Siberian Nights

Album: Ash & Ice (2016)
Play Video

Songfacts®:

  • This was written by The Kills guitarist Jamie Hince during a solo trip that he took on the Trans Siberian Express. He told Tonedeaf.com: "I thought our record would be sort of paranoid and romantic. So I was on the Trans-Siberian Express, freezing cold, snow outside, silver birch trees, and I wrote a song about Vladimir Putin. It was at the height of the Pussy Riot thing, and I just wanted to write a song where Putin's almost too masculine, riding bare-chested on a horse and all this stuff."
  • Lyrically this is pretty sexually explicit and homoerotic. Hince told Artist Direct: "I just wanted to use all this sort of masculine bravado and sexual boasting, almost like one of those old-fashioned kind of hip-hop records, like bigging yourself up, but it's Putin.

    And then there's this middle section that goes all soft and psychedelic, which is this kind of section where he's become so masculine that he just needs a break from it, and he just wants to hug another man [laughs]. And I kind of just wanted to make this, I don't know, it was just my imagination on the Trans Siberian Express, my brain eating itself [laughs]."

Comments

Be the first to comment...

Editor's Picks

U2 Lyrics

U2 LyricsMusic Quiz

How well do you know the lyrics of U2?

Songs About Movies

Songs About MoviesSong Writing

Iron Maiden, Adele, Toto, Eminem and Earth, Wind & Fire are just some of the artists with songs directly inspired by movies - and not always good ones.

Sub Pop Founder Bruce Pavitt On How To Create A Music Scene

Sub Pop Founder Bruce Pavitt On How To Create A Music SceneSong Writing

With $50 and a glue stick, Bruce Pavitt created Sub Pop, a fanzine-turned-label that gave the world Nirvana and grunge. He explains how motivated individuals can shift culture.

Chris Fehn of Slipknot

Chris Fehn of SlipknotSongwriter Interviews

A drummer for one of the most successful metal bands of the last decade, Chris talks about what it's like writing and performing with Slipknot. Metal-neck is a factor.

Verdine White of Earth, Wind & Fire

Verdine White of Earth, Wind & FireSongwriter Interviews

The longtime bassist of Earth, Wind & Fire discusses how his band came to do a holiday album, and offers insight into some of the greatest dance/soul tunes of all-time.

Who Wrote That Song?

Who Wrote That Song?Music Quiz

Do you know who wrote Patti Smith's biggest hit? How about the Grease theme song? See if you can match the song to the writer.