Peek-A-Boo Lyrics
Slinking into dark stalls
Shapeless and slumped in bath chairs
Furtive eyes peep out of holes
She'll do what you want her to
Playing dead and sweet submission
Cracks the whip deadpan on cue
Peek-a-boo
Peek-a-boo
Peek-a-boo
Peeling back and gagging free
Flaccid ego in your hand
Chokes on dry tears, can you understand?
Sneering behind a smile
Lunge and thrust to pout and pucker
Into the face of the beguiled
Peek-a-boo
Peek-a-boo (Golly jeepers)
Peek-a-boo (Where'd you get those peepers?)
Peek-a-boo (Peepshow, creepshow)
Peek-a-boo (Where did you get those eyes?)
Dry lips crack out for more
"Come bite on this rag doll, baby!
That's right now hit the floor"
She gets up from all fours
Rhinestone fools and silver dollars
Curdle into bitter tears
Peek-a-boo
Peek-a-boo
Peek-a-boo
Peek-a-boo (Golly jeepers)
Peek-a-boo (Where'd you get those peepers?)
Peek-a-boo (Peepshow, creepshow)
Peek-a-boo (Where did you get those eyes?)
Peek-a-boo (Golly jeepers)
Peek-a-boo (Where'd you get those peepers?)
Peek-a-boo (Peepshow, creepshow)
Peek-a-boo (Where did you get those eyes?)
Peek-a-boo (Golly jeepers)
Peek-a-boo (Where'd you get those peepers?)
Peek-a-boo (Peepshow, creepshow)
Peek-a-boo (Where did you get those eyes?)
Where did you get those eyes?

I'm surprised no one has said anything about the chorus.
"Where did you get those eyes?" Where does a person get any part of his body? We all develop inside of and are born from the bodies of women. These men got their eyes from their mothers and now use them to ogle women. "Where did you get those eyes?" How can you look at me like I'm nothing more than an object for your pleasure? How did you get to be this way? How can you watch me in my sad state of desperation and only think of yourself?
@crystaltokyo that may be a bit deep. The eyes could be the ones looking through the holes, or they could be her eyes that are filled with “dry tears.” Or they’re her eyes full of “sneering” contempt. So many ways to interpret it. For me, the song reads like a shotgun blast of porn imagery. There’s snapshots of all these different contexts. I feel like she’s empathizing with whomever is mentioned in each situation and she sees them for who they are, and those with whom they deal.
@crystaltokyo that may be a bit deep. The eyes could be the ones looking through the holes, or they could be her eyes that are filled with “dry tears.” Or they’re her eyes full of “sneering” contempt. So many ways to interpret it. For me, the song reads like a shotgun blast of porn imagery. There’s snapshots of all these different contexts. I feel like she’s empathizing with whomever is mentioned in each situation and she sees them for who they are, and those with whom they deal.

IMO this song is about a woman who has submitted to tawdry objectification within the sex trade. The lyrics suggest that she knows how to work it but behind all the sexual allure, glitz and excitement there's someone who's hurting. The lyrics are colourful and full of sleaze but Siouxsie's tone is aggressive and almost borders on sarcastic - which in itself suggests there's some unpleasant feelings underneath the surface. I think it serves as commentary on the double life of a sex-worker and her fragile psyche.

This is a song about peep shows, stripping, porno... sex the sex trade in general... and the unhappy sex trade workers who resent their male customers.

I know most interpretations are subjective so here's mine. The song seems to be talking about the sex trade I agree however it seems to also mention oral sex in "Peepshow" adult bookstores. "sinking into dark stalls" and "Furtive eyes peep out of holes" like those old fashioned arcades where a prostitute would be on display or where gay guys go for anonymous sex. She seems to be mocking all of us who engage in covetousness.

This song is a graphic description of a pornographic scene and the secrecy of what goes on behind the scene.
"Creeping up the backstairs Slinking into dark stalls Shapeless and slumped in bathchairs Furtive eyes peep out of holes"
The first few lines paint a picture of where these scenes take place in black market porn industries with the sex trade. Words like "creeping," "slinking," "dark," and "shapeless" convey the secrecy involved. Still, the consumers are blind about the exploitation and torture that porn actors go through, often to relieve drug addiction. Also implied in the line "into the face of the beguiled," with the beguiled being the consumers. Most men are attracted to visual pornography and look at it often, which is a sad circumstance because porn industries take advantage of the demand of men's sexual desires and can exploit the actors without limit. Porn is a substance--but it's a substance that involves human beings. It's hard to understand that concept when these men are viewing the porn, because they are trying to satisfy something that is, to the core, natural.
I think this song was written in the early nineteen-nineties. Since then, the porn market has flourished due to the expansion of the Internet. I believe that this song is more important now than ever, because anyone can google all kinds of porn at anytime. It's ruined the nature of our sexuality to have instant gratification in sex because men have learned to treat sex as something that should be instant and expected in a relationship. It's had sad effects on men and women in different ways. Indeed, as sex has become more artificial, relationships and human connections have too.
I'm glad Siouxsie and the Banshees have addressed these issues in a mature way. Very few artists do.

The soft porn industry in particular its use in advertising. " The lyrics are written from the perspective of someone who works in a peep show. It's really a song about my disgust at the amount of soft pornography, things like Page Three girls and pervy ads on TV, that are being forced on people at the moment." (Siouxsie) Source: Smash Hits 1988. "'Crimes Of Passion' was part of it. I wrote it because I was feeling bombarded by these moronic videos on Night Network, gormless singers surrounded by models and their sweaty cleavages, cherries dropping down on their boobs, really offensive." (Siouxsie) Source: NME 1988.

Best and most righteously angry feminist song written, period. Hands down.
Well done Siouxsie! (APPLAUSE!)

I think it's about different kinds of sex. In the first verse, she's talking about being submissive, or cracking a whip(bondage)

The whole bandage sex movement happened about the time of the Banshees anyways. So we all know it is about sex but who cares what kind of it. My mom introduced me to this song when I was like 4. I have known it since then.

Play 'Gun' from 'Through the Lookingglass' backwards and you get the basis for Peek-a-boo. Very interesting.