations - like sexual ones." Source: Melody Maker 21/10/78.



	Eve White/Eve Black Lyrics

	It hurts There's a pain in my head I wish it would stop But it never stops I can feel it coming I'm getting weaker Please help me I'm getting weaker Oooo, I'm getting weaker Please help me I wish I could Help myself Let me out of here I belong out there Son of a bitch Son of a bitch Let me out of here I belong out there Never say die I must never die Let me out of here I belong out there You son of a bitch I'll pull your hair Let me out of here I belong out there You son of a bitch I'll pull your hair Never say die Never say I never must I must never say die Let me out of here I belong out there You son of a bitch

	Eve White/Eve Black Credits

	Sioux - Lyrics Sioux - Voice Severin - Bass Smith - Guitar Budgie - Drums

	Inspiration/Influence/Band Comment

	Based on a real woman Christine Sizemore who suffers from Multiple Personality Disorder. The inspiration for this song was the book I'm Eve by Christine Costner - Sizemore & Elen Sain - Pittillo. Written after reading The Three Faces Of Eve by Thigpen & Cleckley Source: Zigzag 05/80 & The File, Phase One.



	Voodoo Dolly Lyrics

	She's your little voodoo dolly And she's gonna make you lazy Like the little drum in your ear Transfixes you to your fear And now she's transfixed in your fear And you know she's gonna stay there Because her nails are deep in your hair And she made you so unaware Are you listening to your fear The beat is coming nearer Like the little drum in your ear Transfixes you to your fear She's such an ugly little dolly And she's making you look very silly And when you listen in to her ear You get paralysed with her fear Oh down down in your fear Now this little voodoo dolly Has made you very lazy And you're anaemic from her sucking And when your dead she'll find another Better break that little dolly And sling her in the corner Now she's a sorry little dolly Such a sorry little dolly Are you listening to your fear The beat is coming nearer Like that little drum in your ear Transfixing you to your fear listen

	Voodoo Dolly Credits

	Sioux - Lyrics Sioux - Voice Severin - Bass Smith - Guitar Budgie - Drums

	Inspiration/Influence/Band Comment

	SIOUXSIE: "I suppose everyone has their own personal voodoo dolly which is capable of destroying them. A bad habit, or something they like but shouldn't. A vice, most vices; one that's hard to control, hard to kick. The same for men with certain girlfriends, they're like voodoo dollies, always winding them up and they destroy them." Source: Sounds 20/06/81 SIOUXSIE: "The fear is just seeing and being aware that things that might be pleasing to you… can be your downfall. People included. All the good things, all the happiness can be very negative in that they numb you. That’s where the danger is, when you’re numbed to other people’s pain and other people’s pleasure. That applies to anyone but more so given the unreality of being a pop star.” Source: NME 24/12/83 SEVERIN: "It's like anything, it takes a bit of concentration and concern to find those things within the lyric, which you can't really demand of a listener and shouldn't really expect... because it's such a supposedly trivial medium. So it's almost inevitable that you get tagged with doom 'n' gloom etcetera, simply because most people haven't got the inclination to open up and discuss some of the subjects. But I don't see why we should not try and do that. It's ridiculous to do anything else." Source: NME 24/12/83



	Running Town Lyrics

	Just a step onto the street An uncomfortable heat Rattlers at your feet In running town Helter skelter all a swelter The impetus is seething In running town A thousand curses Full speed ahead Lockjaw aggression And buzzing imitations Deride the friendly Martian In running town Helter skelter all a swelter The impetus is seething In running town A thousand curses Full speed ahead If you gaze into her face She'll come back & drown All refugees in the sea Of running town A thousand curses Full speed ahead Laughter rebounds & strangles That sound in running town

	Running Town Credits

	Sioux - Lyrics Sioux - Voice Severin - Bass Smith - Guitar Budgie - Drums

	Inspiration/Influence/Band Comment

	SIOUXSIE: "I wrote the song 'Running Town' about Sydney, a city I truly hate. Everyone is in a hurry and walks around grinding their teeth. Instead of making a 'I hate Australia' statement I tried to make it more general so that it can be applied by anyone to their hometown in the same way that when reading a book you can often apply it to your own situation. It's important to be allowed to use your imagination. In that respect it's a pity that reading books is not a more popular pastime." Source: Dutch Interview 1984.



	Head Cut Lyrics

	The head is the best part My headcut my woodcut I saw you in the gallery With your torso and family A huge smiling central face With eyes and lips cut out But smiling and eating Lots of others lips A beautiful mask in plastercast Such a beautiful mask in plastercast Can I take it back with me Back to the flat with me Oh severed head I'll feed your head with bread And paint your lips bright red I'll keep it fresh on ice It will look very nice Can I take it with me Back to flat with me Shrunken heads under the bed The flies are humming There's a red under the bed The spit is turning Roasting burning Shadows dancing-by the fire Flickering flames laugh-with desire The head is the best part My headcut my woodcut

	Head Cut Credits

	Sioux - Lyrics Sioux - Voice Severin - Bass Budgie - Drums & Percussion McGeoch - Guitar

	Inspiration/Influence/Band Comment

	SIOUXSIE: " 'Onibaba', this black-and-white Japanese film by Kaneto Shindo. I saw it on BBC 2 when I was about nine. There was this great repeated scene: every night, this girl would run through fields of long, swooshing cane in the rain to her lover, but this demon would appear and it would scare her away. This kept happening until one night she ran past it. When she finally went home to her family and opened the door, the demon was crouching in the corner. It turned out the demon was her mother, who'd worn a Samurai mask to scare her away from this boy, but the mask had got stuck to her face. It made such a strong impression." Source: Word 10/04