Oddly enough, I have actually heard "Fury Eyes" played at Nordstrom on
several occasions.  At the time I just thought it was funny, but now that I
think about it...it almost seems that Siouxsie had the pop-mindlessness
market in her crosshairs when she wrote it.  There are many examples of her
doing this, going all the way back to Hong Kong Garden.  You can think of
them as "candy"--sweet on the outside, subversive in the middle.  And they
lure you into the rest of the songs.
 
Perhaps the best example was "Kiss Them For Me."  (well duh)  It was SO
saccharine.  But then Jayne Mansfield had to have been the most saccharine
star to ever set foot in Hollywood.  That song is just pure genius.  I only
wish I could have heard Casey Casum introduce it.  That would be something
to hear!
 
Less successful was "O Baby."  I think it's a great song, and I like
watching the video even more.  I know that most people ranked it as one of
their least favorites on Roddy's survey, which I just don't get.  How can
you not relish Siouxsie infiltrating a baby beauty pageant in Trashville,
USA?!?  And they rewarded her paean to harpy stage mothers by giving her a
crown and a t-shirt.  Utterly unaware.  It's fucking hilarious.
 
Which brings me to the title...aside from being a blatant piece of candy,
she must have had a good laugh about it.  "We'll show them--we'll write a
song called 'O Baby' and get away with it."  The sad part is that she
almost didn't.  The song ended up too subtle for its own good and flopped
pretty big.  But now I see all this discussion about whether you can call a
song "Sad Cunt" and once again I think the joke's on us.  It is clearly
meant to antagonize those who take it all too seriously (and the radio
stations who will never play it).  Siouxsie is still very much in control
here.
 
Coincidentally, the day after "Sad Cunt" was handed out, I got stuck in
this horrible traffic on 4th Ave in San Diego.  The police rerouted
everyone to 5th Ave (which goes the opposite direction), causing mass
confusion and traffic hell.  There were helicopters flying overhead and
camera crews in every parking lot.  This bedlam continued for about 4
hours.  That next day, I read in the paper that the whole fuss was over a
transvestite who had gone berserk and shot his therapist because she had
refused to write a letter of recommendation for sex-change surgery.  The
transvestite then shot himself and fell on top of the gun.  When the SWAT
team arrived, it appeared that both "women" had been executed because the
transvestite's body was concealing the weapon, and they wasted hours trying
to find a killer who was already getting stiff.  Life really is stranger
than art.
 
Now the candy on Gift Horse is definitely not "Sad Cunt" (in fact, it is a
big radioactive anti-candy).  "2nd Floor" would be the guilty party, and I
have to say it's the one song that leaves me wanting a little something
more.  Another verse?  Another instrument?  I'm not sure.  And what the
hell is she saying at the start of the second verse?  Optimize the
porcupine?  It's just not taking me where I want to be.  But if it's the
only song you've heard from the album, don't worry.  The other 11 songs are
nothing like it.  They are very hard-edged and they suck you right in.
 There are no Star Search high notes or baroque prettiness that obscured
some of the late Banshees' work.  It is really go-for-the-jugular stuff
with Siouxsie finally sounding like HERSELF.  It is a great sigh of relief.
 
And now if anyone has an extra "Sad Cunt" single laying around, please
think of me.  I would trade my life for it.  And I wouldn't feel so bad
that another sad cunt made me 15mins late to my own therapist's
appointment....
 
   -b