"Arabian Knights" is a song by English

post-punk Post-punk (originally called new musick) is a broad genre of music that emerged in late 1977 in the wake of punk rock. Post-punk musicians departed from punk's fundamental elements and raw simplicity, instead adopting a broader, more experiment ...

band

Siouxsie and the Banshees Siouxsie and the Banshees ( ) were a British Rock music, rock band formed in London in 1976 by vocalist Siouxsie Sioux and bass guitarist Steven Severin. Post-punk pioneers, they were widely influential, both over their contemporaries and later ...

. The track was written by Siouxsie and the Banshees and co-produced with Nigel Gray. It was released in 1981 as the second and final single released from their fourth studio album, '' Juju''.

Content and release

Siouxsie Susan Janet Ballion (born 27 May 1957), better known by her stage name Siouxsie Sioux (, ), is an English singer and songwriter. She came to prominence as the leader and main lyricist of the rock band Siouxsie and the Banshees, who w ...

commented on the lyrics: "With 'Arabian Knights' it was quite a thrill to get the word 'orifices' on the radio." The

B-side The A-side and B-side are the two sides of phonograph record, vinyl records and Compact cassette, cassettes, and the terms have often been printed on the labels of two-sided music recordings. The A-side of a Single (music), single usually ...

, " Supernatural Thing", was originally recorded by Ben E. King, appearing on his 1975 album ''

Supernatural Supernatural phenomena or entities are those beyond the Scientific law, laws of nature. The term is derived from Medieval Latin , from Latin 'above, beyond, outside of' + 'nature'. Although the corollary term "nature" has had multiple meanin ...

''. The extra B-side, "Congo Conga", was misspelled as "Conga Conga" on the U.S. edition of the 12". "Arabian Knights" was released on 24 July 1981 by record label

Polydor Polydor Limited, also known as Polydor Records, is a British record label that operates as part of Universal Music Group. It has a close relationship with Universal's Interscope Geffen A&M Records label, which distributes Polydor's releases in ...

. The single peaked at number 32 on the UK Singles Chart in 1981.

Music, reception and legacy

The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in Manchester in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'' and changed its name in 1959, followed by a move to London. Along with its sister paper, ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardi ...

'' retrospectively qualified "Arabian Knights" as a "

pop Pop or POP may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media * Pop music, a musical genre Artists * POP, a Japanese idol group now known as Gang Parade * Pop! (British group), a UK pop group * Pop! featuring Angie Hart, an Australian band Album ...

marvel" while

AllMusic AllMusic (previously known as All-Music Guide and AMG) is an American online database, online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on Musical artist, musicians and Mus ...

described it as "dreamy".

Billy Corgan William Patrick Corgan Jr. (born March 17, 1967) is an American guitarist, singer, songwriter, and professional wrestling promoter. He is best known as the co-founder, lead guitarist, primary songwriter, singer, and only constant member of alter ...

the Smashing Pumpkins The Smashing Pumpkins (also simply known as Smashing Pumpkins) are an American alternative rock band formed in Chicago in 1988 by frontman and guitarist Billy Corgan, guitarist James Iha, bassist D'arcy Wretzky and drummer Jimmy Chamberlin. The ...

selected it in his playlist in December 2014 when he talked about some of his favourite music on BBC radio.

Cover versions

Paul Roland Paul Roland (born 6 September 1959) is an English singer-songwriter, author and music journalist. Roland typically writes his songs in the form of stories, often addressing historical figures, characters from literature and film, or his own cre ...

covered "Arabian Knights" on his 1992 album ''Strychnine'', while Icky Blossoms released it as a single in 2013. Las Aves also covered it during a live session for French Television in 2014."Las Aves Arabian Knights"
France 4. 2014. Retrieved 5 July 2020.

Track listing

; 7" ; 12"

Charts

References

{{authority control 1981 singles Songs about Asia Songs based on fairy tales Siouxsie and the Banshees songs Polydor Records singles Music based on One Thousand and One Nights Song recordings produced by Nigel Gray 1981 songs Songs written by Siouxsie Sioux Songs written by Steven Severin Songs written by John McGeoch Songs written by Budgie (musician)