Know something about this song or lyrics?
Add it to our wiki.
Water was running; children were running
You were running out of time
Under the mountain, a golden fountain
Were you praying at the Lares shrine?
But oh your city lies in dust, my friend
We found you hiding we found you lying
Choking on the dirt and sand
Your former glories and all the stories
Dragged and washed with eager hands
But oh your city lies in dust, my friend
Hot and burning in your nostrils
Pouring down your gaping mouth
Your molten bodies blanket of cinders
Caught in the throes
And your city lies in dust
You were running out of time
Under the mountain, a golden fountain
Were you praying at the Lares shrine?
But oh your city lies in dust, my friend
We found you hiding we found you lying
Choking on the dirt and sand
Your former glories and all the stories
Dragged and washed with eager hands
But oh your city lies in dust, my friend
Hot and burning in your nostrils
Pouring down your gaping mouth
Your molten bodies blanket of cinders
Caught in the throes
And your city lies in dust
Add your thoughts
Log in now to tell us what you think this song means.
Don’t have an account? Create an account with SongMeanings to post comments, submit lyrics, and more. It’s super easy, we promise!
Rather, the focus is on the suddenness of a city's collapse, and how impotent an ordinary person is when faced with annihilation. The people of Pompeii, obviously, could not have stopped Vesuvius no matter how well they behaved. Nor could their gods ("Were you praying at the Lares shrine?"). The song also dwells on the insignificance of human accomplishment in the face of death ("Your former glories and all the stories/ Dragged and washed with eager hands"). Everything can be erased in a second by powers well outside of an ordinary person's control.
Again, I think it's wrong to read this as a general rebuke of Roman civilization. Rome's collapse was not sudden. It occurred over centuries of deterioration and for a great multitude of reasons, beyond the simple rote Christian reading of bad morals. It took Edward Gibbon thousands of pages to describe, after all.
I agree with those who draw parallels to nuclear war. The terrifying aspect of this song is that we imagine the bodies at Pompeii, permanently fixed in the positions they died in, and we can readily imagine the same thing happening to us.
This song is one of my all-time favorites.
I love the mystic Asia-minor temple-bells at the beginning suddenly erupting into those savage drum beats. To me the song is about a society fallen into decadent idolatry and consequent judgment by fire for their abandoning Truth. Amorality, sensuality, idolatry and lying had come to characterize the Pompeian society [a microcosm of Roman decline, personified in the nameless victim of the song buried in the ash] yet they refused to repent. To add to the wrath, Rome persecuted and murdered many of the first Christians after the movement began to grow within the Empire. Vesuvius erupted barely 9 years after Titus the Roman general razed the temple at Jerusalem to the ground and massacred the Jewish inhabitants. It was only 5 years since the Roman aggression at Masada. I would not be the first to suggest that the God of Israel was getting even with some of His foes(?). All of which does not detract from, but only enhances the apocalyptic charms of "Cities in Dust". What do YOU think?
I love how Siouxsie and the Banshees can draw from history and society, develop carefully constructed social commentary, and make catchy music out of it! They are definitely one of my favorite bands because of that.
"Under the mountain, a golden fountain
Were you praying at the Lares shrine?"
It's seen here that Siouxsie is talking about how avaricious and greedy they were as well as how dependent they were on their pagan gods (the Lares is actually the gods of the household who protected the family, property and farms. They also gaurded entire cities. Shrines to the Lares were found in peoples homes and often at crossroads). Due to their self-absorbtion, the empire collapsed and was easily taken down by unkindly enemies.
Siouxsie was inspired by this song with a visit she had to the remains of Pompeii, and we can see her thoughts on the way the archaeologists treat the site:
"Dragged and washed with eager hands"
Siouxsie is quite the historian and intelligent woman! =]
You are so right ON. Your analysis is one of the best here. It's all about a society fallen into decadent idolatry and ensuing judgment by fire for abandoning Truth. Amorality, sensuality, idolatry and lying had come to characterize the Pompeian society [a microcosm of Roman decline, personified in the nameless victim of the song buried in the ash] yet they refused to repent. To add to the wrath, Rome persecuted and murdered many of the first Christians after the movement began to grow within the Empire. Vesuvius erupted barely 9 years after Titus the Roman general razed the temple at Jerusalem to the ground and massacred the Jewish inhabitants. It was only 5 years since the Roman aggression at Masada. I would not be the first to suggest that the God of Israel was getting even with some of His foes(?). All of which does not detract from, but only enhances the apocalyptic charms of "Cities in Dust"
Substitute "Iranian nukes" for blankets of volcanic cinders and " texting on your I-phone" for praying at the Lares shrine. It's the immediacy of the doom that makes this song so powerful.
"We found you hiding we found you lying
Choking on the dirt and sand
Your former glories and all the stories
Dragged and washed with eager hands"
A body, uncovered by archaeologists, and artifacts excavated and cleaned.
Who could not be affected by such a sight?
Its a big peace of art.Using words to describe an event and then using the event to make the point.
Lets start with this - The City symbolizes all of his Illusions And Lies Bundled together.
-Water was running, children were running
pretty obvious imo,somebody started destroying his world of illusion and pieces are falling down
-You were running out of time
He was running out of time to make up something new so he could cover the places that were destroyed.
-Under the mountain, a golden fountain
This shows how well build was his "City" or in other words how much he lied himself and what not
-Were you praying at the Lares shrine?
as probably the most of you Lares were the "good" gods of ancient Rome to make the long story short.This one is pretty much obvious he got nothing else to do so the only thing he can do is hope.
-But, oh, your city lies in dust, my friend
Note "my friend" He is probably a close friend of the delusioned guy and just tries to help him
There is nothing he can hope for they almost destroyed all the illusion he wrapped himself in.
-We found you hiding we found you lying
He hid cause he didnt know what to do,everything he believed is false and was nothing more then an illusion
-Choking on the dirt and sand
he couldnt speak,he had no idea what could he say
-Your former glories and all the stories
He probably thought that he head a good and happy life,that he was invincible or whatever
-Dragged and washed with eager hands
Note "washed" and "eager hands" Eager hands pretty much mean that his friend wanted to help him Washed is rather simple too more or less - he washed his stories and former glories - he destroyed the illusion around them and made him see them as they truly are.
-Hot and burning in your nostrils
-Pouring down your gaping mouth
at first he is angry at his friend for doing that to him
-Your molten bodies blanket of cinders
Molten bodies and blanket of cinders symbolize the pieces of his illusion that are left but are going to disappear soon
-Caught in the throes
He realizes that the bodies and blankets are not in pain but he is..
-And your city lies in dust
Best line in the song imo.Its done,your city lies in dust.And you are still alive.