The Seven Year Itch Album

THE SEVEN YEAR ITCH - ALBUM

UK Double LP

Track Listing

Cat: SANDV157
Click on cover for full scan

I Could Be Again*

Notes:

Recorded Live The Shepherds Bush Empire 09/0702 except * 10/07/02

UK CD

Track Listing

Cat: SANCD157
Click on cover for full scan

I Could Be Again*

Notes:

Recorded Live The Shepherds Bush Empire 09/0702 except * 10/07/02

Released:

19/05/03

UK Chart:

No.

US Chart:

No.

Sleeve Design:

DED Associates

Producer:

THE SEVEN YEAR ITCH - IMPORTS/PROMOS

UK Promo CD

Track Listing

Cat: SANPR157
Click on cover for full scan

I Could Be Again*

Notes:

Cardboard slipcase

THE SEVEN YEAR ITCH - LINER NOTES


	We came out of curiosity, more than anything else. After all, hadn't the band issued a statement seven years earlier that concluded with an emphatic "Siouxsie and the Banshees 1976-1996 RIP". The wail of the banshee had been conspicuously inaudible since then as other projects took precedence: Sioux and Budgie ploughed themselves into recording and touring as The Creatures, Steve Severin cultivated his RE label and continued his film soundtrack work. As the lights dimmed, and the hypnotic intro music began to fade, questions began to sound meaningless in the here and now of the concert hall. Like Bolan, like Krautrock, the Banshees' music still has a place in the contemporary. Why let something that could be recorded tomorrow, or in ten years' time, languish in antiquity? Between April and August 2002, the group played to packed houses from north and central America to Japan, via Britain and the continent. There to pay homage was a gratifying mix of old punks and new hedonists, fat skinheads and bondage freaks, the flamboyantly dressed and the discerningly discreet. None quite knew what to expect. Call it a Banshees thing. The tour was dubbed - with a characteristic nod to classic cinema - 'The Seven Year Itch'. A distinct awareness of the reputation-shredding potential of the comeback show seemed to inspire the Banshees who, ever since stepping onto the stage at the 100 Club in August 1976, had always thrived in the face of adversity. Recruiting ex-Psychedelic Furs guitarist Knox Chandler, the rejected the idea of promoting the imminent 'hits' CD and instead worked up a set that punctured the pantomime of platitudes that is the mainstay of reunions. The 'itch' reached London on 9 and 10 July. From the bluey blackness, a slow, shrill wail of guitar and voice signalled that, lurking in the darkness, Siouxsie and the Banshees were back on a British stage again. The band attacked their mighty catalogue with all the passion of debutantes. And, as the night progressed, it was that the Banshees had lost none of their attack, style and joie de vivre. Watching Sioux - who cut a remarkable, Dietrich-like figure in a pin-striped suit, later discarded to reveal a glittering bra - entwine herself once more with the persona of the 'Voodoo Dolly' was another of the night's many revelations. The Banshees had always been partial to a bit of theatre, but there was something about this coup de grace that reaffirmed, both to them and to us, exactly what it was that had caused us all to all join hands in the first place. Mark Paytress

