siren song

siren song

Something that is seductive, enticing, or appealing, but that is or may prove to be dangerous, destructive, or disastrous. Alludes to the Sirens of Greek mythology, beautiful sea creatures who lured sailors to their deaths with enchanting music and voices. Even though most people see the risks of gambling, it's possible rewards remain a siren song to many. After his hit single brought the singer overnight fame and fortune, he was quickly lured by the siren song of drugs, alcohol, and promiscuous sexual activity.
See also: song
Farlex Dictionary of Idioms.

siren song (or call)

the appeal of something that is also considered to be harmful or dangerous.
In classical mythology, the Sirens were sea nymphs whose beautiful singing lured sailors to their doom on submerged rocks.
See also: song
Farlex Partner Idioms Dictionary
See also:
  • a back number
  • back number
  • champ at the bit
  • champ at the bit, to
  • crown of thorns
  • tell (one) what (one) can do with (something)
  • tell someone what to do with something
  • tell what to do with
  • be pushing up daisies
  • be pushing up the daisies
References in periodicals archive
"Siren Song" speaks of the eternal allure and temptation of the irresistible song of those Sirens who lured men to their deaths in Homers Odyssey.
Cuba branded a television show host who recently sought asylum in the United States with his family a traitor who fell for the "siren song" of America, reports AFP (Dec.
Because sometimes the country faces challenges so important that the best politics in the long run is to be constructive patriots in the short run--to ignore the siren song of partisanship, and look after the nation's needs.
While some of the CFR's leading experts continue to rattle sabers and appear to be beating war drums, the dominant strain in the council's media chorus is sounding the siren song of "new thinking" concerning our relationship with Tehran.
Therein, carrying capacity, ecological overshoot and diminishing resources, are left wing plots at worst, and at best, a siren song to which we should block our ears.
There is nothing but trouble straight down--at best a distraction and at worst a siren song to do a potentially tragic thing.
Ironically, the Pentagon expects privatization to "decrease unemployment that makes some Iraqis more vulnerable to terrorist or insurgent recruiting." But by cutting off subsidies on basic items like food and fuel, privatization is likely to make the everyday lives of Iraqis more miserable and thus more susceptible to the siren song of the insurgents.
He had his first ride in a Leopardstown bumper in May 1995 and two months later rode his first winner, Siren Song, trained by his father Ted in a bumper at Gowran Park.
workers; and the ideological siren song that has permitted the exodus of U.S.
The alternative call was Jesus' siren song. "He calls you to be the salt and light of the world, to live in justice, to become instruments of love and peace." The choice was stark, self-denying, life-defining, irrevocable.
Having heard "the siren song of a lonely wind on desolate tundra", Pratt sets off to retrace Mina's route, hindered both by a small budget and (by her own admission) a high degree of naivety.
One cannot help being reminded of the siren song of the nuclear industry in the 1970s: electricity at virtually no cost and a long-term solution for waste in a matter of years.
Welch, a Manhattan native, served as associate producer for the soundtrack of the Coen brothers' movie, "O Brother, Where Art Thou?" She wrote the siren song, "Didn't Leave Nobody but the Baby," appeared in a cameo in the movie and recorded a duet of "I'll Fly Away" with Alison Krauss for the soundtrack.
Also available in a hardcover edition ($23.95), Siren Song is an impressively written novel of mystery and suspense by award-winning novelist Stephen Schwandt.
Siren Song is an interdisciplinary analysis combining law, political economy, and geography.