Placebo Effect

SIOUXSIE: "Placebo Effect" came from hearing a programme on Capitol Radio, when one of the station's resident Kildares was discussing the kind and colour of medicaments that different nations most favour. Apparently the UK goes for pills while the French like suppositories and the Italians injections. Source: Melody Maker 17/02/79.

Typical of Catpitol Radio to be more concerned about the shallow aspects of medicine than it's actual medicinal worth. A good thing there are people like Siouxsie to write songs about their stupidity.

I've read that Siouxsie somewhat distrusts members of the medical profession and that seems to be shown here. On a personal level though, I interpret this song as a criticism of how heavily medicated people are today, particularly those afflicted by mental illnesses.

"Staying alive at five For you to cure my ailments Another soul is saved With your bogus medications"

This reminds me of the way physicians tend to dole out prescriptions to depressed patients, for example, as though the medication was a magical potion that will make everything all better, despite the fact that so many antidepressants have horrible side-effects.

"Placebo Effect" came from hearing a programme on Capitol Radio, when one of the station's resident Kildares was discussing the kind and colour of medicaments that different nations most favour. Apparently the UK goes for pills while the French like suppositories and the Italians injections.

As a chronically ill person, I heavily resonate with this song as I try to find anything to “cure my ailments”

I relate this song to a relationship...how cliche. It is mostly just the first two verses that make me feel this way though.

"A thousand hidden needles In a thousand covered nerves Stick pins in my receptacles"

Those are my favorite lines. It's like supressing emotional pain. sigh But it was all just a placebo effect. Sugar coated dreams, but it wasn't the real thing.

In the last verse I get the sense that some ex boyfriend is off with some other shallow meaningless relationships. In other words, he's a player.

I think it is about "alernative medicine" in particular. The first verse is about "psychic surgery" where phsycics claim to have fixed internal problems without even touching the patient. The second verse seems to be about acupuncture. The verse about colour is about new-age medicine - using colour to change mood, calm hysteria or anger etc. That's my take on it.

Alternative and mainsream both benefit from the placebo effect.

An innocuous or inert medication; given as a pacifier or to the control group in experiments on the efficacy of a drug ....so are we there yet, or we just don't want to wake up and smell the coffee????

I love this song, if only because listening to it is almost like being in an entirely different state. It also kinda reflects the way I've felt after being on strong pain medications or other medications--which is why I now try to avoid them. You feel so surreal, but in a bad way. And the medications really can be worse than what they're supposed to cure, such as antidepressants (I personally got more depressed after those suckers).