THE SEVEN YEAR ITCH - PRESS


	Record Collector 2003

	Last year's Siouxsie & The Banshees reunion was something of a surprise. If there was one band you wouldn't have expected to jump on the reunion gravy train, it was the Banshees. 1996's statement regarding the band's dissolution seemed definite. By opting for a short, bittersweet series of dates, the Banshees have left their audiences sated, but with a sad awareness of what had been missed in the intervening years. This live album, drawn from the London Shepherd's Bush Empire dates of July 2002, reconfirms the group's stature as one of the great live bands of the last quarter century. By returning to the core Banshees sound of voice, guitar, bass and drums, the group's repertoire drew largely on songs from the first decade of their existence. The Banshees deliberately set themselves against churning out a greatest hits set list, and there were only two songs from the post 1987 period - 'Peek A Boo', and the obscure b side, 'I Could Be Again'. From the opening salvo of 'Pure', 'Jigsaw Feeling' and 'Metal Postcard' - all songs from 1978's debut, 'The Scream' - we're immediately drawn into the darkest reaches of the Banshees' imagination. The band's live sound remains as diamond hard and focused as it always was. It's not all doom and gloom, though. There's the sinewy and erotic 'Trust In Me' (the snake song from Walt Disney's The Jungle Book), the wacky 'Peek A Boo' - with Japanese female-outfitted X-Girl on bleating backing vocals - and continuing a fine Banshees tradition, the ritual disembowelment of a Beatles song. This time, 'Blue Jay Way' gets the 'Helter Skelter' treatment. It's the only 'new' song in the set. Performance wise, little has changed. Siouxsie's vocals retain their haunting quality, though nowadays she paces herself more carefully. Severin's bass line remains coolly calculated and precise. The latest incumbent of the guitar position, Know Chandler, largely sticks to the script laid down by those who proceeded him, though he really comes to the fore on 'Red Light', 'Icon' and 'Voodoo Dolly'. And Budgie remains Budgie. His drums are mixed well to the fore, as befitting their role as the lead instrument in the band's sound. His reinterpretations of original drummer Kenny Morris' primitive patterns are a revelation. I can't think of a more muscular and yet musical drummer in the whole of rock's history. And then they were gone, not seeking to compromise their dignity and overstay their welcome. For a brief, tantalising moment, the doors of Wonderland were open. Thankfully, the moment was captured for prosperity (at least while Polydor continue to allow the Banshees' back catalogue to gather dust). Cliff McLenehan
	More press...

THE SEVEN YEAR ITCH - CREDITS


	Pure

	Instrumental

	Pure Credits

	Sioux - Voice Severin - Bass Knox - Guitar Budgie - Drums & Percussion

	Inspiration/Influence/Band Comment

	STEVE: "For 'Pure', you can also substitute 'essence'. That song wasn't written - it just happened." It happened during a sound check in France some time ago. "Also it summed up all that we were going through back in those days. It happened on stage and we just called it 'Pure'. That's like what happens when the band lets loose." Source: Melody Maker 21/10/78.



	Jigsaw Feeling Lyrics

	Send me forward, say my feelings But all the signals, send me reeling Jigsaw feeling One day I'm feeling total The next I split in two My eyes are doing somersaults Staring at my shoes My brain is out of my hand There's nothing to prevent The impulse is quite meaningless in a cerebral non-even Send me forward, say my feelings But all the signals, send me reeling Jigsaw feeling Five fingers do my walking Ten toes unravel knots Amorphous jigsaw pieces falling into slots Send me forward, say my feelings But all the signals, send me reeling Jigsaw feeling So I just sit in reverie Getting on my nerves The intangible bonds that keep me Sitting on the verge.... Of a breakdown Of a reaction Of a result Complete me, defeat me, maybe

	Jigsaw Feeling Credits

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

	Inspiration/Influence/Band Comment

	SIOUXSIE: "It's the wrong things doing the right things for you. It started out as a self-disgust song and evolved from that. " Source: Unknown 1978. SIOUXSIE: It's when your limbs won't do what your brain wants them to. You're so confused that you can't co-ordinate your limbs to do something positive, and you just twist yourself in knots." Source: Melody Maker 21/10/78.



	Metal Postcard Lyrics

	Reunion begins with a glass of mercury Whilst television flickers With another News Bulletin Flints light up the eyes Of the seated family Metal is tough, Metal will sheen Metal won't rust when oiled and cleaned Metal is tough, Metal will sheen Metal will rule in my master scheme With a clockwork jerk Pluck cogs from fob watches For dinner on Friday Then recoiling say 'excuse me Must go recycle My precious machinery Metal is tough, Metal will sheen Metal won't rust when oiled and cleaned Metal is tough, Metal will sheen Metal will rule in my master scheme It's ruling our lives There is no hope Thought I'd drop a line The weather here is fine But day and night It blares Commanding through loud speakers Metal is tough, Metal will sheen Metal won't rust when oiled and cleaned Metal is tough, Metal will sheen Metal will rule in my master scheme

	Metal Postcard Credits

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

	Inspiration/Influence/Band Comment

	Dedicated to the celebrated photomontage artist of the Twenties/Thirties, John Heartfield, the original title for this song was 'Letter To Heartfield'. 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." How does she see this Metal Metropolis? "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..." Source: Melody Maker 21/10/78. SIOUXSIE: "What lies around the swastika I hate, but I also don't identify with blind patriotism either. I couldn't write a song based around Heartfield if I had that attitude." Source: Melody Maker 17/02/79.



