Description
On November 26, 1982, SIOUXSIE & THE BANSHEES released a double AA-side single off their album 'A KISS IN THE DREAMHOUSE' that included the song "Melt!" penned by bassist Steven Severin and their cover of the traditional French Christmas carol "Il Est Né, Le Divin Enfant" (English: "He Is Born, The Holy Child") which comes from the region of Provence in France and was first published in a 1874 collection of Christmas tunes titled 'Airs Des Noël Lorrain' compiled by the organist of the Cathedral Saint-Die, René Grosjean. In that collection, it was identified as "Ancien Air De Chasse," perhaps of its similarity to an old Norman hunting song. Indeed, its melody derives from a hunting song of the 17th century titled "La Tête Bizarde" (English: "Weird Head"), which was triggered by the fact that sometimes a deer's horns don't grow the normal way, so that the animal will look like a unicorn. Hunters would be very proud to kill such a special animal and bring it back home as a trophy and accordingly its hunting theme was profane, full of pompous brass and triumphant drums. Whoever decided to turn it into a religious song must had found some similarities between the capture of a unique young animal -and its dead head being hung on the wall- on one hand and the birth and sacrifice of Jesus Christ on the other. One just has to play this tune with the appropriate drums and horns, like Siouxsie & the Banshees have done, to remind the original theme and the dark vibes of murder and death lying underneath its naïve lyrics. The cover version was recorded on October 24, 1982, at Wessex studios in London, after Siouxsie’s suggestion who remembered the song from her childhood, as her late father Marc Ballion was a French-speaking Belgian. Though she couldn’t precisely remember where or how she learnt it, most probably it was while at junior school. Drummer Budgie, had vague memories of the song, while bassist Steven Severin and guitarist John McGeoch openly admitted to having never heard it before. So, Siouxsie and Budgie recorded the backing track, then John played the brass section on the keyboards, and finally Siouxsie and Budgie recorded additional percussion (orchestral snares, drums and cymbals). On Wednesday, 15 December 1982, the band (with John McGeoch already being replaced by Robert Smith of THE CURE) participated in the Christmas-special show of the French TV channel Antenne 2, titled 'Les Enfants du Rock - L' Embûche de Noël 82' and ‘mimed’ the song (allegedly slightly drunk). The show, presented by Philippe Manoeuvre and Jean-Pierre Dionnet was aired on Thursday, 23 December 1982. Notably, other artists also performed Christmas songs on that original Christmas-special show, including French singer Alain Bashung with his rendition of "Stille Nacht." A short, one-minute clip of that Banshees' appearance was rerun in 'Les Enfants du Rock' show on that same channel on December 12, 1988.