Strange though it seems to me now, until I saw them printed below I had never bothered to investigate the lyrics to this song. Siouxsie really is an incredibly under-rated lyricist – one of the very best in my opinion. You could easily publish a book of them and they would easily stand up alone from the music. Painted Bird and Carousel are favourites of mine, although a few idiotic lyrics sites still have the latter credited to Ashley Gorley and Bryan Simpson, who I believe are obscure C&W artists who wrote en entirely different song of the same name. Not very Country is it? The paintbox tunes and wild balloons
Their watchful eyes -- you start to swoon
Oh painted vile in lurid hue
The snarling horse that waits for you
When did the Banshees ever fail to produce a masterpiece? Diverges from their early "punk" roots so effortlessly. Proof they cannot be typecast.