Siouxsie and the Banshees
Cities in Dust
The song narrates the destruction of Pompeii in 79AD due to the eruption of Vesuvius. Pompeii is not mentioned by name, although the cover art for this single feature an image of the plaster cast of a dog, found in the House of Orpheus in Pompeii. The lyrics are direct and explicit in their treatment of the destruction and the human tragedy, through the choral lyric “your city lies in dust”, through references to hiding and choking, and in particular the final verse:Hot and burning i(...)
