She Sells Sanctuary Lyrics
Make my back burn
Oh, the heads that turn
Make my back burn
Keeps me alive
The sparkle in your eyes
Keeps me alive
And the world and the world
The world turns around
And the world and the world
The world drags me down
Make my back burn
The fire in your eyes keeps me alive
The fire in your eyes keeps me alive
I'm sure in her you'll find
The sanctuary
I'm sure in her you'll find
The sanctuary
And the world and the world
The world turns around
And the world and the world
The world drags me down
If you ask me, it is about a guy at a farmer's market who is trying to sell his chickens that he raised from little chicks and is having separation anxiety.... The makes your back burn part is obviously talking about his sunburn from when he was feeding the chickens.
tobyinit, that's the best post I've ever seen on this site, and you sir just won the internet.
tobyinit, that's the best post I've ever seen on this site, and you sir just won the internet.
In all seriousness though, I can't stand people jumping to a bunch of conclusions from just one or two words, especially when it doesn't hold up throughout the song. If you're gonna make claims, you gotta back it up. I saw one guy trying to argue that the Chris Cornell song "You Know My Name" (the one that was used in Casino Royale) was about god and his angels.
In all seriousness though, I can't stand people jumping to a bunch of conclusions from just one or two words, especially when it doesn't hold up throughout the song. If you're gonna make claims, you gotta back it up. I saw one guy trying to argue that the Chris Cornell song "You Know My Name" (the one that was used in Casino Royale) was about god and his angels.
LMFAO! That's like saying Bloody Playstation! Volvo loses everytime! (This song is on a the Grand Prix and I lost everytime cos I was jamming out not paying attention to the course)...
LMFAO! That's like saying Bloody Playstation! Volvo loses everytime! (This song is on a the Grand Prix and I lost everytime cos I was jamming out not paying attention to the course)...
The funny thing is you're all discussing what these lyrics mean, but they aren't even correct.
It's not "The Texas Sun" it is "The heads that turn:!
@GreenAsJade I've tried editing lyrics, so hopefully they update soon with the correct lyrics. Not sure how anyone could even mishear that as Texas sun ...
@GreenAsJade I've tried editing lyrics, so hopefully they update soon with the correct lyrics. Not sure how anyone could even mishear that as Texas sun ...
i reckon personally that you're pretty much right but for me the girl is probably a prostitute or hooker. purely because the title is 'She Sells Sanctuary' which i interpreted as selling sex which is in turn a sanctuary for him?
@geordie211 Loud buzz... It's a guy lamenting the loss of another guy to a woman selling sanctuary, I mean that much is clear... So the sanctuary when it's two men and the guy choosing the woman is the sanctuary of normalcy being with the chick instead of the guy...
@geordie211 Loud buzz... It's a guy lamenting the loss of another guy to a woman selling sanctuary, I mean that much is clear... So the sanctuary when it's two men and the guy choosing the woman is the sanctuary of normalcy being with the chick instead of the guy...
“She Sells Sanctuary” was probably referring to the power of finding solitude in a woman’s arms and the matriarchal energy, whether it be an actual physical person or in a spiritual sense, the greatest matriarch, and thinking of the cosmos as a female energy rather than a male energy. These are archetypal things I was picking up from discovering things like Joseph Campbell and Buffy Sainte-Marie or even Jim Morrison. All these things were flying around, and the songs “Spiritwalker” and “She Sells Sanctuary” are quite similar, in a way. In fact, “Spiritwalker” was going to be a Southern Death Cult song, but they didn’t want to do it for whatever reason, so I said, “Fine, I’m leaving, and I’m taking my songs with me.” [Laughs.] That ended up being recorded by The Cult, and it really helped to define our sound.
What if it's from the perspective of a gay guy who is talking to his ex-lover who has left him for a woman--the heads that turn are people staring at a gay couple. He's still in love with the guy who left him and is sort of dismissing his new hetero relationship with the "I'm sure in her you'll find sanctuary" line. Otherwise, who's the "you" in the song?
I've heard this idea before and initially shrugged it off, but now I really think this might be the best interpretation. Exactly as MikeBC says, otherwise who is the "you" in the song? "You" is apparently both the one who "keeps me alive" and is the one who will "find sanctuary" in "her." Just look at the lines in that form the middle of the song:
I've heard this idea before and initially shrugged it off, but now I really think this might be the best interpretation. Exactly as MikeBC says, otherwise who is the "you" in the song? "You" is apparently both the one who "keeps me alive" and is the one who will "find sanctuary" in "her." Just look at the lines in that form the middle of the song:
The fire in your eyes keeps me alive The fire in your eyes keeps me alive I'm sure in her you'll find the sanctuary I'm sure in...
The fire in your eyes keeps me alive The fire in your eyes keeps me alive I'm sure in her you'll find the sanctuary I'm sure in her you'll find the sanctuary
@MikeBC Aaaahh, thank you so much for commenting this! I heard this song at age 16 when it first came out & fell in love w/ it immediately (like most everyone else lol). Of course, it was the sound that first grabbed me. But I was also so intrigued by not only the slightly mysterious lyrics, but also the emotional resonance coming from the singer. There is a sense of urgency, unease and sadness there - which was very fascinating when coupled with the word "sanctuary" in the title. But hold up: the sanctuary isn't being GIVEN, it's being SOLD....
