And this guy stops me
He'd just got in from New Zealand
And he was looking for mushy peas
I said, no, we hadn't really got 'em round here
I said, but we do got
Balti, Bhindi, strictly Hindi
Dall, Halal and I'm walking down the road
We got rocksoul, okra, bombay duck-ra
Shrimp beansprout, comes with it or without - with it or without
Bagels soft or simply harder
Exotic avocado or toxic empenada
We got akee, lassi, Somali waccy baccy
I'm sure back home you know what tikka's all about - what tikka's all about
Welcome stranger, to the humble neighbourhoods
You can get inspiration along the high road
Hommus, cous cous in the jus of octopus
Pastrami and salami and lasagne on the go
Welcome stranger, there's no danger
Welcome to this humble neighbourhood
There's Balti, Bhindi, strictly Hindi
Dall, Halal and I'm walking down the road
Rocksoul, okra, bombay duck-ra
Shrimp beansprout, comes with it or without
So anyway, I told him I was in a band
He said, "Oh yeah, oh yeah - what's your music like?"
I said, "It's um, um, well, it's kinda like
You know, it's got a bit of, um, you know."
Ragga, Bhangra, two-step Tanga
Mini-cab radio, music on the go
Um, surfbeat, backbeat, frontbeat, backseat
There's a bunch of players and they're really letting go
We got Brit pop, hip hop, rockabilly, Lindy hop
Gaelic heavy metal fans fighting in the road
Ah, Sunday boozers for chewing gum users
They got a crazy D.J. and she's really letting go
Oh, welcome stranger
Welcome stranger to the humble neighbourhoods
Well, I say, there's plenty of places to eat round here
He say, "Oh yeah, I'm pretty choosy."
You got
Balti, Bhindi, strictly Hindi
Dall, Halal, walking down the road
Rocksoul, okra, bombay duck-ra
Shrimp beansprout, comes with it or without
Let's check it out
Welcome stranger to the humble neighbourhoods, neighbourhoods
Check out all that
Por-da-sol, por-da-sol
Walking down the high road
The Mescaleros were the British backing band for British singer, musician and songwriter Joe Strummer, formed in 1999, which issued three albums prior to Strummer's death in 2002.
Many of the band members were multi-instrumentalists. The original line up consisted of Strummer on vocals and guitar; Antony Genn on guitar; Scott Shields on bass, guitar and drums; Martin Slattery on keyboards, guitar, occasional flute and saxophone; Pablo Cook on percussion; Steve "Smiley" Barnard on drums; and Richard Flack on various instruments.
The Mescaleros arose from Strummer's work with Pablo Cook and Richard Norris. The three of them originally came together to write the soundtracks for two short films, Tunnel of Love, and Question of Honour. The song "Yalla Yalla" was originally written by this trio, and mixed by Antony Genn. Once Genn was brought on board, a new song "Techno D-Day" was recorded, at which point Strummer, at the behest of Genn, began recording a new record.
The original drummer, Ged Lynch, left the band before recording on Rock Art & the X-Ray Style was complete and Steve Barnard, previously with (Robbie Williams), was brought in to finish recording. Shields and Slattery were recruited through a number of contacts with the band. Slattery had also appeared on Robbie Williams' Life Thru a Lens album, and Scott Shields was a friend of Slattery's. Oddly enough, in the initial lineup, only Smiley was playing the instrument which he knew best.
Genn reportedly did not have the ability to play sufficient lead guitar, so multi-instrumentalist Slattery, originally trained on horns and keyboards, was brought in. Strummer once joked that Slattery could play a hole in the windshield of the tour bus. Shields had previously been a drummer but was recruited to play bass, and later played guitar.
So anyway, I told him I was in a band
He said, "Oh yeah, oh yeah? What's your music like?"
I said, "It's um, um, well, it's kinda like
You know, it's got a bit of, um, you know...."
pure joy
Rock in Peace, Mr. Strummer.
c.
As his father was in the British Foreign Service it so happened that Joe Strummer was born in Ankara, Turkey.
At the age of 9 he was packed off to boarding school in London with his older brother and thereafter saw his parents once a year.
By age 18 his brother had become a Nazi and committed suicide. Joe had to identify the corpse, which had gone undiscovered for 3 days.
I don't know how he managed to maintain sanity but he did.
A year or so later he started his musical career busking in London with a £1.99 ukulele
Pure magic
Then I hope you're not in New Zealand!
I can't get enough of this song . . .
It's um . . . uh . . . well it's kinda like . . . and it's got a bit of . . .
You gotta love it!