Sheena Is a Parasite
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| "Sheena Is a Parasite" | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| File:Sheena is a parasite.jpg | ||||
| Single by The Horrors | ||||
| from the album Strange House | ||||
| B-side | "Jack the Ripper" | |||
| Released | 10 April 2006 | |||
| Format | 7" vinyl | |||
| Genre | Garage punk | |||
| Length | 1:40 | |||
| Label | Loog | |||
| Writer(s) | Faris Badwan, Tom Cowan, Joshua Hayward, Joseph Spurgeon, Rhys Webb | |||
| The Horrors singles chronology | ||||
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"Sheena Is a Parasite" is the debut single by English rock band The Horrors, released in April 2006.
Content
The title and content were adapted from the Ramones single "Sheena Is a Punk Rocker" as well as The Cramps' "Sheena's in a Goth Gang", and chronicled the demise of punk music and its cultural influence.
The B-side is a cover of the Screaming Lord Sutch song "Jack the Ripper", although this version was more inspired by the previous cover by The Gruesomes.[citation needed]
Release
It did not chart, as it contained both stickers and inserts, therefore breaking chart rules.[citation needed]
Music video
The music video was directed by Chris Cunningham, ending a seven-year music video hiatus for the much respected Cunningham, who admitted to being "mildly obsessed" with the track after coming across it on MySpace.[citation needed] Following several Aphex Twin videos in Cunningham's filmography, the video was expected to be suitably twisted and quirky.[citation needed] The video starred Academy Award nominee Samantha Morton as the song's manic, transmogrifying subject who whipped around like a banshee and spewed her intestines at the camera. Sharply edited and shot on a low budget, the video was instantly banned from MTV UK purely on the basis of the use of strobe lights, not because of the gory subject matter (as was erroneously reported by the NME).[citation needed] Cunningham did not want to edit out the strobing as he felt it would compromise his work.[citation needed] The video did air on MTV2 in America.
Billboard included the video at number 14 in its list of "The 15 Scariest Music Videos Ever".[1]
Legacy
In October 2011, NME placed "Sheena Is a Parasite" at No. 96 on its list "150 Best Tracks of the Past 15 Years".[2]
Track listing
- "Sheena Is a Parasite"
- "Jack the Ripper"
