Arabian Knights

I was lucky enough to be given Siouxsie and the Banshees' Juju for Christmas.  While I still prefer A Kiss in the Dreamhouse, Juju is nonetheless an amazing album.

Here is some trivia about what is (as of now) my favorite song on the album, "Arabian Knights."

According to Siouxsie Sioux, the song's melodies were inspired by The Doors.  And the lyrics are indeed about the plight of Muslim women: "It's nothing to do with a 'feminist' thing, it's like a humane thing. Like how the Muslim women cope, I don't know.  The way women are treated in some religions, if it was a race being treated like that and not a sex, there would be uproar about it. I still haven't overcome being a girl yet, as far as other people see me, and that's very important. I think it's happened a bit, but not enough" (15/8/81).

Some of the more stirring lyrics: the haunting refrain, "I heard a rumor / It was just a rumor / I heard a rumor / What have you done to her?"  One commenter thinks this is a suggestion of female circumcision. While there is no explicit reference to clitorectomy, this interpretation certainly fits, as there is obviously some violence being done to the woman, although it is not clear what.

The last verse is simply magnificent: 

"Veiled behind screens / Kept as your baby machine / Whilst you conquer more orifices / Of boys, goats and things / Ripped out sheeps eyes-no forks or knives."

The meaning couldn't be clearer: the woman is secluded at home and covered in veils, her role reduced to reproduction, whilst the man goes out and fucks boys and goats.

The comments page linked above criticizes Siouxsie for her "primitive" view of Arab culture and her "massive racial stereotyping." Based on my personal experiences with Arab and Muslim culture, though, Siouxsie isn't too far off the mark.