"Blood and Roses" is a song by the American

alternative rock Alternative rock, or alt-rock, is a category of rock music that emerged from the independent music underground of the 1970s and became widely popular in the 1990s. "Alternative" refers to the genre's distinction from Popular culture, mainstre ...

group

The Smithereens The Smithereens are an American rock band from Carteret, New Jersey, United States. The group formed in 1980 with members Pat DiNizio (vocals & guitar), Jim Babjak (guitar & vocals), Mike Mesaros (bass guitar & vocals), and Dennis Diken (drums & ...

. It is the first

single Single may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media * Single (music), a song release Songs * "Single" (Natasha Bedingfield song), 2004 * "Single" (New Kids on the Block and Ne-Yo song), 2008 * "Single" (William Wei song), 2016 * "Single", by ...

released in support of their debut album ''

Especially for You "Especially for You" is a song performed by Australian recording artists Kylie Minogue and Jason Donovan from Donovan's debut album, '' Ten Good Reasons'' (1989). The song was released as his album's second single on 28 November 1988 and was ...

''.

Background

DiNizio explained of the song's origin, "I was walking home from my job as soundman at NYC's legendary

Folk City Gerdes Folk City, sometimes spelled Gerde's Folk City, was a music venue in the West Village, part of Greenwich Village, Manhattan, in New York City. Initially opened by owner Mike Porco as a restaurant called Gerdes, it eventually began to presen ...

nightclub through the freezing rain at about four in the morning when the bass line came to me, the chords and melody came later built around the bass part." Lyrically, the song is about a girl DiNizio knew in highschool, who took her own life. The title was taken from a short story of the same name by the

Japan Japan ( ja, 日本, or , and formally , ''Nihonkoku'') is an island country in East Asia. It is situated in the northwest Pacific Ocean, and is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan, while extending from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north ...

ese writer

Yukio Mishima , born , was a Japanese author, poet, playwright, actor, model, Shintoist, Nationalism, nationalist, and founder of the , an unarmed civilian militia. Mishima is considered one of the most important Japanese authors of the 20th century. He was ...

, a literary hero of DiNizio's. "I found out years later that ''

Blood and Roses ''Blood and Roses'' (french: Et mourir de plaisir, lit=And die of pleasure) is a 1960 erotic horror film directed by Roger Vadim. It is based on the novella ''Carmilla'' (1872) by Irish writer Sheridan Le Fanu, shifting the book's setting in 1 ...

'' was also the title of an obscure early 1960s

horror film Horror is a film genre that seeks to elicit fear or disgust in its audience for entertainment purposes. Horror films often explore dark subject matter and may deal with transgressive topics or themes. Broad elements include monsters, apoca ...

directed by

Roger Vadim Roger Vadim Plemiannikov (; 26 January 1928 – 11 February 2000) was a French screenwriter, film director and producer, as well as an author, artist and occasional actor. His best-known works are visually lavish films with erotic qualities, su ...

", DiNizio said.

Release

"Blood and Roses" was released as the first single from the band's debut album, ''

''. The single reached number 14 on the US Mainstream Rock Charts as well as number 99 in Australia. The song was released with a music video that features clips of the band interspersed with clips from the 1986 film ''

Dangerously Close ''Dangerously Close'' is a 1986 action thriller film directed by Albert Pyun. The film was noted at its time of release for being part of a wave of teen vigilante films in the 1980s exploring the right-wing jingoism that was gaining popularity in ...

''.

Formats and track listing

All songs written by

Pat DiNizio Patrick Michael DiNizio (October 12, 1955 – December 12, 2017) was the lead singer, songwriter, and founding member of the band The Smithereens, which he formed in 1980 with Jim Babjak, Dennis Diken, and Mike Mesaros, from Carteret, New Jersey ...

, except where noted. ;US 7" single (B-75002) #"Blood and Roses" – 3:35 #" Behind the Wall of Sleep" – 3:04 ;European 12" single (2139-7) #"Blood and Roses" – 3:35 #" Mr. Eliminator" (

Dick Dale Richard Anthony Monsour (May 4, 1937 – March 16, 2019), known professionally as Dick Dale, was an American rock guitarist. He was a pioneer of surf music, drawing on Middle Eastern music scale (music), scales and experimenting with reverb eff ...

) – 2:00 #"Beauty and Sadness" – 3:47

Accolades

(*) designates unordered lists.

Charts

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Blood and Roses (song) 1986 songs 1986 singles The Smithereens songs Song recordings produced by Don Dixon (musician) Songs written by Pat DiNizio Enigma Records singles