Kiss Them For Me

The song is about the beautiful blonde actress Jayne Mansfield. Jayne died in a tragic car accident along with two other passengers in the front seat of the vehicle. Three of her five children were alseep in the back seat of the vehicle at the time of the accident. The beautiful Mariska Hargitay (actress in Law & Order SVU)was one of the children in the vehicle. All the children survived the accident. Jayne was travelling enroute to an appearance/engagement at the time of the accident. She was 34. "Kiss them for me" is a message to whoever about the children. From a biography I saw of Jayne she was a devoted and loving mother. I don't find the song morbid.

Jayne also loved pink, once lived in a pink house in L.A. and it has been said that her presence still inhabits this former home, the one with the heart shaped pool. Her ghost or presence is said to have been seen by Englebert Humperdinck (1960's.70's British singer) who also owned the residence at one time.

Well, after reading all this, I must say it's a gruesome tune. For that quality, I love it all the more! The only thing that troubles me is one line: "as the 10th impact shimmered" The "10th impact" part must be a direct reference. Did she have 9 movies thus, in a sense is her tenth public impact? Ten car wreaks? Oh, and btw, I found divoon to be old slang for great, crazy, fun, awesome, and/or cool. Also of note: the song makes a circle. You can go from the last line ("...candles beam.") to the first line quite easily. I really like that subtle hint in the beginning. The stuff from Join Hands was a huge inspiration back then. What a great writer!

SIOUXSIE: Jayne Mansfield was the inspiration behind the song 'Kiss Them For Me'. "This song was sparked off by Jayne Mansfield's story. She typified the dream that Hollywood holds for young women - a fairytale thing." Source: Record Hunter 12/92.

There seems to be some debate about the exact shades of meaning in the final verse. I think the references aren't terribly obscure or symbolic. They're fairly straightforward.

"On the road to New Orleans"

Specifically, it happened in the bayou town of Slidell, on the north shore of Lake Ponchartrain. New Orleans is on the south shore.

goo.gl/maps/qtmZN

"A spray of stars hit the screen"

In 1957, Ms. Mansfield appeared on a television show called "Shower of Stars." It immediately followed her debut in starring roles in 1956 and kicked off the most successful year of her film career.

Source: Internet Movie Database. imdb.com/name/nm0543790/

I think Siouxsie, in all her morbid glory, is comparing Mansfield's debut and the publicity which followed to the physical impact of the crash. Hitting the silver screen juxtaposed with hitting the windscreen.

"As the tenth impact shimmered The forbidden candles beamed"

These lines reference a story regarding Ms. Mansfield's involvement with the Church of Satan. Supposedly Sam Brody, Mansfield's married lover, angered Anton LaVey, founder of the Church of Satan, by lighting altar candles in LaVey's home which were only to be lit by Satan himself.

LaVey is said to have declared to Mansfield that Brody had been cursed by Satan and would suffer a series of car crashes, then die in one within the year. Anyone with him would also suffer death. (The crash that killed Mansfield and Brody in fact spared three survivors in the same car.)

Source: The New Age Movement and the Biblical Worldview: Conflict and Dialogue, John P. Newport. Published 1997. books.google.com/books

According to the book, "In order to spite LaVey, Brody lit the forbidden candles on the altar, which only the devil himself supposedly had the authority to light."

LaVey and Mansfield did know each other and were photographed together a number of times. One shoot seems to depict them enacting a ritual together. This incident was also confirmed, in considerably less lurid detail, by Anton's daughter Karla LaVey in a segment on A Current Affair.

youtube.com/watch

(It's worth noting that Anton LaVey didn't believe in Satan or curses any more than he believed in flying pink elephants. The Church of Satan is an anti-theist atheist organization and doesn't believe in the supernatural at all. LaVey might have just said this because he didn't like Sam Brody.)

Apparently some versions of this oft-embellished and retold tale, including the one that reached Siouxsie's ears, have it that Brody and Mansfield suffered nine car crashes before the tenth killed them. It's difficult to source because it's just one version of a story that became an urban legend.

So there you have it. The final verse is a combination of facts and popular legends regarding Mansfield's life and death.

