"She Sells Sanctuary" is a song by the British rock band The Cult. It is from their 1985 album Love and was released as a single in May of that year, peaking at no.15 in the UK Singles Chart.
The band has released various versions of the song. Aside from the original 7" single, three other versions had been released around the same time on 12" formats: "The Long Version", "The Howling Mix" and "Assault on Sanctuary".
In 1993, several more mixes were released on two different CD singles, each called Sanctuary MCMXCIII (Volumes 1 & 2). The "Sundance" remix was remixed by Butch Vig who previously had produced Nirvana's Nevermind Album. The "Dog Star Rising" remix was remixed by Youth who has produced The Cult's eighth album, Born into This. "She Sells Sanctuary" was the last song to be recorded with The Cult's drummer, Nigel Preston, who was fired from the band shortly after its release.
In 2009, two more previously unreleased versions, a demo and the "Olympic Rough Mix" were included in a 4-disc box set of the Omnibus Edition of Love.
Contents[]
Covers and examples[edit][]
- It is covered by Keane as a B-Side on their single "A Bad Dream".
- It is covered by Britt Black on her first solo album Blackout.
- It is covered by Enuff Znuff on Fire Woman: A Tribute to The Cult in 2001.
- It is covered by Peppermint Creeps on their 2009 album In Hell
- It is covered by Oh Mr. Grant!, which was released on the now discontinued Horse Nation: A Tribute to the Life, Music,and Spirit of The Cult in 1997.
- It is covered by The Dandy Warhols for the charity compilation album Bridging the Distance: A Portland OR Covers Collection.
- It is one of many that Manic Street Preachers often use as the opening sequence into their early single "Motown Junk" when performing it live.
- It is covered by Smoke Fairies on their limited edition covers album 'This Is A Relection' (2012)
Appearances in popular culture[edit][]
- The song made several appearances in video games including Gran Turismo 3: A-Spec, Grand Theft Auto: Vice City on the in-game radio station V-Rock, Dave Mirra Freestyle BMX 2, as well as a playable track in music video game Guitar Hero: Aerosmith and as downloadable content for Rock Band.
- It is featured in the films Free Enterprise, Singles and Layer Cake.
- The Butch Vig mix appears in the opening credits of the 1994 film With Honors as well as its soundtrack.
- It is featured in the opening credits of the movie Buffy The Vampire Slayer.
- The song was featured in commercials for Nissan, Labatt's beer, and the Ford Mustang.
- In later seasons of the popular UK car program Top Gear, it has been used on numerous occasions.
- It is used as an intro for Radio Le Mans show "Midweek Motorsport", and during hourly updates for the 24 Hours of Le Mans. Previously it was used as the theme to American Le Mans Series Radio Web broadcasts.
- On the British medical drama series, Monroe, the song was heard in the fourth episode where Dr. Gabriel Monroe (James Nesbitt) and his best friend, Dr. Laurence Shepard (Tom Riley) are performing surgery.
- In February 2012, the song was mashed with Flo Rida's "Good Feeling" for Budweiser's 'Eternal Optimism' Super Bowl ad.
Track listing[edit][]
- Vinyl 7"
- A Side : She Sells Sanctuary
- B Side : No.13
- Vinyl 12"
- A Side: She Sells Sanctuary (Long Version)
- B Side: The Snake, No.13
- A Side: She Sells Sanctuary (Howling Mix)
- B Side: Assault on Sanctuary
- Sanctuary MCMXCIII CD1
- She Sells Sanctuary (Original)
- She Sells Sanctuary (Dog Star Rising) (Remix by Youth)
- She Sells Sanctuary (Phlegmatic) (Remix by J.G. Thirwell)
- She Sells Sanctuary (Flusteresqueish) (Remix by J.G. Thirwell)
- Sanctuary MCMXCIII CD2
- She Sells Sanctuary (Dog Star Radio) (Remix by Youth)
- She Sells Sanctuary (Sundance) (Remix by Butch Vig)
- She Sells Sanctuary (Slutnostic) (Remix by J.G. Thirwell)
- She Sells Sanctuary (Lakeland Live 1992)