Melt

Siouxsie And The Banshees' song 'Melt' delves into the intense and often destructive nature of passion and desire. The lyrics paint a vivid picture of 'melting men,' a metaphor for individuals who are consumed by their emotions and desires to the point of losing their identity. The phrase 'insatiable desire of suicide in sex' suggests a dangerous intertwining of eroticism and self-destruction, where the pursuit of pleasure leads to a metaphorical death.

The imagery of 'blazing orchids burning in your throat' and 'sigh in tiny deaths' further emphasizes the painful and consuming nature of this passion. Orchids, often symbols of beauty and exoticism, here become instruments of suffocation, highlighting the paradox of something beautiful causing harm. The repeated command to 'melt' signifies a surrender to these overpowering emotions, a dissolution of self in the face of overwhelming desire.

The song also touches on themes of control and submission, as seen in the lines 'handcuffed in lace, blood and sperm' and 'sweat carves a screenplay of discipline and devotion.' These lines suggest a complex interplay of power dynamics within intimate relationships, where pleasure and pain, control and submission, are inextricably linked. The final imagery of a 'long, black car pulling away from the funeral of flowers' evokes a sense of finality and loss, as if the ultimate consequence of this passionate surrender is a kind of death or ending.

'Melt' is a haunting exploration of the darker sides of human desire, where beauty and pain, pleasure and destruction, are intertwined in a dance of intense emotion.