COMPILATION - A BESTIARY OF

 
 
  UK CD Details  
 
 
  A Bestiary Of CD Front Cover - Click Here For Full Scan 
Cat: 
533677-2
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Mad Eyed Screamer
So Unreal
But Not Them
Wild Thing
Thumb
Morning Dawning
Inoa Ole
Icehouse
Dancing On Glass
Gecko
Sky Train
Festival Of Colours
Miss The Girl
A Strutting Rooster
Flesh
Hot Springs In The Snow
Weathercade
Right Now
 

 

 
  Released: 27/10/97  
  UK Chart: Didn't Chart  
  US Chart: Didn't Chart  
  Sleeve Design: Area  
  Producer: The Creatures/Mike Hedges  
       

 

A BESTIARY OF - PRESS

 
 
  Vox 02/98  
 
 
  Siouxsie and Budgie's side-project

Although the band had enjoyed some measure of cult success among 1977's teutonically obsessed, gothically inclined, minimalist punk rock elite, Siouxsie and the Banshees were pretty much a one-trick pony until the arrival of their long-standing virtuoso drummer Budgie -- who had previously stunned the entire punk cosmos with his inspired stickwork on the Slits' remarkable "Cut" debut -- offered unlimited potential for artistic expansion and experimentation.

While recording the band's darker-than-thou fourth album, "Juju," a stripped-down, drum'n'voice version of the song "But Not Them" was recorded. Though deemed unsuitable for release under the Banshees' name, it was sufficient quality for Siouxsie and Budgie to persevere with the concept behind, which consequently became the blueprint for an enduring and fruitful side-project, The Creatures.

"Bestiary" is a collection of work recorded between '81 and '83 and, despite the fact that the majority of The Creatures' canon was deemed overly pretentious and self-indulgent on its original release, it stands the test of time surprisingly well.

The debut "Wild Things" EP is the most primitive material on offer; one man's spirited approximation of the then fashionable Burundi sound augmented by fog-horn Siouxsie's singularly macabre lyricism. The Band's first album, "Feast," is a far more exotic affair, spiced up with myriad musical and percussive influences from all corners of the globe, due in part, presumably, to the fact that it was recorded in the tropical heat of Hawaii. And "Bestiary" concludes with the band's spirited, chart-busting rendition of Mel Torme's "Right Now," complete with the strident brass sound which was, in 1989, to characterize their second album, "Boomerang."

3/4

Ian Fortnam

 
     

 

A BESTIARY OF -  CREDITS

     
  Mad Eyes Screamer Lyrics  
 
 
 

Platform ranting in the trees
Disturbed voices on the breeze
Huddled 'round the mad eyed screamer
A pointed finger, the tin can schemer

Mad eyed screamer, mad eyed screamer
Mad eyed screamer, mad eyed screamer
A pointed finger, the tin can schemer
Mad eyed screamer, the corner speaker

Could be a preacher, could be a teacher
You want the world to meet you maker
Now the lecher transforms the traitor
With a petrol flaring eye

Come and see the corner speaker
Come and hear his suit drip dry
The passers-by have one obsession
To hear his raving to the sky

Mad eyed screamer on your knees
Mad eyed screamer you are not pleased
With the chatter in the trees
Your balls are freezing in the breeze

Mad eyed screamer, mad eyed screamer
Mad eyed screamer, mad eyed screamer
Your balls are freezing in the breeze
Mad eyed screamer you are not pleased

 
     
  Mad Eyes Screamer Credits  
     
  Sioux - Lyrics
Sioux - Voice
Budgie - Drums, Percussion & Marimba
 
     
  Inspiration/Influence/Band Comment  
     
  Based on a local character found at Speakers Corner in Hyde Park, London .  "'Mad Eyed Screamer is about a guy who was at Speaker's Corner on Sundays when I used to go down there, one man in particular that I remember who was just crazed, obsessive and quite frightening."  (Siouxsie)  Source:  Smash Hits 10/81.  
     

