"Sweet Soul Sister" is a song by English hard rock

Hard rock

Hard rock is a loosely defined genre of rock music which has its earliest roots in mid-1960s garage rock, blues rock and psychedelic rock...

 band The Cult

The Cult

The Cult are a British rock band that was formed in 1983. They gained a dedicated following in Britain in the mid 1980s as a post-punk band with singles such as "She Sells Sanctuary", before breaking mainstream in the United States in the late 1980s as a hard rock band with singles such as "Love...

. It was first released on their 1989 album Sonic Temple

Sonic Temple

Sonic Temple is the fourth album by The Cult, released in 1989. In addition to being a continuation of the band's hard rock sound that was introduced on their previous album, Electric, Sonic Temple features some of the band's most popular songs, "Fire Woman", "Sun King", "Edie " and "Sweet Soul...

, and was later released as a single. It reached number 42 in the UK Singles Chart

UK Singles Chart

The UK Singles Chart is compiled by The Official Charts Company on behalf of the British record-industry. The full chart contains the top selling 200 singles in the United Kingdom based upon combined record sales and download numbers, though some media outlets only list the Top 40 or the Top 75 ...

, while peaking at number 14 on the Billboard Mainstream Rock Tracks

Mainstream Rock Tracks

Hot Mainstream Rock Tracks is a ranking in Billboard magazine of the most-played songs on mainstream rock radio stations, a category that includes stations that play primarily rock music. Modern rock tracks are counted in the Alternative Songs chart.This chart began with the March 21, 1981, issue...

 chart in the US. In addition to the album version, there is a shorter single edit (which is approximately 3:30 long) and a remixed version called "Sweet Soul Sister (Rock's Mix)", approximately 6.00 long which was released as a B side on the vinyl 12" release of the single. The artwork displayed on this page is for the original single version, the "Rock's Mix" was released with a red cover. Although uncredited, there is also an alternate remix version used in the video which has an approximate playing time of 4 minutes. This version was also issued as a cassingle in the United States. The video was filmed at Wembley Arena

Wembley Arena

Wembley Arena is an indoor arena, at Wembley, in the London Borough of Brent. The building is opposite Wembley Stadium.-History:...

 in London

London

London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...

 on 25 November 1989.

Song meaning

Ian Astbury stated in an interview that he wrote the song about the Americanization of European culture.

"Several images sprang to mind as I was writing this song, it was kind of an observation of how European youth is becoming somewhat reluctantly Americanized. You know the references to the Star Spangled Banner. But again with all my lyrics I like to leave them open to people's interpretations and hope that people find themselves inside my songs." - Ian Astbury (1989)

During a 2010 live concert in The Hague, Netherlands, Astbury told the crowd "That song is written about Angela Davis

Angela Davis

Angela Davis is an American political activist, scholar, and author. Davis was most politically active during the late 1960s through the 1970s and was associated with the Communist Party USA, the Civil Rights Movement and the Black Panther Party...

, incredible woman, Black Panther, activist, feminist, radical thinker."