Tonight’s offering comes from the fantastic Siouxsie and the Banshees.
Their version of the traditional French carol ‘Il est ne le divin enfant’ (which literally translates as ‘He is born the divine child’ (though I’m sure someone can offer a more poetic translation) was the b-side to the 1982 single ‘Melt!’ (and yes, the exclamation mark is definitely meant to be there). Read more about the carol over at Wiki.
You can find it on the Downside Up compilation, but if you’re unable to afford the entire boxset you can buy the mp3 from iTunes and the like.
This TV performance is French and features Robert Smith, who was the band’s guitarist intermittently between 1979 and 1984, in addition to leading The Cure and collaborating with the Banshees’ bassist Steve Severin for The Glove project. They all look rather non-plussed, but the beauty of the track is here nonetheless.
Lovely (ish) Have you posted this before? It’s the first time I’ve seen it. Fascinating that they did it at all, though as you say, the band look distinctly unexcited (hence the ish bit above.)
Keep ’em coming Ed 🙂
I haven’t posted this before, as far as I can recall (certainly not the video).
I know Siouxsie’s father was either French or Belgian (will have to google), so I am wondering if that was part fo the reason they covered it…
Maybe that’s the link… or maybe she was a secret choir fan
Possibly – this from wiki: Siouxsie was born Susan Janet Ballion[1] on 27 May 1957 at Guy’s Hospital in Southwark, Central London, England.[13] She was the youngest of three children; 10 years separate her from her elder brother and sister. Her two elder siblings were born while the family was based in the Belgian Congo.[13] Her parents met in that colony and stayed working there for a few years. Her mother, Betty, was a bilingual English secretary and her father was a Belgian Walloon bacteriologist who milked venom from snakes