	Red Light Lyrics

	She falls into frame with a professional pout But the Polaroid's ignite on seeing their subject And the aperture shuts Too much exposure Voyeur sucks into focus floodlit the glossy kiss pit But as emulsion drips down...down The aperture shuts Too much exposure Come into this room Come into this gloom See the Red light rinsing Another shutterslut wincing The sagging half wit sister pretty, pretty picture Of an ancient nipple shrinking that Kodak whore winking 'Till the aperture shuts Too much exposure

	Red Light Credits

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

	Inspiration/Influence/Band Comment

	The lyrics started out life as a piece of automatic writing by Steven, who then used cut ups which resulted in the phrases 'kodakwhore' and 'shutterslut'.



	Lullaby Lyrics

	The lunacy will leave the day Luminous in flight As the moon spits out In jagged beams Another night Wrap around this brilliant veil Tranquil and unbroken As you spiral down A world of clay And taut convulsion The dream swan spins And cartwheel turns Down deep within your violet slide The sun begins to rise Shaking down its morning swords To thaw your frozen eyes The dream swan spins And so conceals A heart that aches and yearns O hush awhile Sleepless child I'll be watching over you

	Lullaby Credits

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

	Inspiration/Influence/Band Comment

	King Ludwig II, the 'mad king' of Bavaria. Source: Downside Up liner notes.



	Lands End Lyrics

	Come take this hand at twilight's door I'll meet you there we'll share the moonlit floor Through the driving rain, colours run in veins Ozone fills the air, two figures disappear Come let's take flight, let's quit this scene tonight Whilst they sleep on endless, in their wrecked designs Sleep on endless in your wrecked designs Moths touched by flame repeat their fatal game Forever and eternally, the cliffs around the crashing sea Unsolved and endless, wait for me Undulating far below, where lucid waters flow Their faces seem to know Where the land falls to an end This hidden tale begins Take a walk with me, down by the sea Take a walk with me Down by the sea

	Lands End Credits

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



	I Could Be Again Lyrics

	Through growing gloom, I see the flicker of treason Dancing on the picture of what might have been This minute will last a day, these days will last for years And those years that take ten lifetimes Will pass without a reason To be again, I could be again To be again, I could be again Rising up, the notion of rejuvenation Oh yes, I could be again I could be again Rising up, I could be again Taking form a complete transformation Just us the cameras and those wonderful people out there in the dark This minute will last a day these days will last for years And those years that take ten lifetimes well I won't let disappear To be again, I could be again To be again, I could be again Growing in the dark From such a tiny spark It's me again I could be again It's me again I could be again

	I Could Be Again Credits

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

	Inspiration/Influence/Band Comment

	The lyric 'Just us, the cameras and those wonderful people out there in the dark' is a actually a line quoted by Gloria Swanson at the end of the film Sunset Boulevard.



	Icon Lyrics

	My eyes went up to Heaven You didn't say I'd be blind without them Icons, feed the fires Icons, falling from the spires Thine eyes rain down from Heaven You always said I'd be blind without them Icons, feed the fires Icons, falling from the spires Those words hang like vicious spittle Dribbling from that tongue Close your eyes to your lies Force feed more pious meat Those nebulous codes and disciplines Stick in that new born throat Instill a lie, an artificial eye To view a perfect land Icons, feed the fires Icons, falling from the spires Can I? stick skewers in my skin and whirl a dervish spin Can I? set myself on fire to prove some kind of desire Icons, feed the fires Icons, falling from the spires The guilt is golden The guilt is golden Those ageless lies The shuttered eyes It's the night piece It's the Icon Icons, feed the fires Icons, falling from the spires

	Icon Credits

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

	Inspiration/Influence/Band Comment

	SEVERIN: "There’s a song we have called ‘Icon’ that was inspired by Dervishes getting themselves into such a state that they could put needles through their heads. Our interest in that state is a theme that runs through our work." Source: Sounds 07/03/81. SIOUXSIE: "There’s amazing religions in the East where they go into states of, umm…. Dervishes and they put skewers through their skin, I don’t know what that’s called, they go into mad dervishes, chanting and mantras and that. I’m just fascinated in the power of the mind over the body I suppose, and what’s outside, not just the mind, what other elements are involved in it, you can endure an incredible amount of pain without faltering, again, when the adrenalin and drive is pushed." Source: Rox Box Interview 10/05/86.



