One Night in Bangkok

"One Night in Bangkok" is a song from the concept album and subsequent musical Chess by Tim Rice, Benny Andersson and Björn Ulvaeus. It was originally rapped by the British actor and singer Murray Head (verses) and sung by the Swedish singer and songwriter Anders Glenmark (choruses).

The release topped the charts in many countries, including South Africa, West Germany, Switzerland and Australia. It peaked at no. 3 in both Canada and the United States in May 1985, and at no. 12 in Head's native United Kingdom.

Lyrics and music

The full version of the song begins with an orchestral introduction, entitled "Bangkok", of Oriental style. This serves as the introduction to Act 2 in the original musical album, feeding into the first verse of "One Night in Bangkok" itself with an abrupt change in musical style.

The main song has a pop styling, whose lyrics compare the Thai capital city and its nightlife with the game of chess. In the original concept album for the musical, the choruses are sung by Swedish artist Anders Glenmark, whereas the verses are a rap originally performed by Murray Head as the American chess grandmaster, a character known as Frederick "Freddie" Trumper in the staged versions. In the staged versions, a musical ensemble performs the choruses. Whereas the choruses extol Bangkok's reputation and exciting atmosphere, the American's verses denounce the city, including Soi Cowboy, Chao Phraya River ("muddy old river"), Wat Pho ("reclining Buddha"), and ladyboys ("You'll find a god in every golden cloister — And if you're lucky then the god's a she"). These sarcastic denunciations led to Thailand's Mass Communications Organisation issuing a ban on the song in 1985, saying its lyrics "cause misunderstanding about Thai society and show disrespect towards Buddhism".

Bangkok

Bangkok (English pronunciation: /ˈbæŋkɒk/) is the capital and most populous city of Thailand. It is known in Thai as Krung Thep Maha Nakhon (กรุงเทพมหานคร, pronounced  [krūŋ tʰêːp mahǎː nákʰɔ̄ːn]) or simply  Krung Thep . The city occupies 1,568.7 square kilometres (605.7 sq mi) in the Chao Phraya River delta in Central Thailand, and has a population of over 8 million, or 12.6 percent of the country's population. Over 14 million people (22.2 percent) live within the surrounding Bangkok Metropolitan Region, making Bangkok an extreme primate city, dwarfing Thailand's other urban centres in terms of importance.

Bangkok traces its roots to a small trading post during the Ayutthaya Kingdom in the 15th century, which eventually grew in size and became the site of two capital cities: Thonburi in 1768 and Rattanakosin in 1782. Bangkok was at the heart of Siam's (as Thailand used to be known) modernization, during the later 19th century, as the country faced pressures from the West. The city was the centre of Thailand's political struggles, throughout the 20th century, as the country abolished absolute monarchy, adopted constitutional rule and underwent numerous coups and several uprisings. The city grew rapidly during the 1960s through the 1980s and now exerts a significant impact among Thailand's politics, economy, education, media and modern society.

One Night

One Night may refer to:

In music:

In film and television:

In other uses:

See also

FEAT (album)

FEAT (pronounced "F-E-A-T") is the first studio album by Chicago-based record production duo The Hood Internet. It was released on Decon on October 2, 2012. The album features guest appearances from A.C. Newman, Cadence Weapon, and Class Actress, among others. Music videos were created for "Won't Fuck Us Over", "One for the Record Books", and "More Fun".

The remix album, FEAT Remixes, was released on December 18, 2012.

Reception

At Metacritic, which assigns a weighted average score out of 100 to reviews from mainstream critics, the album received an average score of 54% based on 6 reviews, indicating "mixed or average reviews".

Track listing

References

External links