I love this song, the best on 'Got The Thirst' if you ask me. I think it's about corporations and fashion and their effect on society and culture. For those of you who don't know, Al and Babar from King Prawn are both of Asian denomination (I don't claim to be an expert when it comes to Asian denominations, but I'd guess they are Indian, sorry if this is wrong), and over the past few years, British fashion and society has started to assimilate several aspects of Indian culture. Some of this I don't mind, for example, Indian food, but others are a bit ridiculous, ie. sarongs became quite fashionable a few years back for a while, mostly thanks to David Beckham. It's very odd when you hear people in Derby (my home town, and a place where many people are narrow-minded and have prejudices against Asians and, in some very unfortunate cases, all non-whites) making racist comments, and then saying how much they love eating curry, or watch Indian-culture-based TV shows like Goodness Gracious Me. This almost seems like the raping of Indian culture to me. Meanwhile, a lot of people in Britain (the sort of people who, if they lived in America, would be jocks) mock people who take on an alternative lifestyle (not just homosexuality, but punk, metal, goth, etc.), and yet are perfectly happy to wear t-shirts saying stuff like 'Punk's Not Dead', or to buy studded belts and the like. Some start to claim to be part of this culture, because they can tolerate a couple of Linkin Park songs, or because they can remember the chorus to one of Good Charlotte's songs, this is why I find it very amusing to play bands like the Locust or King Prawn to these people. I'm the first to admit that at times ska isn't the most challenging of genres, and yet these people tend to find it too complicated. Anyway, I think this song's about the fact that two things that make them different (being Indian/punk) are suddenly being assimilated into mainstream culture, so that narrow-minded people can accept them. Of course, only tamer versions can be accepted, the most popular Indian dish in Britain is chicken tikka masala - a dish invented in Britain, while the 'punk/metal/goth/whatever' who are accepted in Britain are the watered down mass-marketed bands I already mentioned, while genuine, independant groups like King Prawn go completely unnoticed. We can only hope that King Prawn can finally get the recognition they deserve now that they've tragically called it a day, a huge blow to the British music scene, and yet one that no-one has seen. Anyway, rant over...
I love this song, the best on 'Got The Thirst' if you ask me. I think it's about corporations and fashion and their effect on society and culture. For those of you who don't know, Al and Babar from King Prawn are both of Asian denomination (I don't claim to be an expert when it comes to Asian denominations, but I'd guess they are Indian, sorry if this is wrong), and over the past few years, British fashion and society has started to assimilate several aspects of Indian culture. Some of this I don't mind, for example, Indian food, but others are a bit ridiculous, ie. sarongs became quite fashionable a few years back for a while, mostly thanks to David Beckham. It's very odd when you hear people in Derby (my home town, and a place where many people are narrow-minded and have prejudices against Asians and, in some very unfortunate cases, all non-whites) making racist comments, and then saying how much they love eating curry, or watch Indian-culture-based TV shows like Goodness Gracious Me. This almost seems like the raping of Indian culture to me. Meanwhile, a lot of people in Britain (the sort of people who, if they lived in America, would be jocks) mock people who take on an alternative lifestyle (not just homosexuality, but punk, metal, goth, etc.), and yet are perfectly happy to wear t-shirts saying stuff like 'Punk's Not Dead', or to buy studded belts and the like. Some start to claim to be part of this culture, because they can tolerate a couple of Linkin Park songs, or because they can remember the chorus to one of Good Charlotte's songs, this is why I find it very amusing to play bands like the Locust or King Prawn to these people. I'm the first to admit that at times ska isn't the most challenging of genres, and yet these people tend to find it too complicated. Anyway, I think this song's about the fact that two things that make them different (being Indian/punk) are suddenly being assimilated into mainstream culture, so that narrow-minded people can accept them. Of course, only tamer versions can be accepted, the most popular Indian dish in Britain is chicken tikka masala - a dish invented in Britain, while the 'punk/metal/goth/whatever' who are accepted in Britain are the watered down mass-marketed bands I already mentioned, while genuine, independant groups like King Prawn go completely unnoticed. We can only hope that King Prawn can finally get the recognition they deserve now that they've tragically called it a day, a huge blow to the British music scene, and yet one that no-one has seen. Anyway, rant over...