# The Strange Magic of: The Cult



## Strange Magic (Sep 14, 2015)

I am not a Cult fan. No Cult cult for me. But I select these live videos for a spectrum of reasons and while almost all of The Cult's output fails to seize my attention, there is one diamond among the gravel--it is their memento of and to the beautiful, frail, sad figure of Edie Sedgwick, the song _Edie (Ciao Baby)_. Edie Sedgwick (1943-1971), born into American aristocracy, with the bluest of blue blood running in her veins, succumbed to a family history of poor choices, mental illness, wretched parenting, drug addiction, and bad company. Around the time of the suicides of two of her brothers, Sedgwick had the misfortune to become involved with the strange being known as Andy Warhol, and be drawn into his circle as actress and sometime model (called Youthquaker by Vogue Magazine); then attached to Bob Dylan, where she is alleged to be the subject of both "Just Like a Woman" and "Leopardskin Pillbox Hat". She ended her brief life after several hospitalizations for drug and alcohol abuse, dying in her sleep of barbiturate and alcohol poisoning. All this had some effect years later on The Cult's Ian Astbury when he somehow became aware of Sedgwick's sad tale, and this quite excellent song is the result. Astbury's voice here is not what it once was, so one should also audit the original studio recording.


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## Strange Magic (Sep 14, 2015)

The lyrics:

Always said you were a Youthquaker, Edie
A stormy little world shaker
Warhol's darling queen, Edie
An angel with a broken wing

The dogs lay at your feet, Edie
We carressed your cheek
Stars wrapped in your hair, Edie
Life without a care
But you're not there

Caught up in an endless scene, Edie
Paradise a shattered dream
Wired on the pills you took, Edie
Your innocence dripped blood, sweet child

The dogs lay at your feet, Edie
We carressed your cheek
Stars wrapped in your hair
Life without a care
Ciao, baby!

Sweet little sugar talker
Paradise dream stealer
Warhol's little queen, Edie
An angel with a broken wing

The dogs lay at your feet, Edie
We carressed your cheek, well
Stars wrapped in your hair
Life without a care

Why did you kiss the world goodbye
Ciao, Baby!
Don't you know paradise takes time
Ciao, Edie!

Why did you kiss the world goodbye
Ciao, Baby!
Don't you know paradise takes time
Ciao, Edie!

Ciao, Baby!
Ciao, Baby!
Ciao, Baby!
Ciao, Baby!


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## Marschallin Blair (Jan 23, 2014)

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Strange Magic said:



The lyrics:

Always said you were a Youthquaker, Edie
A stormy little world shaker
Warhol's darling queen, Edie
An angel with a broken wing

The dogs lay at your feet, Edie
We carressed your cheek
Stars wrapped in your hair, Edie
Life without a care
But you're not there

Caught up in an endless scene, Edie
Paradise a shattered dream
Wired on the pills you took, Edie
Your innocence dripped blood, sweet child

The dogs lay at your feet, Edie
We carressed your cheek
Stars wrapped in your hair
Life without a care
Ciao, baby!

Sweet little sugar talker
Paradise dream stealer
Warhol's little queen, Edie
An angel with a broken wing

The dogs lay at your feet, Edie
We carressed your cheek, well
Stars wrapped in your hair
Life without a care

Why did you kiss the world goodbye
Ciao, Baby!
Don't you know paradise takes time
Ciao, Edie!

Why did you kiss the world goodbye
Ciao, Baby!
Don't you know paradise takes time
Ciao, Edie!

Ciao, Baby!
Ciao, Baby!
Ciao, Baby!
Ciao, Baby!

Click to expand...

*









^ Sounds like someone has a thing for _Edie_. _;D_


































I love the Cult though. "Mid-period" Cult that is. The Cult, say, from the late eighties to the mid-nineties- when they looked cool and sounded even better.

I love the whole long-hair, bad-boy, 'outlaw' image (yes, I know its 'contrived,' but its 'so much' fun)- which to me is quintessential Southern California- even though Ian and Billy are from Britain. Wild, rebellious, and with a fascination with Hemi-Cudas and Jim Morrison- of course Ian Astbury's going to appeal to me.