 


     
  So Unreal Lyrics  
 
 
 

What can I do, I know they've gotten to you
When you say that your whites have an Ariel blue
What's happened to you since I last saw you
I thought I knew your name, but it's not you
But it's not you

You're talking in a balloon, in this tidy room
Sounding like a commercial for a serial
I wish you could feel the way that I feel
I wish you could feel but you're so unreal
You're so unreal

What can I say, what can I say
All the traits you had have all gone away
Get up and wash at the right time of day
And greet the world with the right things to say
What can I say, what can I say

You're so ideal, you're never down at heel
You're so ideal, but you're so unreal
I wish you could feel the way that I feel
I wish could feel but you're so unreal
You're so unreal

 
     
  So Unreal Credits  
     
  Sioux - Lyrics
Sioux - Voice
Budgie - Drums, Percussion & Marimba
 
     
  Inspiration/Influence/Band Comment  
     
  The novel The Stepford Wives by Ira Levin.  "It's about meeting someone again who you've known a few years ago, and they're totally conventional and all they care about is their washing machine."  (Siouxsie)  Source:  Smash Hits 10/81.  
     

 


     
  But Not Them Lyrics  
 
 
 

She hates the man and he hates the man
Because something strong inside has been denied them
But not him, oh not him

He hates the girl and she hates the girl
Because something weak implied
They fought to push aside them
But not her, oh not her

The girls isn't alive but the man is dead
Because it's all been said before
The girl isn't alive but the man is dead
Because you only have you mentor to draw, you whore

Dead lumps of meat melt in this heat
Dead lumps of meat melt in this heat

She hates the man and he hates the man
Because something strong inside has been denied them
But not him, oh not him

He hates the girl and she hates the girl
Because something weak implied
They fought to push aside them
But not her, oh not her

The girls isn't alive but the man is dead
Because it's all been said before
The girl isn't alive but the man is dead
Because you only have you mentor to draw from

Dead lumps of meat melt in this heat
Dead lumps of meat melt in this heat

But not them

 
     
  But Not Them Credits  
     
  Sioux - Lyrics
Sioux - Voice
Budgie - Drums, Percussion & Marimba
 
     
  Inspiration/Influence/Band Comment  
     
  "It's about the generation that's getting rid of the old sex roles."  (Siouxsie)  Source:  Smash Hits 10/81.  
     

 


     
  Wild Thing Lyrics  
 
 
 

Wild thing
I think I love you
But I wanna know for sure
So come on hold me tight
I love you

Wild thing
I think I hate you
But I wanna know for sure
So come on and hit me hard
I hate you

 
     
  Wild Thing Credits  
     
  The Troggs - Lyrics
Sioux - Voice
Budgie - Drums, Percussion & Marimba
 
     

 


     
  Thumb Lyrics  
 
 
 

Wandering through the narrow thoroughfare
The motorway is standing on its own
I see me walking there

One for the road
My thumbs have dropped me on the road
The headlights find my load

Following signs and always taking my time
Following signs these thumbs have lights of their own

One more for the road
Just one more for the road

Digital fun in the sun
Follow my thumb, follow my thumb
These thumbs are my gun
See them dance when I'm blue

This beacon is my fare, anytime, anywhere
Take a ride by my side in the day or the night
Traveling through, some old, some new

Just one more for the road
Just another one for the road

Jump inside little girl, take a ride by my side
There's no end to this ride with this stranger tonight

Just one more for the road
Just another one for the road

Digital fun in the sun
Follow my thumb, follow my thumb

Digital fun in the sun
Follow my thumb,

Follow my thumb, follow my thumb, follow my thumb

 
     
  Thumb Credits  
     
  Sioux - Lyrics
Sioux - Voice
Budgie - Drums, Percussion & Marimba
 
     

 


     
  Morning Dawning Lyrics  
 
 
 

The dawning is over
The morning is over
And I can't look into your eyes

A cold November morning
A shivering new dawning
I watched your energy slide

It's sad to see it dying
That fire once so lively
Now three tears have fallen from my eyes

A dampened need for fire
A kindled desire
The power just vanished from your eyes

This feeling is crying
The sea it is sighing
For spirits that just give up and die

The dawning is over
The mourning is over
I still can't look into your eyes

 
     
  Morning Dawning Credits  
     
  Sioux - Lyrics
Sioux - Voice
Budgie - All Instruments
The Lamalani Hula Academy Hawaiian Chanters - Vocals
 
     

 


     
  Inoa' Ole Lyrics  
 
 
 

Inoa' Ole

 
     
  Inoa' Ole Credits  
     
  Sioux - Lyrics
Sioux - Voice
Budgie - All Instruments
The Lamalani Hula Academy Hawaiian Chanters - Vocals
 
     
  Inspiration/Influence/Band Comment  
     
  Hawaiian for 'No Name'.  
     

