"Killing an Arab" was the first single by The Cure. It was recorded at the same time as their first LP in the UK, "Three Imaginary Boys" (1979) but not included on the album. However it was included on the band's first US album, "Boys Don't Cry" (1980).
Composer Robert Smith has said that the song "was a short poetic attempt at condensing my impression of the key moments in L'Étranger (The Stranger) by Albert Camus" (Cure News number 11, October 1991). The lyrics describe a shooting on a beach, in which the Arab of the title is killed by the song's narrator; in Camus' story the main character, Meursault, shoots an Arab standing on a beach after staring out at the sea and being overwhelmingly blinded by the sun, reflected on the sea, the sand and the knife the Arab was holding.
The song has a controversial history, since it has often been viewed... (continua)
Standing on the beach (continua)
inviata da giorgio 25/10/2009 - 11:29
There are no doubts that Killing an Arab was inspired by the book 'The Stranger' by Camus. However, the song needs to be considered on its own merits. When separated from the book, the lyrics take on very anti-war themes.
Not sure I agree with the interpretation of this song as being anti-war. I've always seen it as a song about the moment at the beach written in L'étranger. The 'beach scene' was not, in my view, making any statement about war, but rather how absolutely estranged the main character was from seeing any measure of meaning to life.
(2020)
dall'album: Song Machine, Season One: Strange Timez
feat. Robert Smith (The Cure)
Sono veramente tempi strani, questi del 2020... i Gorillaz cantano di un mondo di guanti chirurgici e assetato di candeggina mentre Robert Smith dà voce ai pensieri della luna che guarda dall'alto la Terra. Intanto qui sotto presidenti e dittatori stanno nei loro palazzi dorati mentre una nuova ondata di proteste scuote le società da Ovest a Est...
Music by Robert Smith
Lyrics by Robert Smith
Vocals by Robert Smith
Musica di Robert Smith
Parole di Robert Smith
Cantata da Robert Smith
Contenuta nell'album 'più intenso' dei Cure, a detta della stessa band: Pornography del 1982. È una traccia cupa, gothic come nella miglior tradizione del gruppo: 'i soldati avanzano sotto la luna gialla', canta Robert Smith; e ancora: 'tutte le ombre sono sotto una bandiera nera. Cent’anni di sangue'.
Purtroppo attualissima questa canzone in quest'epoca di controriforme scolastiche e tagli alla ricerca. Qui Robert Smith denuncia l'appiattimento e l'omologazione culturale subito dagli alunni e la conseguente oppressività del sistema scolastico inglese ai tempi della Thatcher. The Cure forever!
Queste le parole di Robert Smith a commento della canzone: «"Fight" è la canzone più strana che i Cure abbiano mai fatto. È come un inno... è la prima cosa che io abbia mai cantato che suggerisca l'idea che la gente dovrebbe alzarsi e fare qualcosa. Pornography era l'opposto. Non mi sarei mai sognato di fare una canzone come "Fight" ["Combatti" in italiano], allora. "Give In" ["Arrenditi"] sarebe stato un titolo più adatto.»
Una canzone a mio avviso molto bella (tratta dall'album "Kiss Me Kiss Me Kiss Me" del 1987) che incita le persone a combattere per un ideale giusto e a non arrendersi mai davanti alle ingiustizie.
Lyrics and music by Robert Smith
"Killing an Arab" was the first single by The Cure. It was recorded at the same time as their first LP in the UK, "Three Imaginary Boys" (1979) but not included on the album. However it was included on the band's first US album, "Boys Don't Cry" (1980).
Composer Robert Smith has said that the song "was a short poetic attempt at condensing my impression of the key moments in L'Étranger (The Stranger) by Albert Camus" (Cure News number 11, October 1991). The lyrics describe a shooting on a beach, in which the Arab of the title is killed by the song's narrator; in Camus' story the main character, Meursault, shoots an Arab standing on a beach after staring out at the sea and being overwhelmingly blinded by the sun, reflected on the sea, the sand and the knife the Arab was holding.
The song has a controversial history, since it has often been viewed... (continua)