Mittageisen

"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. Later in September of that year the song was given a UK release by record label Polydor as a double A-side single.

For the band, see Mittageisen (band).

"Mittageisen"
Single by Siouxsie and the Banshees
B-side"Love in a Void"
ReleasedSeptember 1979
RecordedJune 1979
GenrePost-punk
Length3:00
LabelPolydor
Songwriter(s)
Producer(s)
  • Nils Stevenson
  • Mike Stavrou
Siouxsie and the Banshees singles chronology
"Playground Twist"
(1979)		 "Mittageisen"
(1979)		 "Happy House"
(1980)

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![1] ("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 Zürich. 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 Göring: "Iron always made a nation strong, butter and lard only made the people fat".

Writing and recording

"Mittageisen" was composed by Siouxsie Sioux, John McKay, Kenny Morris and Steven Severin; the lyrics were translated into German by their manager Dave Woods and a woman named Renate. The single was dedicated to John Heartfield.[2]

The double A-side, "Love in a Void", was mainly composed by Severin and 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.[3] 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.[4] Robert Smith of the Cure said: "I loved all their early singles, especially "Metal Postcard"."[5]

Track listing

All tracks produced by Nils Stevenson and Mike Stavrou.

7-inch single[6]
No.TitleWriter(s)Length
1."Mittageisen (Metal Postcard)"
4:05
2."Love in a Void"
2:30

Personnel

Siouxsie and the Banshees

Technical

  • Nils Stevenson – production
  • Mike Stavrou – production

Charts
Chart (1979) Peak
position
UK Singles (OCC)[7] 47

References
  1. "Famous Anti-Fascist Images. John Heartfield's Hurrah, The Butter Is All..." John Heartfield Exhibition. 24 April 2014. Retrieved 6 April 2020.
  2. Paytress, Mark (2004). Downside Up (Media notes).
  3. "Siouxsie & the Banshees". Official Charts Company. Retrieved 29 April 2013.
  4. "massive attack discography - tune info + lyrics - superpredators". inflightdata.com. Archived from the original on 13 July 2011. Retrieved 1 November 2010.
  5. Oldham, James (August 2004). "Siamese Twins – The Cure and the Banshees". Uncut. No. 87. p. 60.
  6. "Mittageisen" (UK 7-inch single). Siouxsie and the Banshees. Polydor Records. 1979. 2059 151.CS1 maint: others (link)
  7. "Official Singles Chart Top 100". Official Charts Company. Retrieved 14 July 2018.
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