Behind the Songs: Sister Europe

A selection of quotes from The Psychedelic Furs on the song "Sister Europe".

Richard Butler: "It's basically about my girlfriend, who I've been going out with for years. She's in Italy at the moment." (ZigZag 1979)

Richard Butler: "Well, we're not new wave and we're not punk. I mean, we do three really slow songs – 'Sister Europe', 'Imitation Of Christ', and 'Sex' [an unreleased song]. We also do 'Mack The Knife' – that Bertolt Brecht and Kurt Weill song – that was written years ago. I don't think we can be classed as 'new wave.'" (Slash 1980)

John Ashton: "'Imitation Of Christ' and 'Sister Europe' are good live songs that came out well in the studio." (ZigZag 1980)

Richard Butler (on the topic of people thinking that the song sounded like David Bowie): "I've heard that before, but I've never heard the thing about the reference. The thing is that when we were recording it, Steve Lillywhite - I used to sing it more aggressively, Steve Lillywhite said - 'Try it this way, just try it. Imagine that the telephone's going at 4:00 in the morning and you're talking on the telephone at 4:00 in the morning.' And that's how I made it sound. There was nothing about trying to make it sound like David Bowie or anything like that. He said make it sound like you're talking on the telephone at 4:00 in the morning and I did. So if you want to ring me at 4:00 in the morning and check it out...do!" (Overview 1981)

Richard Butler (in response to the interviewer saying his voice sounded relaxed on the song): "'She Is Mine' is similar to that on [Talk Talk Talk]. That same sort of feeling." (Overview 1981)

Richard Butler: "When we did it in the studio, I sang it really harsh, like most of our other songs. And Steve Lillywhite, the producer, said 'Why don't you sing it a bit softer?' So I did. I wasn't trying to sound like anybody else. Especially David Bowie, but a lot of people have said since that it sounds like him. Listening to it now, I have to admit they're right, but it wasn't intentional." (Rip It Up 1981)

Richard Butler: "'Sister Europe' is a girl I dated. The girl I had the problems with on Talk Talk Talk. At that time she was here on the continent to learn languages. A pure love song." (Sounds 1981 [German magazine])

Richard Butler: "It was written for a girlfriend I had. You can get so close to someone that they feel like a sister. When you've been living with someone for a while you get to know them inside out. Sometimes you see these couples – they don't talk to each other; I wonder if they're having a good time." (Unknown source, 1981)

Duncan Kilburn: "It was the first single... actually no, it's the second single off the first album – the first being 'We Love You' – which came out about two months before the album." (WCUT-FM Radio 1981)

Duncan Kilburn: "I think we're quite proud of it, it seems to be a major favorite." (WCUT-FM Radio 1981)

Richard Butler (on the early material): "I think they were songs about love, better than love songs. 'Sister Europe' was kind of a love song but it was hidden behind imagery." (Aquarian Arts Weekly 1984)

Richard Butler: "I think it's nice to take an audience through a kind of variety of feelings, you know? Like, you might sing 'Love My Way' which is the kind of tender song, and you might sing 'President Gas' which is a really angry one. And you want the audience to feel like – say, in 'Sister Europe' you want them to feel that kind of sad, sort of melancholy, and then in 'India' you want them to feel angry, you know? It's like you want them to... you want to take them through a whole spectrum of feelings." (La Edad de Oro (Spanish TV) 1984)

Richard Butler: "A lot of people have picked up on us through 'Pretty In Pink' (and) I'm glad that it means they're coming down to the shows because we're not presenting just 'Pretty In Pink' or Mirror Moves, we're presenting stuff that goes way back, like 'India' or 'Sister Europe', which I think are important songs." (Winner Magazine 1986)

Richard Butler: "I like to think I bring a certain... edge to it all. A certain sarcasm. However sweet the music becomes, I like to think there's this neurotic side to it. The smoother songs like 'Sister Europe' have always had this part which refuses to be polished." (Sounds 1987)

Richard Butler: "It's a song about drinking too much and being in love [laughs]." (Interchords 1988)

Richard Butler: "I don't think I have a happy voice and uplifting songs like 'Heaven' aren't the type of song I feel we do best. It's a good song, but a little too poppy to be one of my personal favorites. I prefer 'All Of This And Nothing', 'Sister Europe' and the more down songs." (Melody Maker 1988)

Richard Butler: "['Imitation Of Christ'] goes very much hand in hand with 'Sister Europe'. They're both very lyrical." (Melody Maker 1988)

Richard Butler: "This song happened in the most surprising way. I'm not a musician, but I sat down with a guitar and started playing these notes, and within hours I had the chord and the lyrics worked out." (Melody Maker 1988)

Richard Butler: "I was very drunk and it was very late one night when we were recording 'Sister Europe' and I remember our producer, Steve Lillywhite, saying, 'Sing it like you were picking up a telephone and it's four in the morning and you're just speaking down it'." (Melody Maker 1988)

