Songfacts®:

• Celebrated English actor Sir Ian McKellen, who is best known for playing Gandalf in the Lord of the Rings trilogy, contributes a spoken-word segue towards the end of this track. He speaks about a "Babylon, where mortal diamonds tower," a place where "whores, gladiators and party children all wake from their slumber." Singer Jake Shears told BBC News how the collaboration with McKellen came about: "Somebody in the studio said: 'We need a very deep British man's voice here.' And I instantly thought of Ian. He's a fan and has come to lots of shows. I've hung out with him quite a bit. He was fully keen to do it so we took a bunch of recording equipment to his dressing room. He was in Waiting For Godot. We had a really long poem that we'd written. I think he got a kick out of it."