She Sells Sanctuary

"She Sells Sanctuary" is a song by the British rock band the Cult. It is from their second studio album, Love (1985), and was released as a single on 13 May 1985, peaking at number 15 on the UK Singles Chart in July of the same year. In July 2020, the British Phonographic Industry (BPI) awarded the song a Gold certification for sales and streams of over 400,000. "She Sells Sanctuary" was the last song to be recorded with the Cult's longtime drummer, Nigel Preston, who was fired from the band shortly after its release. According to Cult guitarist Billy Duffy, the iconic introduction effects were the result of all the guitar effects pedals being on at the same time. The recording was edited to include the introduction with the effects, whereas earlier versions started the song more abruptly. Duffy says he found a violin bow lying around the studio and started playing the guitar with it "like Jimmy Page" to amuse singer Ian Astbury, hit every effects pedal he had "to make it sound weirder", and then played the middle section of the song. "And we decided to start the song with that mystical sound. If I hadn't found that violin bow laying around, we wouldn't have gone there," said Duffy.[4]