Songfacts®:

• A banshee is a supernatural creature from Irish folklore that, according to legend, shrieks in the night to warn of impending death. Banshees are typically depicted as female, often beautiful with long, flowing hair.
  
  In this song, Extreme lead singer Gary Cherone is bedeviled by a woman he compares to a banshee. He describes the song as testifying to "the power and inspiration of the female form and spirit."
• Like many Extreme songs, "Banshee" builds to a blazing guitar solo by Nuno Bettencourt, respected among guitarists as one of the most creative in the field. Months earlier, Bettencourt was part of the Super Bowl halftime show as part of Rihanna's band. He's often served as her touring guitarist.
• "Banshee" was released as a single from Six, the first Extreme album since Saudades De Rock in 2008. It is, as you probably guessed, their sixth album.
  
  Extreme's breakout was their second album, Pornograffitti, in 1990, with the acoustic hits "Hole Hearted" and "More Than Words." They released two more albums before splitting up in 1996, with Gary Cherone taking over as frontman in Van Halen.
• This song was written by Nuno Bettencourt, Gary Cherone, and bass player Pat Badger, all original members of the band. It's the only track on the album with a writing credit to Badger.
• Nuno Bettencourt directed the music video along with Rene Rigal. It's a performance video set in a big room with lots of perspective and a ceiling that lights up. Extreme could command the camera pretty well on their own, so they didn't put a lot of plotlines in their visuals.