This song keeps appearing in short bursts on the TV, advertising a fragrance (Marc Jacobs). I feel I can say without fear of contradiction that this 1979 Suicide single is one of the peaks of late 20th alternative pop culture.
To call M.I.A. a political artist is to underplay things a little. Equally 2010's Born Free is less a protest song, more an insurrection, built around clamorous beat, a distorted two note Suicide sample and Maya's chanted vocal.
The video that accompanied it was a nine minute film depicting the genocide of red haired people, widely seen as standing in for the treatment of Tamil men in Sri Lanka. It's here. But you'll want to see this too, live on the Late Show with David Letterman, a revolutionary vanguard of M.I.A.s, backing singers in burqas and Martin Rev from Suicide beating up the keyboard. That's how you do TV performance.
I got back last night, home again after a week away with sixty nine 15-18 year olds, who due to their teenage nature got into one or two scrapes in The Netherlands, Belgium and France but who all had I think a fantastic time. For many of them seeing the battlefields and cemeteries of the Ypres Salient and The Somme was a pretty profound and interesting experience. The weather was amazing. I believe you've had some sun in Blighty too. The temperature gauge on the pharmacy in Poperinge read 36 degrees on Tuesday. Very very hot.
I was saddened to hear of the death of Suicide's Alan Vega. Suicide were a genuinely groundbreaking punk synth duo who fried the heads of punks in the UK when they supported The Clash. This is as good as anything they did- and as good as anything most other people do too.
Suicide's Dream Baby Dream is perfection- the organ, the slightly wasted vocals, the hissy drums, the whole narcotic vibe. It's also very attractive to cover, easy to play and a good groove to get locked into. Jez Kerr, front man and bassist for Manchester's A Certain Ratio has done a cover. Very nicely done indeed.