 


     
  Icehouse Lyrics  
 
 
 

The ice house preserves
With incestuous flowers
Their nightly perfume overpowers me

The stamens kiss
Entwined devouring
The heat will melt whilst the ice remains

Erogenous touch
Of brother and sister
The ice retains life no offspring to bear

Phallic flower
Etched into my memory
A feline form on a frosted pane

Not ashes to ashes
Not dust to dust
A beckoning bouquet
Of blossoming lust

Oh will you stay
Until this moment's complete?
Oh let me freeze you
With the fragrance so sweet
We shall not slither and wither away
The door will lock shut
When the ice names the day

Not ashes to ashes
Not dust to dust
A beckoning bouquet
Of blossoming lust

 
     
  Ice House Credits  
     
  Sioux - Lyrics
Sioux - Voice
Budgie - All Instruments
 
     
  Inspiration/Influence/Band Comment  
     
  A TV play.  A convalescent home run by a brother and sister who dress in a certain colour identical to some extraordinary self-perpetuating, interbred flowers that tower above an old ice-house at the bottom of the garden.  A new inhabitant suspects that the other residents are under some strange intoxication, some spell spread by the Aphrodisiac blossoms.  In the ice-house he discovers bodies frozen in the ice.  Later, when awoken from his sleep he discovers a hole in the window, perfectly flower-shaped.  Finally he is led down the garden to the ice-house and enters voluntarily, the door closing behind him.  Source:  Melody Maker 04/05/83.  
     

 


     
  Dancing On Glass Lyrics  
 
 
 

With your mouth around the bottle
Then you smash it on the hearth
Reach out for another one
Don't look back on the past

A chair through the window
Then through the looking glass
The crystal splinters shimmer
Bathe the pavement in moondust

Laughing in the crimson rain
We feel no pain
With shards in our soles
We'll dance again and again
Oh again and again
Amidst the laughter in the crimson rain

With your mouth around the bottle
Then you smash it on the hearth
Forget tomorrow's mess
Because right now is the best

I guess we're dancing on glass

 
     
  Dancing On Glass Credits  
     
  Sioux - Lyrics
Sioux - Voice
Budgie - All Instruments
 
     
  Inspiration/Influence/Band Comment  
     
  An Indian musical televised before Christmas as a trailer for Channel 4's season of classic Indian films. A hymn to Bacchanalian abandonment, it celebrates the mad irresponsibility of a crazed carnival, oozing with guile, panting with lust.  Source:  Melody Maker 04/05/83.  
     

 


     
  Gecko Lyrics  
 
 
 

Giant sized flowers
Giant sized bugs
Giant sized gecko
Is making his path

Undergrowth running
A chorus of frogs
A parakeet's picnic
All writhing in a tub

Panoramic banana
A passion fruit samba
Pale skin is itching
A tropical fever

Creatures crawl and creatures call
All creatures great and small
Gecko sits and watches all
From perches short and tall

 
     
  Gecko Credits  
     
  Sioux - Lyrics
Sioux - Voice
Budgie - All Instruments
 
     

 


     
  Sky Train Lyrics  
 
 
 

Sky train rides again

 
     
  Sky Train Credits  
     
  Sioux - Lyrics
Sioux - Voice
Budgie - All Instruments
 
     

 


     
  Festival Of Colours Lyrics  
 
 
 

Kula 'ula 'ula poni
'Alani melemele polu
'Akala 'oma 'oma 'o

Come to the festival of colours
Celebrate the festival of colours
Come to the festival of colours
Celebrate the festival of colours

Shake your serpent thrashing hair
Come and tint the sleeping air
Shake your serpent thrashing hair
Come and tint the sleeping air
Across the seas from India
But a rainbow can start anywhere

Clutching handfuls of the powder
Throw it everywhere
Chanting out their many names
Kick it to the wind

Kula 'ula 'ula poni
'Alani melemele polu
'Akala 'oma 'oma 'o

Come to the festival of colours
Celebrate the festival of colours
Come to the festival of colours
Celebrate the festival of colours

 
     
