It's about some Crusader knights in Medieval days fighting the Saracens in the Holy Land (Rael). If things get hairy, the Venetian galleys are supposed to pick the Crusader forces up and take them to safety. But the treacherous Venetians take the money and run, leaving the Knights to be massacred by the Muslims. This is close to what really happened. It was absurd that the Europeans wanted to annex Israel, it wasn't even theirs. The Venetians mock their folly and crazy bravado and leave them to their quixotic fate. Gabriel claims that he never heard of this song when he named his NYC hero Rael, but, ahem, that's a hell of a coincidence, Peter. The other Peter was probably extremely annoyed.
@54markl I think that Pete originally wrote Wretches, but was told the Arabs might object. So he changed it to Red Chins, thinking the Chinese wouldn't mind. As it happened, a Chinese army led by Mongolians did invade Palestine in the 1100's, only to be defeated at Ain Jalut by Egyptians toting, are you ready for this, the first hand-held gunpowder weapons ever seen in the West! Some Chinese gunners had deserted the Mongols and taught the Egyptians the technology. Maybe Pete's Crusaders blindly walked into the midst of this battle and got all shot to hell. Perhaps that's what...
@54markl I think that Pete originally wrote Wretches, but was told the Arabs might object. So he changed it to Red Chins, thinking the Chinese wouldn't mind. As it happened, a Chinese army led by Mongolians did invade Palestine in the 1100's, only to be defeated at Ain Jalut by Egyptians toting, are you ready for this, the first hand-held gunpowder weapons ever seen in the West! Some Chinese gunners had deserted the Mongols and taught the Egyptians the technology. Maybe Pete's Crusaders blindly walked into the midst of this battle and got all shot to hell. Perhaps that's what the Tommy music signifies, the Crusaders getting shot off their horses. Perhaps the deaf, dumb, and blind boy saw all of this in a vision. Anyways, they all die at the end, it's a sad song about the delusionality that always accompanies war. Meanwhile, the Venetians sail to France and enslave their orphans. Nice guys.
@54markl The Mongol commander had guns too, but he left them back in his camp at Baghdad thinking they woudn't be needed. This proved to be a fatal error. The Mongol army was shocked and demoralized when they discovered that the Egyptians had procured guns of their own, and the Mongol Knights were picked off their horses by the score. The Mongols were utterly routed, and soon guns had spread everywhere in the West.
@54markl The Mongol commander had guns too, but he left them back in his camp at Baghdad thinking they woudn't be needed. This proved to be a fatal error. The Mongol army was shocked and demoralized when they discovered that the Egyptians had procured guns of their own, and the Mongol Knights were picked off their horses by the score. The Mongols were utterly routed, and soon guns had spread everywhere in the West.
It's about some Crusader knights in Medieval days fighting the Saracens in the Holy Land (Rael). If things get hairy, the Venetian galleys are supposed to pick the Crusader forces up and take them to safety. But the treacherous Venetians take the money and run, leaving the Knights to be massacred by the Muslims. This is close to what really happened. It was absurd that the Europeans wanted to annex Israel, it wasn't even theirs. The Venetians mock their folly and crazy bravado and leave them to their quixotic fate. Gabriel claims that he never heard of this song when he named his NYC hero Rael, but, ahem, that's a hell of a coincidence, Peter. The other Peter was probably extremely annoyed.
@54markl I think that Pete originally wrote Wretches, but was told the Arabs might object. So he changed it to Red Chins, thinking the Chinese wouldn't mind. As it happened, a Chinese army led by Mongolians did invade Palestine in the 1100's, only to be defeated at Ain Jalut by Egyptians toting, are you ready for this, the first hand-held gunpowder weapons ever seen in the West! Some Chinese gunners had deserted the Mongols and taught the Egyptians the technology. Maybe Pete's Crusaders blindly walked into the midst of this battle and got all shot to hell. Perhaps that's what...
@54markl I think that Pete originally wrote Wretches, but was told the Arabs might object. So he changed it to Red Chins, thinking the Chinese wouldn't mind. As it happened, a Chinese army led by Mongolians did invade Palestine in the 1100's, only to be defeated at Ain Jalut by Egyptians toting, are you ready for this, the first hand-held gunpowder weapons ever seen in the West! Some Chinese gunners had deserted the Mongols and taught the Egyptians the technology. Maybe Pete's Crusaders blindly walked into the midst of this battle and got all shot to hell. Perhaps that's what the Tommy music signifies, the Crusaders getting shot off their horses. Perhaps the deaf, dumb, and blind boy saw all of this in a vision. Anyways, they all die at the end, it's a sad song about the delusionality that always accompanies war. Meanwhile, the Venetians sail to France and enslave their orphans. Nice guys.
@54markl The Mongol commander had guns too, but he left them back in his camp at Baghdad thinking they woudn't be needed. This proved to be a fatal error. The Mongol army was shocked and demoralized when they discovered that the Egyptians had procured guns of their own, and the Mongol Knights were picked off their horses by the score. The Mongols were utterly routed, and soon guns had spread everywhere in the West.
@54markl The Mongol commander had guns too, but he left them back in his camp at Baghdad thinking they woudn't be needed. This proved to be a fatal error. The Mongol army was shocked and demoralized when they discovered that the Egyptians had procured guns of their own, and the Mongol Knights were picked off their horses by the score. The Mongols were utterly routed, and soon guns had spread everywhere in the West.