Richard Butler: "The magic songs like 'Imitation Of Christ' and 'Sister Europe' have is in their fragile nature. It's what I love about some Velvet Underground songs, or Prince's 'The Cross'. They're very fragile and only just hold together and I think that adds something." (Melody Maker 1988)

Richard Butler (on this song and "Imitation Of Christ"): "I think they sound pretty good both going together. They're both from the first album that we did with Steve Lillywhite. They're both very moody songs." (MTV Europe 1988)

Richard Butler: "I used to sing 'Sister Europe' very angrily. And I remember Steve Lillywhite getting me back in the studio and saying, 'Why don't you go down to the pub, have a couple of beers, and when you come back I want you to sing it like it's three in the morning and you're talking on the telephone to someone.' It was a good way of putting it, and it was a good way of letting go of having to feel like you're angry with every song." (iJamming! 2001)

Richard Butler: "We did a video for 'Sister Europe' with Don Letts, but how much exposure that got I'm not sure." (iJamming! 2001)

Richard Butler: "I've always had to be talked into that sort of crooning stuff. I'm trying to think... With 'Sister Europe,' I remember Steve Lillywhite saying, 'Look, Richard, I want you to sing this one by imagining that you'd been awakened at 3:30 in the morning by somebody calling you on the phone. I want you to imagine that you're talking to them.'" (Metro Times 2010)

John Ashton: "A lot of [The Psychedelic Furs] was pre-written by virtue of the fact that the band had been around a couple of years. So there were songs there. I joined the band in '78, and 'Sister Europe' was already a song, a version of 'Imitation Of Christ' was there, 'We Love You' was already there. And there were other songs that were coming along, like 'India,' that I brought to the band. 'Fall' was another, and 'Blacks/Radio,' which was just kind of a jam." (Popdose 2012)

Tim Butler (on being asked if songs like "India" and "Sister Europe" reflected the sound of The Furs' early beginnings or if they're part of the transformation when the band learned how to play and write songs): "I think 'Sister Europe' is more going toward writing songs with space. 'India' was pretty much a jam in the studio that Richard started singing over the top of." (Westword 2013)

Tim Butler (on The Furs' influence on modern bands): "I can hear in some of the guitar parts and the mood of a lot of the music nowadays. It's crazy that a band like Korn recorded a cover of 'Love My Way.' It's weird. Their music is totally different from our music. The Foo Fighters cover 'Sister Europe.' It makes you feel good." (Cleveland Scene 2014)

John Ashton: "You know I've always gone for the big sound so 'Dumb Waiters' has always been a favorite of mine as was 'Sister Europe,' 'Pretty In Pink.'" (Veer Magazine 2015)

Tim Butler: "Richard used to sing 'Sister Europe' in a more aggressive way and Steve was like, 'Think of it as a late night in a smoky bar or pub and it's all quiet. Keep it more low key, the way you sing it,' and he did. And it turned out to be a better way of doing it." (Classic Pop 2019)

Tim Butler (on the Foo Fighters covering "Sister Europe"): "I thought it was cool because I like the Foo Fighters and they're a huge band, so it got the song heard by a lot of people who'd maybe never heard of The Furs." (NME 2020)

Tim Butler: "I think originally when we got together none of us could really play very well, so we'd all pile in if someone came up with a chord sequence, trying to make ourselves heard and stick out in a sort of 'look at me' way. It became that wall of melody, or 'beautiful chaos' as someone dubbed it.

"But with later songs like 'Imitation Of Christ' and 'Sister Europe' I think Steve gave us more direction and took us more away from the punk area. With 'Sister Europe', Richard used to sing it with more of an attitude and some aggression. But Steve said, 'Why don't you imagine it's late at night and tone it down a little bit – not croon it, but sing it more laidback'. And he did, and it gained a lot." (WriteWyattUK 2020)

Rich Good (on being asked what were his favorite classic PFurs songs to play live): "'Soap Commercial', 'Sister Europe', 'Dumb Waiters', 'Only You And I', 'Alice's House'… Honestly, there's not really any I don't like playing." (Post-Punk.com 2022)

Richard Butler (on being asked from an audience member if he had any training with his voice): "Nobody brought that voice out in me. It's just always been my voice. One thing that Steve did was – when we were kind of a 'new wave', punk rocky influence band I remember doing 'Sister Europe' and singing it full-voiced. And Steve said, 'No no no, imagine that you're on the phone with your girlfriend and it's late at night, and try and sing it with that voice'. And that was a – that was a change. And that was a different way of looking at the way you could sing. It's just putting yourself in a different position." (Malloy Lecture In The Arts interview, 2023)

Rich Good: "The mood and the haunting feel, that's the stuff that any band is desperate to have." (Palm Springs Life 2024)

Richard Butler: "At the time I wrote that, I was going out with a girl... and she went off to Italy. But instead of saying 'my bird's gone to Italy and I miss her', I tried to put over the feeling of being sad and low with images." (Unknown source/year)