Artist: Murray Head
Video: From YouTube.
Bangkok! Oriental City! You seen one crowded, stinking, polluted town…
Before this song, Murray Head was best known for his performance as Judas Iscariot on the original Jesus Christ Superstar album in 1970. But "One Night In Bangkok" is his greatest legacy. Good for him.
In my objective, critical opinion, everything about this song is completely, totally awesome. It’s packed full of more classic lines that can be repeated. Just Google the lyrics.
The song is about a sophisticated intellectual who asserts his preference for the cerebral world of chess while snarkily mocking the simple common folk who would dare to sample the, er…..colorful Bangkok nightlife. I didn’t have any idea about that in 1985. I just thought it was funny that he said he gets his kicks above the waistline (sunshine). I’ve still never seen the musical, but I think I would enjoy it. I mean, it's about chess. How awesome is that?
And of course, Mike Tyson is a big fan.
The video is full of chess imagery, colorful characters and scenes from Thailand. It’s a winning combination.
Say what? This song was about chess????? I always thought the lyrics were something like "The creme de la creme [indiscriminate mumble] in a
ReplyDeleteshow with everything but Yul Brynner," and I guess that was good enough for me. This is one rare case where I would have really learned something had I watched the video back in 1985, or ever. Thank you MoltenLava, for opening my eyes. To chess. In Bangkok.
[indiscriminate mumble] = "of the chess world".
ReplyDelete