Lyric of the Day: Killing an Arab

The Cure - Killing An Arab

Based on one of my favourite novels, The Stranger (L’Étranger) by Albert Camus,  and written by one of my favourite songwriters, Robert Smith, this is a timeless classic to my mind. The song tells the story of the protagonist (Meursault for those familiar with the novel) in the central scene where he kills the knife- wielding Arab on the beach. The scene is vividly described yet so faithful to the book that it might as well be considered fan fiction. I really love this song.

It is also one of the most misunderstood song for what people perceive to be racism. The simple truth is that it is not racist, but rather extentialist and absurdist (key couplet: Whichever I do it amounts to the same/ Absolutely nothing) and retelling a scene from the book. The Cure‘s first US singles compilation, Standing on the Beach, even carried a sticker urging people not to use the song for racist purposes.

These lyrics are so good they deserve to be written out in full.

“Standing on the beach
With a gun in my hand
Staring at the sea
Staring at sand
Staring down the barrel
At the Arab on the ground
I can see his open mouth
But I hear no sound

I’m alive
I’m dead
I’m the stranger
Killing an Arab

I can turn
And walk away
Or I can fire the gun
Staring at the sky
Staring at the sun
Whichever I choose
It amounts to the same
Absolutely nothing

I’m alive
I’m dead
I’m the stranger
Killing an Arab

I feel the steel butt jump
Smooth in my hand
Staring at the sea
Staring at the sand
Staring at myself
Reflected in the eyes
Of the dead man on the beach
The dead man on the beach

I’m alive
I’m dead
I’m the stranger
Killing an Arab“

Tags: Albert Camus, Andreas, Robert Smith, The Cure

She Brings The Rain

I love the bass in this song. Absolutely soothing.
It’s from the the 1969 movie Ein großer graublauer Vogel.
It’s not nearly as experimental as Can’s usual sound, but the German ‘krautrockers’ succeded in making a song that captures the feeling of calm and cleanse that rain can bring.

Tags: Can, Lise, soundtrack

Lyric of the Day: Rue the Day

The Walkmen – Rue the Day

“Oh there’s a memory calling
Calling way too loud and way too strong
Twisting all the bad things into good
I’m a lucky guy now, but I’ll never know untill it’s gone
Yeah, I’ll never know till it’s gone“

One of the most heart- breaking songs I know. Fantastic lyrics all the way through.

Tags: Andreas, The Walkmen

Word of the Day: Gold Panda

 
“You, you, you, you – you, you, you you”

British electronic producer Gold Panda makes wonders with a minimum of words and a load of samples. Mixing West (electronica) and East (Bollywood) he lands somewhere in between – a kind of united world music maybe?

Tags: Gold Panda, Lise, Word of the Day

Lyric of the Day: København

 

Ulige Numre – København

“København
Du er kun alt jeg har
Når dine 1000 øjne lukker i
Og børn de maler dig uendelig
Og dine døtre, de vil mig intet godt
Og dine øjne lyser mig hjem når jeg har fået nok”

I try to avoid writing about songs with Danish lyrics, but this one was too good to ignore.

Loosely translated:

“Copenhagen
You’re only all  I have
When your 1000 eyes close
And darkness paints you infinite
And your daughters – they will do me no good
And your eyes light my way home when I have had enough“

Tags: Andreas, Ulige Numre

What’s Happenin’

 

Method Man – What’s Happenin’ (feat. Busta Rhymes)

Method Man was always the most adept at writing hooks in the Wu- Tang Clan. The mix of a raspy lisp and a knack for writing easy to remember lines (think C.R.E.A.M.) gave him a very important role, despite not necessarily being the best rapper in the crew. That said, this song off his third solo album, Tical 0: The Prequel, is just ridiculous. His whole first verse just comes off as a one big hook and in the end it is actually Busta Rhymes who is doing the hook. In short; it is amazing.

Sidebar: I am in no way criticising Method Man‘s abilities as a rapper. He just happens to be a very talented rapper in a crew with some of the best rappers around (Ghostface Killah, Raekwon). Also, being great at writing hooks is a huge compliment in my (hook- obsessed) book. Jus’ sayin’.

Tags: Andreas, Busta Rhymes, Ghostface Killah, Method Man, Raekwon, Wu- Tang Clan

Beat of the Day: Simon Says

Just to switch things up a bit, here’s a twist to the ol’ lyric of the day: Beat of the Day.

Pharoahe Monch – Simon Says

 

What better example of a noteworthy beat is there than Simon Says, where the whole song is clearly all about the beat. Pharoahe Monch is a terrifically gifted lyricist and accomplished rapper who can pull off multisyllabic rhymes like few others, but with a beat as monstrous (get it get it) as this it’s always going to steal the show.

Built around a horn sample from the original Godzilla theme (Akira Ifukube‘s Gojira Tai Mosura), the beat just sounds huge and is a clear case of genius sample selection.

An unfortunate sidebar is that they failed to clear the sample at the time so to this day Phaoahe Monch has not made any money of his biggest “hit”. A bittersweet feeling The Verve can relate to as well (okay, enough with the cheap puns).

Tags: Akira Ifukube, Andreas, Pharoahe Monch, The Verve