Mittageisen

The title "Mittageisen" is a word play based on the German words "Mittagessen" (literally: "noon meal", i.e. lunch) and Eisen ("iron"). The title was inspired by antinazi German artist John Heartfield's photocollage Hurrah, die Butter ist Alle!{{cite web |title=Famous Anti-Fascist Images. John Heartfield's Hurrah, The Butter Is All... |website=John Heartfield Exhibition |date=April 24, 2014 |url=https://www.johnheartfield.com/John-Heartfield-Exhibition/john-heartfield-art/famous-anti-fascist-art/heartfield-posters-aiz/butter-is-all |ref={{sfnref |John Heartfield Exhibition |2014}} |access-date=April 6, 2020}}{{failed verification|reason=Nowhere on this site is the band even mentioned, as far as I can tell.|date=March 2022}} ("Hurray, the Butter is Finished!"), which was also used as the single's cover art.

Heartfield's photocollage was initially used on the front page of the German magazine Arbeiter-Illustrierte-Zeitung (Workers Illustrated Journal), published on 19 December 1935. The artist was an early member of Club Dada, which started in 1916 as Cabaret Voltaire in Zürich. The picture with the title "Hurrah, die Butter ist Alle! / Hurray, the butter is finished!" shows a family who eats various pieces of metal. The trigger for it was the following quote from Hermann Göring: "Iron always made a nation strong, butter and lard only made the people fat".

"Mittageisen" was composed by Siouxsie Sioux and John McKay; the lyrics were translated into German by their manager Dave Woods and a woman named Renate. The single was dedicated to John Heartfield.{{cite AV media notes |title=Downside Up |last=Paytress |first=Mark |date=2004}}

The double A-side, "Love in a Void", was penned by Severin and the music was mainly composed by previous Banshees guitarist Peter Fenton. The track was an early live favourite; it was also the first song of their first John Peel session, recorded in late November 1977. "Love in a Void" had not been recorded for Polydor until this release.

"Mittageisen" was released as a single in the UK by Polydor in September 1979. The record was promoted as a double A-side release at the time, but only "Mittageisen" charted on the UK Singles Chart, where it peaked at number 47.{{cite web |url=http://www.officialcharts.com/artist/17098/siouxsie-and-the-banshees/ |title=Siouxsie & the Banshees |website=Official Charts Company |accessdate=29 April 2013}} Nevertheless, "Love in a Void"—but not "Mittageisen"—was included on the band's 1981 singles compilation Once Upon a Time/The Singles, which compiled all their A-sides up to that time, and later on the 2006 remastered edition of Join Hands. Putative A-side "Mittageisen" later appeared on the band's B-side compilation Downside Up.

"Mittageisen" was covered and sampled by Massive Attack as "Superpredators (Metal Postcard)" in 1997 for the soundtrack to the film The Jackal.{{cite web |url=http://www.inflightdata.com/superpredators.html |title=massive attack discography - tune info + lyrics - superpredators |work=inflightdata.com |accessdate=1 November 2010 |url-status=dead |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20110713030438/http://www.inflightdata.com/superpredators.html |archivedate=13 July 2011 |df=dmy-all }} Robert Smith of the Cure said: "I loved all their early singles, especially "Metal Postcard"."{{cite magazine |title=Siamese Twins – The Cure and the Banshees |magazine=Uncut |issue=87 |date=August 2004 |last=Oldham |first=James |page=60}}

All tracks produced by Nils Stevenson and Mike Stavrou.

{{Track listing

| headline = 7-inch single{{cite AV media notes |title="Mittageisen" |type=UK 7-inch single |others=Siouxsie and the Banshees |publisher=Polydor Records |year=1979 |id=2059 151}}

| title1 = Mittageisen (Metal Postcard)

| writer1 = {{hlist|Siouxsie Sioux|John McKay|Kenny Morris|Steven Severin}}

| length1 = 4:05

| title2 = Love in a Void

| writer2 = {{hlist|Sioux|Morris|Severin|Peter Fenton}}

| length2 = 2:30

}}

Siouxsie and the Banshees

• Siouxsie Sioux
• John McKay
• Kenny Morris
• Steven Severin

Technical

• Nils Stevenson – production
• Mike Stavrou – production

{{Reflist}}

{{Siouxsie and the Banshees}}

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Category:1978 songs

Category:1979 singles

Category:Polydor Records singles

Category:Siouxsie and the Banshees songs

Category:Songs written by John McKay (musician)

Category:Songs written by Kenny Morris (musician)

Category:Songs written by Siouxsie Sioux

Category:Songs written by Steven Severin