I've had problems with this verse: "On the road to New Orleans A spray of stars hit the screen As the 10th impact shimmered The forbidden candles beamed" Obviously it is about the car crash "on the road to New Orleans" but I'm unsure about the other lines. "A spray of stars" could refer to broken glass but I've come up with another intepretation. At the time of the colision they were speeding late at night in foggy conditions. The truck they ran into had slowed because of a monquito spraying truck was in front. So the "spray of stars" could have been spray from the mosquito truck hitting the windshield. "As the 10th impact shimered" reffers to 10th droplet impacting the windshield, "The forbidden candles beemed", reffers to them seeing the brakelights of the truck in front of them (probably the last thing they saw).

Yep, it's totally inspired by Jayne Mansfield's life indeed. From the 1st to the last verse. And as far as I know, she was a very glamorous Hollywood star, who was obsessed for being as famous as her source of inspiration: Marilyn Monroe.

"No party she'd not attend no invitation she wouldn't send transfixed by the inner sound of your promise to be found "

I think these lines serve to show how much all her vanity controlled her attitudes on that 'road' bound for fame. She didn't think about anything else except for finding a way for being noticed by some big shot from Hollywood. And probably its 'bridge' ("Nothing or no-one will ever / make me let you down") is expressing some kind of promise that was made to her by a big shot on that age about her 'big' chances for being a real 'star' in Hollywood. And she would be an invulnerable one, since nothing or no one would be able to take the pedestal under her feet... Well, she was very famous indeed, but her reign in Hollywood didn't last long and soon she saw herself in the ostracism.

"in the fountains pink champagne someone carving their devotion in the heart shaped pool of fame"

These lines are talking about her pink mansion in Sunset Boulevard (the 'Pink Palace') and it really owned a fountain that spurted pink champagne and a "pink heart-shaped swimming pool".

Regarding its last verse ("On the road to New Orleans / a spray of stars hit the screen / as the 10th impact shimmered / the forbidden candles beamed"), it's about her death on a car crash while she was going to New Orleans for appear in a TV interview. I think Siouxsie used a lot of 'morbid humour' on these last lines, specially because she called that car where Jayne was on that tragic day as 'a spray of stars' and she probably used a lot of hair spray... In addition, Siouxsie talks about Jayne's death as her last big moment to cause an 'impact' on the audience while the candles for protecting her soul are forbidden just because she wasn't exactly 'a good example' for being followed... Well, almost anyone is indeed...

Regarding its refrain, you just can understand it after reading that last lyrics. I mean she was delayed 'cos she died on the way, so all that she can do now is to send kiss for everyone who used to love her when she was alive.

the film "Kiss Them For Me" (1957) starred Cary Grant, Suzy Parker and...Jayne Mansfield!

I'd also heard that "Kiss Them For Me" we're JM's last words but I'd. Doubt it...too on the nose

It's about the life and death of Jayne Mansfield. Note the last verse, which is about her car accident.

'Kiss Them For Me' is the title of one of her films.

Has anyone confirmed the words "10th impact"? It doesn't sound like "10th" to me in the vocals....at all. And "10th" doesn't seem to have any relationship to the car crash. The car drove under a tractor trailer and the top was sheared off.

I think the impact isn't referring to the physical part of the crash, but the impact on Hollywood and other people surrounding her. Any thoughts? It sounds like a word that begins with "tr" to me.

Also, the candle reference is more likely the same sort of candle as Candle in the Wind, which was Elton John's song about Marilyn and would have been well known to Siouxsie.

Two coincidental points: (1) according to IMDB she was on a t.v. show called "Shower of Stars" and (2) she turned down a part with Jack Lemmon in "Bell, Book and Candle" because she was pregnant, according to Wikipedia.

“Divoon”

A play on the word “divine”, meant to express the same admiration, but with the vowel sound of the second syllable changed from a long “i” to a long “u” (or maybe rather “oo” is the correct symbol for that sound, idk lol)… just wanted to add to the post that defined “divoon”. Not that the post/poster was wrong, they weren’t wrong, but since the fact it’s a play on words wasn’t mentioned in the definition, I felt it (relatively lol) a good idea To add it.