Then of course, there's the music. Most of which I positively 'love.' All of_ Electric _is wide-open throttle kick-*** to me; and I love the best parts of_ Love_,_ Sonic Temple_, and _Ceremon_y. The song "Rise" certainly animates me too.

Metallica loved this band. And Nightwish even takes a part of "The Phoenix" and puts it into one of their songs.

So I'm not alone in my enthusiasm. _;D _

I saw them at the L.A. Forum on the _Ceremony_ tour with Lenny Kravitz opening up for them and it was such high-energy fun. I loved every minute of it.


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## Strange Magic (Sep 14, 2015)

Marschallin Blair said:


> I love the Cult though. "Mid-period" Cult that is. The Cult, say, from the late eighties to the mid-nineties- when they looked cool and sounded even better.
> 
> I love the whole long-hair, bad-boy, 'outlaw' image (yes, I know its 'contrived,' but its 'so much' fun)- which to me is quintessential Southern California- even though Ian and Billy are from Britain. Wild, rebellious, and with a fascination with Hemi-Cudas and Jim Morrison- of course Ian Astbury's going to appeal to me.
> 
> Then of course, there's the music. Most of which I positively 'love.'


I appreciate your reply and also your evident enthusiasm for the band. I, too, like all of us, have my enthusiasms, and I much prefer to read of others' joy in their choices in the arts, rather than to read that somebody hates something and needs to tell us all about it. While we may differ in our attitude towards The Cult, and maybe much else, I think we share in our enthusiasm for enthusiasm.


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## GreenMamba (Oct 14, 2012)

I liked She Sells Sanctuary and Wildflower, but I think they're pretty much the same song.


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## Marschallin Blair (Jan 23, 2014)

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Strange Magic said:



I appreciate your reply and also your evident enthusiasm for the band. I, too, like all of us, have my enthusiasms, and I much prefer to read of others' joy in their choices in the arts, rather than to read that somebody hates something and needs to tell us all about it. While we may differ in our attitude towards The Cult, and maybe much else, I think we share in our enthusiasm for enthusiasm. 

Click to expand...

*









Absolutely.

Exuberance is beauty.


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## Marschallin Blair (Jan 23, 2014)

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GreenMamba said:



I liked She Sells Sanctuary and Wildflower, but I think they're pretty much the same song.

Click to expand...

*Even if they sound nothing alike?


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## GreenMamba (Oct 14, 2012)

Marschallin Blair said:


> *
> 
> Even if they sound nothing alike?*


*

Actually they are a little different. I was thinking of Fire Woman. Or maybe it was Love Removal Machine. They do have a same-iness (to my ears).*


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## Marschallin Blair (Jan 23, 2014)

GreenMamba said:


> Actually they are a little different. I was thinking of Fire Woman. Or maybe it was Love Removal Machine. They do have a same-iness (to my ears).












The guitar melody in "Rise" definitely has the fingerprints of "She Sells Sanctuary" all over it.

But that's as far as the similarity goes with _La Blair._

It seems to be the Cult 'homaging' the Cult._ ;D_

- I LOVE "She Sells Sanctuary," incidentally.

Cheers.


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## elgar's ghost (Aug 8, 2010)

I found some of Ian Astbury's more blatant Americanisms a bit annoying and that 'shaman' look was fairly preposterous but he and Billy Duffy wrote some good stuff. _Electric_ is probably my favourite album but I really like the self-titled album from 1994 - it was a complete turn-around from the recent glossy arena-ish sound of _Sonic Temple_ and _Ceremony_ but its more 'alternative' feel didn't please some of the die-hards very much as they saw it as a desperate attempt by the band to reinvent themselves by trying to tap into the grunge market. Saw them in Birmingham about ten years ago and they didn't disappoint.


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## Strange Magic (Sep 14, 2015)

An excellent thread! The responses have somewhat opened my ears to The Cult, and I have become more receptive to their music, always a good thing. But to return to _Edie_, here is the original studio version, still the best, and an example of a Big Song/Big Sound of its era, like some of Bon Jovi's biggies: full production values; all systems Go; sort of a Steven Spielberg or latter-day Phil Spector effort. I very often like such songs .....


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