Citycide

Album: Citycide (2015)
Play Video

Songfacts®:

  • The Dead Ships lead singer Devlin McCluskey lost his best friend to suicide, and that was very much on his mind when he wrote "Citycide."

    On a visit to San Francisco, McCluskey got an informal tour of the city from a friend, who pointed out that the Golden Gate Bridge was the second-biggest suicide spot in the world (the Nanjing Yangtze River Bridge in China is the most popular). And curiously, the vast majority of jumpers do so off the side of the bridge that faces the city, not the side that faces the ocean. Thus the line, "Everybody jumps off the city side."

    "there was something very poetic, very sad about the fact that, instead of jumping off on the side facing the ocean, the side facing the water, everyone jumps off with one last look at the city," Devlin said in his Songfacts Interview. "Like they're sending a message to the city, saying goodbye to it."
  • The title is meant to mean "death by city." McCluskey told us it's "That feeling of isolation where you're surrounded by millions of people in the city, but you still feel like you're there all by yourself."
  • The song first appeared on the group's first EP (titled EP I) in 2015. The following year, it was used as the title track to their third full-length album. The song was produced by Brendan Canning of Broken Social Scene, whom they met at the NXNE festival in Canada.

Comments

Be the first to comment...

Editor's Picks

Meshell Ndegeocello

Meshell NdegeocelloSongwriter Interviews

Meshell Ndegeocello talks about recording "Wild Night" with John Mellencamp, and explains why she shied away from the spotlight.

Elton John

Elton JohnFact or Fiction

Does he have beef with Gaga? Is he Sean Lennon's godfather? See if you can tell fact from fiction in the Elton John edition.

Joe Ely

Joe ElySongwriter Interviews

The renown Texas songwriter has been at it for 40 years, with tales to tell about The Flatlanders and The Clash - that's Joe's Tex-Mex on "Should I Stay or Should I Go?"

Laura Nyro

Laura NyroSongwriting Legends

Laura Nyro talks about her complex, emotionally rich songwriting and how she supports women's culture through her art.

Classic Metal

Classic MetalFact or Fiction

Ozzy, Guns N' Roses, Judas Priest and even Michael Bolton show up in this Classic Metal quiz.

Ian Astbury of The Cult

Ian Astbury of The CultSongwriter Interviews

The Cult frontman tells who the "Fire Woman" is, and talks about performing with the new version of The Doors.