The song lyrics were written by the band Van Halen, as they were asked to write a song for the 1979 movie "Over the Edge" starring Matt Dillon. The movie (and the lyrics, although more obliquely) are about bored, rebellious youth with nothing better to do than get into trouble. If you see the movie, these lyrics will make more sense. It's a great movie if you grew up in the 70s/80s you'll definitely remember some of these characters from your own life. Fun fact, after writing the song, Van Halen decided not to let the movie use it.
Our first stop is in Bogota
To check Colombian fields
The natives smile and pass along
A sample of their yield
Sweet Jamaican pipe dreams
Golden Acapulco nights
Then Morocco, and the East
Fly by morning light
We're on the train to Bangkok
Aboard the Thailand Express
We'll hit the stops along the way
We only stop for the best
Wreathed in smoke in Lebanon
We burn the midnight oil
The fragrance of Afghanistan
Rewards a long day's toil
Pulling into Kathmandu
Smoke rings fill the air
Perfumed by a Nepal night
The Express gets you there
We're on the train to Bangkok
Aboard the Thailand Express
We'll hit the stops along the way
We only stop for the best
We're on the train to Bangkok
Aboard the Thailand Express
We'll hit the stops along the way
We only stop for the best
Yes, we're on the train to Bangkok
Aboard the Thailand Express
We'll hit the stops along the way
We only stop for the best
To check Colombian fields
The natives smile and pass along
A sample of their yield
Sweet Jamaican pipe dreams
Golden Acapulco nights
Then Morocco, and the East
Fly by morning light
We're on the train to Bangkok
Aboard the Thailand Express
We'll hit the stops along the way
We only stop for the best
Wreathed in smoke in Lebanon
We burn the midnight oil
The fragrance of Afghanistan
Rewards a long day's toil
Pulling into Kathmandu
Smoke rings fill the air
Perfumed by a Nepal night
The Express gets you there
We're on the train to Bangkok
Aboard the Thailand Express
We'll hit the stops along the way
We only stop for the best
We're on the train to Bangkok
Aboard the Thailand Express
We'll hit the stops along the way
We only stop for the best
Yes, we're on the train to Bangkok
Aboard the Thailand Express
We'll hit the stops along the way
We only stop for the best
Lyrics submitted by MasterDuncan03, edited by Smurfman
A Passage to Bangkok Lyrics as written by Gary Lee Weinrib Neil Elwood Peart
Lyrics © Anthem Entertainment
Lyrics powered by LyricFind
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This is one of my favorite songs. https://fnfgo.io
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This song refers to smoking cannabis while traveling the world. Columbia, jamaica, thailand, and mexico are well know for being producers and exporters of cannabis (well, maybe not thailand, but it's still easy as hell to score it there). Acapulco nights is an obvious reference to the famous cannabis strain "acapulco gold" that is supposedly from that area in mexico.
During the 70's, it was very popular to travel across the eastern part of the world to experience the "magic" of their ancient religions, and of course smoke hashish, the use of which was (and still is in some parts) quite prevelent in lebanon, afganistan, and nepal. It used to be pretty cheap to travel around there, too.
Hashish has been used as a medicine, intoxicant, and religious sacrament in the east for hundreds of years. The laws governing it in many of those areas aren't enforced too heavily (especially on tourists) because of this.
This song always makes me think of those younger days when sparkin' up a fattie and listening to 2112 was considered a good way to spend an afternoon... Aaaahhh... Mmmmm......
@Surgeon I was thinking the same thing. We were in jr high and we're happy to know that these genius musicians were professing their love for Cannabis.
@Surgeon Wow.. I cannot believe this nearly 20y old comment is still here. Wow. Nice database upkeep! Nowadays you can easily buy your weed from local dispensary. Somehow makes it feel less special. lol. Rush Forever!
Well, it's not just about the grass, cause Midnight Oil is slang for Opium, so I think it's just narcotics in general.
"Midnight Oil" in this refers to hash oil, or, depending upon how you make it, "honey oil".<br /> The song is about marijuana.
If you read the liner notes from the album, it says "With acknowledgment to the genius of Ayn Rand", which is obvious in the song "2112", but I've always if somehow it also applies to this song as well.
@thephonicsmonkey <br /> Doubtful. Very doubtful.
This song is about traveling around the middle east smoking different dopes!
@fcm2112 <br /> Hey- Don't limit the journey: They're also in Jamaica, Columbia, Nepal, Thailand and Mexico.
The opening riff is sweet. One of my favorites.
a crazy song about smoking good marajurna and where they go to smoke it crazy
one of the few Rush songs about drugs. great guitar solo in the middle
Most of the places mentioned in the second verse are unfamiliar with marijuana, and it's much more likely they'd be smoking various other plants out of a hookah.
a paen to pot and other drugs ^_^