@MikeBC Aaaahh, thank you so much for commenting this! I heard this song at age 16 when it first came out & fell in love w/ it immediately (like most everyone else lol). Of course, it was the sound that first grabbed me. But I was also so intrigued by not only the slightly mysterious lyrics, but also the emotional resonance coming from the singer. There is a sense of urgency, unease and sadness there - which was very fascinating when coupled with the word "sanctuary" in the title. But hold up: the sanctuary isn't being GIVEN, it's being SOLD. Here is another clue that all is not well.
After I had listened to the song just a few more times, the same interpretation that you've given here is what became crystal clear to me as well. For me, that just made me like it more - it gave the song even more boldness and depth, and an element of danger. You have to remember, this was the 80s. Being gay in general still wasn't accepted by society AND this was during the AIDS crisis. All of my gay friends were forced to lie to almost everyone they knew and live their lives very under cover (even though most of us were able to put 2 + 2 together at the time, many of them didn't feel comfortable coming out even to their friends until a few years later in the 90s, when we were all a bit older and things were changing a little). A gay man falling in love with another man who he either had a down low affair with, OR the other man may have exhibited some same feelings but was too scared to follow thru - and that other man later starts a hetero relationship with a woman with a lot of PDA and declaration to not only keep anyone from guessing about his sexuality but also to distance himself from any of his own queerness is EXACTLY the kind of thing that commonly happened back then.
Cut to years later, on the Internet, where you can more easily find people discussing music, and I was just floored by how I only ever saw people saying the lyrics were simply about a man comforted by the woman he loves. Like..??? 😵💫 And not ONCE have I seen anyone else with the gay interpretation. I mean lyrically, I think it's the only thing that fits perfectly. Every other interpretation is left with holes in it. Of course, there's the "you" vs "her" which you pointed out. I've heard people say that's the man just trying to convince us of how wonderful she is (HUH?? LOL). AND I've even seen people completely change that lyric to make it fit (even though you can literally find the correct lyrics online!). And again, as you mentioned, the heads that turn line fits best with this too. As I mentioned, it also makes the most sense with the sound of the song too. The tone and overall vibe of this song is NOT a comforting one, but a driving, insistent one, with vocals that sounds more ill at ease and heart broken than soothed, relaxed or uplifted - which is what you would expect from (and usually get) from a song about a man praising his woman and grateful that her love is his "sanctuary." Which leads me back to the title - again, HOW does anyone ignore that?? "She SELLS Sanctuary." He's phrasing it like this because the other man is shunning being gay - because he can't handle the mockery, the societal pressure, and the danger - and he's BUYING into the normalcy of a hetero relationship. A literal packaged and pre-approved sanctuary he can easily slip into. And what's really sad, I feel like there's even a little resigned understanding in that slightly mocking chorus.
Clearly this all has been on my mind for DECADES whenever I hear this song so I had to get it off my chest lmao! Thanks again for y'all's comments, I feel vindicated! 😂
This song always takes me back to college days. Late at night/early morning Bourbon Whiskey opening the windows to the mind.........deep longing/melancholy still at times looking for that Sanctuary........................................................
actually, it could be about a hooker. or just a slutty girl. "heads turn" as in people look at them and judge them, his back burning in embarrassment or anger. but he still wants or needs her company.
it's totally possible this song is about a hooker. probably not, but definitely possible.
Nah, a girl (or, less often, a guy), is "a real head turner" when they're really attractive. People turn round to look at their gorgeous face! His back, since it's people who are behind him, looking at him and her, burns with jealousy.
Nah, a girl (or, less often, a guy), is "a real head turner" when they're really attractive. People turn round to look at their gorgeous face! His back, since it's people who are behind him, looking at him and her, burns with jealousy.
The song praises the girl quite a lot. She doesn't sound like an embarassment, she sounds stunning. But I don't actually know, does xkmail know The Cult personally? Apart from that tho, rocking song!
The song praises the girl quite a lot. She doesn't sound like an embarassment, she sounds stunning. But I don't actually know, does xkmail know The Cult personally? Apart from that tho, rocking song!
This song takes me back to college. I remember listening to this song/album on my Walkman while training for the long distance track team. Songs like this kept me alive, gave me the motivation and spark I needed to keep going when it would have been so much easier to just give in and quit!
@paislei27 this makes me feel sorta sad ...
@paislei27 this makes me feel sorta sad ...
I've always thought this song was about love you can't have for some reason. Wanting a person that is unattainable for whatever reason. They can sell you a few hours of their time (possibly like a sex worker), but you can never 'be' with them as bad as you want them.
It's about a man who lives in the world of fake facade. While this man knows he has a beautiful woman on his arm, he is expressing.... "oh, the head's that turn make my back burn" - her beauty is extending beyond and above true dimensions. "the sparkle in her eyes, keeps me alive" - he is satisfied with the idea of her being the part that fills the void that he is lacking, it keeps him going. "and the world it turns around, and the world it drags me down" - he is saying the world is a masquerade and it's actually a drag, because he submits to the world epitome ideal. "the fire in your eyes, keeps me alive" - he went from sparkle to fire, the fire representing something more sinister, unsure, dangerous! "I'm sure in her you'll find the sanctuary" - he is now uncertain "I'm sure" in her you'll find (skepticism) he uses "The Sanctuary" a word of religious roots, a place to feel peace or the holiest part of a church, heavenly!
This song is about a man who is being sold "the beautiful woman concept" but he is unsure of it because it ultimately feels like a worldly pressure, rather then an authentic feeling of Love!