"(Ronnie) Biggs is a fool, a buffoon....if you're going to worship a train robber, why not the one who got the money?"
Johnny Rotten
The key to this seemingly backward-looking exercise is in the sole original,"Carnival in Rio". The special guest on this track (and on the two B-sides: the Sex Pistols' '"Everybody is Innocent" and Eddy Grant via the Clash's "Police on My Back") is notorious lowlife and Great Train Robber, Ronnie Biggs. To say Biggs comes off as like your disheveled, creepy old uncle, is sort of an insult to the disheveled, creepy old uncles of the world.
Fortunately, Biggs is used here as a punk prop (watch singer Campino give up on trying to get Biggs to sing at the 34 second mark) just as he was with the very late period Sex Pistols. While Malcolm McLaren used him to hide the fact that the Sex Pistols were dead, Die Toten Hosen use him, and a shit-load of curses, to disguise their song's surprisingly sweet sentiment. "Carnival in Rio (Punk Was)"is where the band lays their guts on the line. The song is both a tribute to their forefathers and a paean to punk's indomitable spirit of defiant optimism, exemplified by those shouts of, "It'll all be coming back!" at the end. Amen. Punk never dies, fuckers.
Carnival in Rio (Punk Was) CD single
Support the band!
This was great, even if I was hoping you'd stay with the J-punk a little longer...
ReplyDeleteYou're right,Carnival is the only reason for listen to English Lessons,but a really great one... thanks
ReplyDeleteio
ReplyDeleteGlad you enjoyed the DTH and I will return to J-Punk (though I'm still pretty ignorant of it's in and out's). I want to post a bit more SK and, if I can ever find the artwork, that High-Low's song "Too Late To Die". The actual theme I'm running on is international punk, so after this we're off to Australia.
roberto
I wanted to love that album when I read about it but instead I only liked it (except of course for CIR, which I ignored on first listen). It seems tribute albums of all types have a hard time breaking the 'okay' level.
Why is there a picture of Die Mimmi's at the bottom?
ReplyDeleteAnon
ReplyDeleteIs that who that is? I was wondering why the band looked wrong (and with a woman). I'd blame Google Image Search but its a poor worker who blames his tools rather than fix his mistakes.
Nice one.
ReplyDeleteOne of my fav's from DTH.
A lesson...lol
cheers & Happy Halloween my friend.
Mark
ReplyDeleteIt's a highlight alright, I still might post some more stuff (the Xmas single, the Sham 69 single).
Hope you had a good All Hallow's Eve.