Mondo Bongo

Identifying info in the song:

CIA, monorail, bauxite mine, Zapatistas, latino caribo

The only Caribbean area with bauxite production, a monorail service for workers (now defunct), Zapatista influence and widely known CIA influence would be Jamaica.

In the late 70's through the 80's, this would have been a good depiction of Jamaican life in the bauxite mining industries. Our narrator seems to be observing, as well as using the impersonal "you."

Past that there is only speculation, so I'll keep it brief: "The CIA was on the phone" always sounded to me like the CIA was tapping the phones; just generally maintaining an intelligence presence in the area. It's consistent with the mood of the song, but it's obviously not verifiable without more info.

A general languor seems present; a world of unrest, but with little to do but drift through the days, waiting to go home.

My interpretation: The narrator is a low-level gangster in the Yucatan area of Mexico that does business with the some corrupt entity. One night he is working security at an illegal gambling parlor when he receives orders to massacre some people (prisoners? strikers? innocent villagers?) at a bauxite mine. He is aware that his actions are terrible, but in an unstable climate he just shrugs, accepts the job, and accepts that his country is terminally corrupt and that life is unfair. One of those killed (either intentionally or accidentally) was a young woman.

A Pachinko is like a Japanese slot machine. "Nude noodle model parlor" means a bare and depressing room ("nude", "parlor") full of Japanese slot machines ("noodle model"). The "Nefarious zone" implies that the location is unsavory, like a vice den.

The "hanging out with insects under ducting" refers to the concept of a place being "bugged", meaning that a phone call or other audio is being covertly recorded. Usually, bugging implies that the body doing the spying is the government, but it doesn't have to be. "The CIA was on the phone" contributes to the gritty, illegal feel of the song. For those of you who may not be aware, the CIA is the Central Intelligence Agency in the United States, and this organization has been implicated (or downright confirmed to be) part of some particularly gruesome operations, including overthrowing democratically elected governments, and illegally selling weapons and drugs to terrorists and drug cartels. Exhibit A: The Iran-Contra affair: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Iran%E2%80%93Contra_affair

The music style (sort of a tango), plus references to Zapatistas, "latino caribo" implies that this story takes place somewhere in Latin America, specifically the Yucatan area of Mexico. Yes, I know the translation is "Caribbean Latino", but the south eastern side of Mexico touches the Caribbean sea. This also plays into a corrupt CIA, since this organization was infamous for causing havoc in Latin America.

//Latino caribo, mondo bongo //The flower looks good in your hair //Latino caribo, mondo bongo //Nobody said it was fair, oh

This goes back to the framing device: he stumbled upon the murdered body of an innocent young woman, who was either a victim of intentional violence or collateral damage. He thinks "the flower looks good in your hair" and "nobody said this was fair" as he is either pulling out the body or examining it ("There's something there").

A bongo is a pair of drums commonly used in Latin American music, but in some parts of the Americas "bongo" is also a slang term for crazy. I think this fits the story perfectly: this grotesque violence isn't just insanity, it's also so ingrained into the local culture that it's like a cultural music.

//Down at the bauxite mine //You get your own uniform //Have lunchtimes off //Take a monorail to your home

//Checkmate, baby //God bless us and our home //Whereever we roam

This is just recounting life from the perspective of the working grunt. "Down at the bauxite mine" makes me think that the wealthy authoritarians cracked down on mine workers who were striking for better working conditions. Generally, in these Banaba Republics, when workers striked for improvement in their human and worker's rights, the wealthy mine owners would collude with local cartels, the police or sometimes even the military to have the workers massacred. Here's a sad, real-life example of a similar occurrence in Mexico: https://libcom.org/news/article.php/mexico-police-shoot-strikers-270406

The narrator is a tool of oppression; he is being used as hired muscle to squash a strike or revolt of mine workers, but he views it as a "good deal" for himself: he gets a uniform, has a lunch break, and then gets to go home. It's like, he recognizes that what he is doing is terrible, but he lives in a world of atrocities, where violence is normalized. If you live in a poor country where resource distribution is scarce and the political situation unstable, just a simple job sounds like a win, or a "checkmate, baby". So what if that job is bashing in heads of people who don't want to be treated like slaves? (note: this is the explanation; I don't agree with this sentiment, just explaining my interpretation of the narrator).

"God bless us and our home" is just the narrator sarcastically acknowledging how messed up the whole situation is in his country.

After watching Mr. and Mrs. Smith I had to find out who did this song. I love the way he sings it. It almost sounds like he doesnt care, or maybe he's just drunk. But is that a fidle or a violin in the backround?

I love this song too, and don't know the really meaning too, Does any kindness can expain it? such as "CIA" means what?and what it the chorus " latino caribo, mondo bongo" means? share: What I have found from Internet is " Flaquito", it means some tiny things , or someone else near you and you loved, a terrible pretty word from Spanish.

this song is sexy and sad....just love it

I was also bummed out when I found out this was in Mr. & Mrs. Smith.

I love this song and the CD, nonetheless.

As for the meaning behind the song, I have no idea.

Oh, and you can't be serious about the C.I.A. question. Right?

I am realy loving this song with the smooth voice of Strummer. I think it is about a guy who works for C.I.A and he is in love with a woman who workes.

i think he sound sad, not carefree or drunk. like "life sucks, but what can you do" sad. and the C.I.A. is pretty obvious. its the central intelligance agency, us spies. so, i did a little research, cause i love this song, and here what i came up with. first verse: pachinko is a japanese gambling game, so i think this guy is a gambler, but not nessasarily with money. i have no idea what nude noodle means, but model parlor (parlor being skin tone) i think is refering to his blending in, a gamblers face in a infamously wicked (nefarious) zone. and then hes hiding in a small space because the cia found out about him, ( is on the phone) the corus mondo means alot/huge and bongo are drums, so large drums which could also symbolize war. caribo is a play of carib which is proper for a caribean person. i think it and the flowers just create a beautiful girl, a carib in mexico. and then we find out he works for the zapatistas, which could be the reason for his gambling.and the last verse i think means he gave up his revoultionist life style for the girl and now works at the bauxite mine. but then he gets caught (check mate baby) any way and the bless our home... take us home flaquito is him looking back on being with this girl, and he ends up dieing with her

Maybe someone just meet a nice girl who live in a southamerica, checked by CIA of course, and sing her partisan life in a melanconic song..or he want only promote a beautifulxite life in 2/3rd wolrd.

jeez. do you people not know how to use google or something? and it sickens me to find out this song was in that garbage mr. & mrs. smith.