	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 Credits

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

	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



	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 Knox - Guitar Budgie - Drums & Percussion

	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



	Trust In Me Lyrics

	Trust in me, just in me Shut your eyes and trust in me You can sleep safe and sound Knowing I am around Slip into silent slumber Sail on a silver mist Slowly and surely your senses Will cease to resist Trust in me, just in me Shut your eyes and trust in me

	Trust In Me Credits

	Sioux - Voice Severin - Bass Knox - Guitar Budgie - Drums & Percussion



	Blue Jay Way Lyrics

	There's a fog upon L.A. And my friends have lost their way We'll be over soon they said Now they've lost themselves instead Please don't be long please don't you be very long Please don't be long or I may be asleep Well it only goes to show And I told them where to go Ask a policeman on the street There's so many there to meet Please don't be long please don't you be very long Please don't be long or I may be asleep Now it's past my bed I know And I'd really like to go Soon will be the break of day Sitting here in Blue Jay Way Please don't be long please don't you be very long Please don't be long or I may be asleep Please don't be long please don't you be very long Please don't be long Please don't be long please don't you be very long Please don't be long Please don't be long please don't you be very long Please don't be long Don't be long - don't be long - don't be long Don't be long - don't be long - don't be long

	Blue Jay Way Credits

	George Harrison - Lyrics Sioux - Voice Severin - Bass Knox - Guitar Budgie - Drums & Percussion



	Monitor Lyrics

	Monitor outside For the people inside A prevention of crime A passing of time The come and they go It's a passing of time They come and they go Whilst we sit in our homes Sit back and enjoy The real McCoy Our new air of authority Our sentinel of misery His face was full of intent And we shook excitement Then the victim stared up Looked strangely at the screen As if her pain was our fault But that's entertainment What we crave for inside No more second rate movies From those people outside

	Monitor Credits

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

	Inspiration/Influence/Band Comment

	Inspired by the advent of Close Circuit TV and the idea of real violence as entertainment. A story was related to Siouxsie of how, when CCTV was installed in a tower block, in an attempt to curtail vandalism and crime, it instead resulted in the tenants deriving more pleasure from watching the ‘real life’ crime on CCTV, than watching fictionalised accounts on their own televisions.



	Peek A Boo Lyrics

	Creeping up the backstairs Slinking into dark stalls Shapeless and slumped in bath chairs Furtive eyes peep out of holes She has many guises She'll do what you want her to Playing dead and sweet submission Cracks the whip deadpan on cue Peek-a-boo Peek-a-boo Peek-a-boo Peek-a-boo Reeking like a pigsty Peeling back and gagging free Flaccid ego in your hand Chokes on dry tears, can you understand? She's jeering at the shadows Sneering behind a smile Lunge and thrust to pout and pucker Into the face of the beguiled Peek-a-boo Peek-a-boo Golly jeepers Where'd you get those peepers? Peepshow, creepshow Where did you get those eyes? Strobe lights pump and flicker Dry lips crack out for more `Come bite on this rag doll, baby! That's right, now hit the floor' They're sneaking out the back door She gets up from all fours Rhinestone fools and silver dollars Curdle into bitter tears Peek-a-boo Peek-a-boo Golly jeepers Where'd you get those peepers? Peepshow, creepshow Where did you get those eyes?

	Peek A Boo Credits

	Sioux - Lyrics Sioux - Voice Severin - Bass Knox - Guitar Budgie - Drums & Percussion McCarrick - Accordian

	Inspiration/Influence/Band Comment

	The soft porn industry in particular its use in advertising. " The lyrics are written from the perspective of someone who works in a peep show. It's really a song about my disgust at the amount of soft pornography, things like Page Three girls and pervy ads on TV, that are being forced on people at the moment." (Siouxsie) Source: Smash Hits 1988. "'Crimes Of Passion' was part of it. I wrote it because I was feeling bombarded by these moronic videos on Night Network, gormless singers surrounded by models and their sweaty cleavages, cherries dropping down on their boobs, really offensive." (Siouxsie) Source: NME 1988.