This song was written during the Reagan era, with all the troubles between America and the countries around the Persian Gulf in mind. I think I remember reading an interview with Matt Johnson where he described it as the thoughts of a mercenary on a plane about to crash into the Persian Gulf. Funnily enough, it predates both the Gulf War of 1991 and the more recent American adventures in that area.
I never had the album Infected in the '80s, but my best friend did, on vinyl. When I bought it on CD some years later, the version I found had three bonus tracks, 12" versions of Infected, Slow Train To Dawn and this song. The 12" version is even creepier than the album version with wailing pseudo-Arabic musical interludes and voices chanting "Hussein Hussein Hussein" (I think).
This song was written during the Reagan era, with all the troubles between America and the countries around the Persian Gulf in mind. I think I remember reading an interview with Matt Johnson where he described it as the thoughts of a mercenary on a plane about to crash into the Persian Gulf. Funnily enough, it predates both the Gulf War of 1991 and the more recent American adventures in that area.
I never had the album Infected in the '80s, but my best friend did, on vinyl. When I bought it on CD some years later, the version I found had three bonus tracks, 12" versions of Infected, Slow Train To Dawn and this song. The 12" version is even creepier than the album version with wailing pseudo-Arabic musical interludes and voices chanting "Hussein Hussein Hussein" (I think).
No. José, José, José, José because that's Spanish for Joe, GI Joe.
No. José, José, José, José because that's Spanish for Joe, GI Joe.
No. José, José, José, José because that's Spanish for Joe, GI Joe. Spanish because of the "Adios" and that Latin America was the usual place for American military intervention, Chili, Cuba, Panama, Nicaragua etc.
No. José, José, José, José because that's Spanish for Joe, GI Joe. Spanish because of the "Adios" and that Latin America was the usual place for American military intervention, Chili, Cuba, Panama, Nicaragua etc.