Kevin's Myth: Lemme Tell Ya 'Bout Your Blood, Bamboo Kid

I'm not usually a fan of various artists albums because they tend to stop and start and stumble along until they eventually get completely lost in a hodge-podge of artistic styles. And a CD where various artists cover songs written by various artists only seems to up the anti- (sic) even more.

That being said, I stumbled upon the recent release WAR CHILD HEROES today. I suspect that it may have the same aesthetic issues mentioned above, but it's hard to deny the social and humanitarian importance of the project:

"WAR CHILD, an award winning charity that provides humanitarian assistance to war-affected children in some of the most devastated regions of the world, are proud to announce a unique and unprecedented collaboration between some of the biggest names in music history and today's hottest artists. We asked some of the biggest legends in music history (Bob Dylan, Bruce Springsteen, The Kinks, The Clash, Brian Wilson, Stevie Wonder, Paul McCartney, Roxy Music, David Bowie) to select a classic track from their own songwriting catalog, and nominate an artist from the next generation (Beck, Lily Allen, The Hold Steady, Rufus Wainwright, Yeah Yeah Yeahs, TV On The Radio) to create a modern reworking of that classic song. The album WAR CHILD PRESENTS HEROES: AN ALBUM TO BENEFIT CHILDREN AFFECTED BY WAR is the result: 16 exclusive and truly inspired cover versions."

Lily Allen was picked by Mick Jones of The Clash to perform what I consider one of the most emotionally moving songs ever written, Straight To Hell by The Clash. Jones also sings back-up on the Allen version.

The song is about the tens of thousands of "Amerasian" kids (American fathers/Asian mothers) left to live in their own personal limbo after the "conflict" in Vietnam:

"lemme tell ya 'bout your blood, bamboo kid

.it ain't Coca-Cola, it's rice"

Below is the original song as recorded by The Clash 27 years ago in 1982, followed by Lily Allen's wonderful version from the newly released WAR CHILD PRESENTS HEROES album. The song's lyrics are also included below.

The Clash "Straight To Hell"
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HQwm1v1R-qM

Lily Allen "Straight To Hell"
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MGL5EtYGGDM

Straight To Hell
(Joe Strummer/Mick Jones)

If you can play the fiddle
How's about a British jig and reel?
Speaking King's English in quotation
As railhead towns feel the steel mills rust water froze
In the generation
Clear as winter ice
This is your paradise

There ain't no need for ya
Go straight to hell boys

Ya wanna join in a chorus
Of the Amerasian blues?
When it's Christmas out in Ho Chi Minh City
Kiddie say papa papa papa papa-san take me home
See me got photo photo photograph
Of you mamma mamma mamma-san
Of you and mamma mamma mamma-san

Lemme tell ya 'bout your blood, bamboo kid
It ain't Coca-Cola, it's rice.

Straight to hell

Oh papa-san
Please take me home
Oh papa-san
Everybody they wanna go home

So mamma-san says
You wanna play mind-crazed banjo
On the druggy-drag ragtime U.S.A.?
In Parkland International
Hah! Junkiedom U.S.A.
Where procaine proves the purest rock man groove and rat poison
The volatile Molatov says -

Heh-heh-heh-heh-heh-heh . . .
Go straight to hell

Can you really cough it up loud and strong?
The immigrants they wanna sing all night long
It could be anywhere
Most likely could be any frontier
Any hemisphere
No man's land

There ain't no asylum here
King Solomon he never lived round here

Go straight to hell boys