Lyric discussion by ian1002838 

Cover art for Ice lyrics by Stranglers, The

One of my favourite Stranglers songs and definitely one of the most complex musically.

According to JJ (Stranglers bass player):

Lyrically it was about when the Samurai in Japan committed Seppuku (ritual suicide), they made themselves up and put rouge on before they got beheaded by their chosen beheader