Hong Kong Garden

This song is a tribute to a Chinese takeaway in Chiselhurst where Siouxsie witnessed the racist abuse the Chinese owners recieved from the local skinhead population

if it was simply about a chinese restaurant, why would she sing about polluted waterways, hammerhead? i think zeroglitter is more accurate.

siouxsie and the banshees are capable of writing "deep" songs, albeit in this case filtered through black humour. I read an article in rolling stone which said the song was about the then "ongoing slaughter in Southeast Asia". My interpretation is that the western world isn't overly aware or concerned about such tragedy, and their only real "exposure" to eastern culture is through takeaway food.

Here's the Rolling Stone link if you're interested - http://www.rollingstone.com/reviews/album/_/id/106537/siouxsieandthebanshees?pageid=rs.ArtistDiscography&pageregion=triple1

Siouxsie: "John came up with the riff, a fragmented riff and I wrote what I thought that riff conjured up. Impressions that I drew up of the East. It's called 'Hong Kong Garden' because that's a British colonial thing and as it's part of Britain it's neutral. Mixed in with this are all the factual things that have happened in Nagasaki and Hiroshima and the way the Japanese are fighting against the old and new ways - with Americanisation coming in. They are always having to fight back the trashy kind of thing that America put in Japan. And the same for the Chinese as well. And then there's the false impression that we get of these as well."

Steven: "The false impressions of anywhere. Like in England or Scotland. Like caricatures, Irish jokes, anything. We're talking from a vulnerable point because we have never been to the East, so it's like saying we are naive about it as well. But at least we realise that."

it's black humor. Sioux and severin have simply highlighted the stereotypes that the West at that time associated with Asia. The lyrics mocks those people who have racial prejudices, and at the same time tries to tell how the skinheads tormented the owners of the restaurant, evidently with the usual stereotypical insults. Now the situation is different because young people are interested in Asian culture, but in '70s in England apparently there was a kind of general ignorance.

correction on the Rolling Stone link - http://www.rollingstone.com/reviews/ album/_/id/106537/siouxsieandthebanshees?pageid=rs.ArtistDiscography&pageregion=triple1

Erasercuts is right. I'm currently reading the Banshees biography and that's what Siouxsie says. Though they could be singing about a deeper meaning as well; the Cure does this with so many of their songs that they base on stories, books, etc. to give them a broader scope.

If you think the title sounds like the name of a Chinese restaurant, you're right. Said Siouxsie: "I'll never forget, there was a Chinese restaurant in Chislehurst called 'The Hong Kong Garden.' Me and my friend were really upset that we used to go there and like, occasionally when the skinheads would turn up it would really turn really ugly. These gits were just go in on mass and just terrorize these Chinese people who were working there. We'd try and say 'Leave them alone,' you know. It was a kind of tribute." (from Punk Top Ten Interview , August 6, 2001.

This song sounds so beautiful and melancholic, I don't care if it's about a restaurant, Viva Siouxsie! A fantastic artist

I think it's about the western world taking advantage of eastern culture and traditions. It refers to the brutal commercialisation of things that should be kept sacred and beautiful.

zeroglitter, you're looking way too deep. the first entry is actually correct, its about a chinese restaurant.

Although this is a simple two chord song, I think it is amazing. The riff just really fits in and Siouxsie just tops it off with her voice.