  Festival Of Colours Credits  
     
  Sioux - Lyrics
Sioux - Voice
Budgie - All Instruments
The Lamalani Hula Academy Hawaiian Chanters - Vocals
 
     

 


     
  Miss The Girl Lyrics  
 
 
 

Kiss the girl
Kiss the girl

Hand around the steering wheel
Caress the shiny vinyl feel

Don't you miss the girl?
Miss the girl

Seduced reflection in the chrome
There's petrol stains outside your home

Kiss the girl
Kiss the girl

Your loving strokes are fatal charms
Revenge bites back into her arms

You didn't miss the girl
You hit the girl

You hit her with a force of steel
She's wrapped around your burning wheels

Kiss the girl
Miss the girl
Kiss the girl
Miss the girl

 
     
  Miss The Girl Credits  
     
  Sioux - Lyrics
Sioux - Voice
Budgie - All Instruments
 
     
  Inspiration/Influence/Band Comment  
     
  The book Crash, by J. G. Ballard in which the lead character gets sexual gratification from car crashes.  
     

 


     
  A Strutting Rooster Lyrics  
 
 
 
Above is red
Below is red
Hear the ringing voice...
A strutting rooster
Lyrics: Traditional
 
     
  A Strutting Rooster Credits  
     
  Traditional - Lyrics
Sioux - Voice
Budgie - All Instruments
 
     

 


     
  Flesh Lyrics  
 
 
 
The bursting balloon cocktails are soon
Young glands young flesh invade the room
A sardonic mood ughh
Watch the rich fatty eating raw fish with avid curiosity
Oh piggy squeals and donkey brays at a sober party
Doggy barks and horsey neighs try to shock the party
Impaled on pleasure impaled on a spear 
Impaled with danger impaled with fear
A disfigured dismembered sex with a third world cast
Young glands young flesh the beating heart
Oh piggy squeals and donkey brays at a sober party
Doggy barks and horsey neighs try to shock the party
The bursting balloon cocktails are soon
Young glands young flesh penetrate the room
They fall on the camera lens against the tumble dryer screen
On the edit room floor lies a messier scene
h piggy squeals and donkey brays at a sober party
Doggy barks and horsey neighs try to shock the party
 
     
  Flesh Credits  
     
  Sioux - Lyrics
Sioux - Voice
Budgie - All Instruments
 
     
  Inspiration/Influence/Band Comment  
     
  Deals with the subject of 'snuff' movies.  "I didn't want to call it 'Snuff' because I didn't want it to be that sensationalistic, but it was something that I was disgusted about."  (Siouxsie)  Source:  Melody Maker 04/05/83.  
     

 


     
  Hot Springs In The Snow  
 
 
 

Instrumental

 
     
  Hot Springs In The Snow Credits  
     
  Sioux - Lyrics
Sioux - Voice
Budgie - All Instruments
 
     

 


     
  Weathercade Lyrics  
 
 
 

The weatherman is calling, calling, calling
The weatherman's informing of a bright new day

There's no more gloomy weather, forget that umbrella
No more diseases sneezing at this century

The dalek drones are drowning, we're flying, we're climbing
Stars sit corroding as we soar away

Waltzes on the rooftops,, spinning with side hops
Ugly concrete towers are now bright arcades

Weathercade

These shoes have done some walking, you can hear them talking
These shoes will last forever they're made that way

The weatherman is calling, calling, calling
The weatherman's informing of a bright new day

 
     
  Weathercade Credits  
     
  Sioux - Lyrics
Sioux - Voice
Budgie - All Instruments
 
     

 


     
  Right Now Lyrics  
 
 
 

Right now
Let me take you by the hand
Right now
Put your lips at my command
Right now
Fly me off to lovers land

Baby
Don't you leave me at the post
Kiss me
you can feel it coast to coast
Right now
Baby need your love the most

You have set my soul on fire
Only you can satisfy this great desire

Right now
Let the fool world break in two
Right now
Stars can tumble from the blue
Right now
Just as long as I'm with you

Right now
It's the time and it's the place
Right now
For a ride to outer space
Le me have that wild embrace

You have set my soul on fire
Only you can satisfy this great desire

One time
Let the wine of love flow free
One time
Be the lover you can be
Right now
Come on and give yourself to me

 
     
  Right Now Credits  
     
  Herbie Mann/Carl Sigman - Lyrics
Sioux - Voice
Budgie - All Instruments