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Mittageisen
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Wikipedia article
"'Mittageisen'" is a song by English rock band Siouxsie and the Banshees. It originally appeared on the band's 1978 debut album 'The Scream' as "Metal Postcard (Mittageisen)"; the track was re-recorded in 1979, this time with the lyrics sung in German, and released as a single in West Germany with "Love in a Void" on the b-side. That September the song was given a UK release by record label Polydor as a double A-side single.
Content and sleeve
The title "Mittageisen" is a word play based on the German words "'Mittagessen'" (literally: "noon meal", i.e. lunch) and 'Eisen' ("iron"). The title was inspired by antinazi German artist John Heartfield's photocollage 'Hurrah, die Butter ist Alle!' ("Hurray, the Butter is Finished!"), which was also used as the single's cover art.
Heartfield's photocollage was initially used on the front page of the German magazine 'Arbeiter-Illustrierte-Zeitung' ('Workers Illustrated Journal'), published on 19 December 1935. The artist was an early member of Club Dada, which started in 1916 as Cabaret Voltaire in Zrich. The picture with the title "'Hurrah, die Butter ist Alle!' / Hurray, the butter is finished!" shows a family who eats various pieces of metal. The trigger for it was the following quote from Hermann Gring: "Iron always made a nation strong, butter and lard only made the people fat".
Writing and recording
"Mittageisen" was composed by Siouxsie Sioux and John McKay; the lyrics were translated into German by their manager Dave Woods and a woman named Renate. The single was dedicated to John Heartfield.
The double A-side, "Love in a Void", was penned by Severin and the music was mainly composed by previous Banshees guitarist Peter Fenton. The track was an early live favourite; it was also the first song of their first John Peel session, recorded in late November 1977. "Love in a Void" had not been recorded for Polydor until this release.
Release
"Mittageisen" was released as a single in the UK by Polydor in September 1979. The record was promoted as a double A-side release at the time, but only "Mittageisen" charted on the UK Singles Chart, where it peaked at number 47. Nevertheless, "Love in a Void"but not "Mittageisen"was included on the band's 1981 singles compilation 'Once Upon a Time/The Singles', which compiled all their A-sides up to that time, and later on the 2006 remastered edition of 'Join Hands'. Putative A-side "Mittageisen" later appeared on the band's B-side compilation 'Downside Up'.
Legacy
"Mittageisen" was covered and sampled by Massive Attack as "Superpredators (Metal Postcard)" in 1997 for the soundtrack to the film 'The Jackal'. Robert Smith of the Cure said: "I loved all their early singles, especially "Metal Postcard"."
Track listing
All tracks produced by Nils Stevenson and Mike Stavrou.
Personnel
'Siouxsie and the Banshees'
* Siouxsie Sioux
* John McKay
* Kenny Morris
* Steven Severin
'Technical'
* Nils Stevenson production
* Mike Stavrou production
Charts
References
Category:1978 songs
Category:1979 singles
Category:Polydor Records singles
Category:Siouxsie and the Banshees songs
Category:Songs written by John McKay (musician)
Category:Songs written by Kenny Morris (musician)
Category:Songs written by Siouxsie Sioux
Category:Songs written by Steven Severin
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