It was co-produced with Mike Hedges and was released on 16 March 1984 by Polydor Records as the first single from the band's sixth studio album, Hyæna.

Siouxsie Sioux explained the strong issue behind the lyric: This is based on a programme I saw about a female version of Amnesty, called 'Les Sentinelles'.

They rescue women who are trapped in certain religious climates in the Middle East, religions that view any kind of pre-marital sexual aspersion as punishable by death – either by the hand of the eldest brother in the family, or by public stoning.

The woman knew her daughter would have to be stoned to death so she poisoned her, out of kindness, to save her from a worse fate.

[2] The piano motif was later re-used by Robert Smith as the basis for the Cure song "Six Different Ways".