In the same year that Siouxsie Sioux returned to the stage, the band Garbage released in April a cover – until now definitive – of one of the biggest hits of Siouxsie and the Banshees: Cities in Dust. It doesn’t disappoint.

The influence of Siouxsie’s visuals and music on artists growing up in the 1970s and 1980s is undeniable, and Cities in Dust is one of their “anthems”. The opening track of the album Tinderbox, from 1986, was the first song of the show also in Brazil, the following year. The album, one of the best and most popular of the band, has other hits like Candyman and Cannons, but nothing that can match this song that recalls the tragedy of Pompeii, in 79 AD, when the eruption of the volcano Vesúsio “destroyed” two cities in Italy: Pompeii and Herculaneum.

The two cities literally ‘disappeared’ for millennia until they were ‘rediscovered’ by chance some 1600 years later, in 1748. In a spooky cemetery, excavations found victims’ bodies turned into earthen statues which is what Siouxsie sings about in the lyrics. The singer was shocked by what she saw when she visited the place. “We found you hiding, we found you lying / Choking in the dirt and sand / Your former glories and all the stories / Swept away and washed with eager hands,” she muses.

And that’s right. At the time, the bodies were scattered around the city – which is a tourist attraction protected by UNESCO – but a few years ago they were removed to ensure their conservation (they are in a museum). The Pompeii natural disaster is one of the most tragic records in history, with thousands being buried alive by the volcano’s lava. Their bodies were found exactly as they were hit by the eruption, providing a detailed look into the life of a city in ancient Roman times. I have been to Pompeii twice, which is still being excavated. It’s really impressive.

More than the remains, what fascinated Siouxsie was the fact that people and their civilization were reduced to nothing in a few minutes, which is why she emphasizes how the feeling of superiority and security is unreal. In other words, we need to appreciate what we have when we have time because in seconds everything can literally turn to dust. In this case, in the 1980s, the message was also an allusion to the risk and fear of a Nuclear War. “There’s a lot of tourism there, but the place itself transcends all that,” she said at the time.

Cities In Dust immediately proved itself as one of the anthems of a generation and has been used in numerous films and series. From The Wonderful Mrs. Maisel to Gossip Girl, Gilmore Girls, and 13 Reasons Why, among others. In the 1986 film Out of Bounds, the band makes a brief appearance singing the hit. He was clearly one of the influences for Shirley Manson and Garbage. Worth listening to and very loud!

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