paper planes

that was saturday, may 28th, 1983. (it was also mick jones' last performance with the clash.) straight to hell was a political punk rock statement about the war in vietnam, roughly 10 years after the war ended but at a time when the gnarled veterans remained ubiquitous fixtures in our inner cities.

it is interesting how the clash were either unable or unwilling to reproduce the sound of straight to hell in their live performance. at that time, there was a certain sanctity about live music, the idea being that if it wasn't actually live, if someone on the stage in front of the audience was not actually making the sound, it was somehow inauthentic and therefore, for a serious band like the clash, the sound had to be left in the studio. so here you can hear the clash straining to make the sound of the keyboard with their guitars but short of adding a non-member of the band to the stage or piping in the keyboard, they had to do without. it is something of a shame too, because the keyboard part is integral. at the same time, the clash's ethos has to be respected.

you know how there are certain songs you remember where you were the first time you ever heard them? i don't remember where i was the first time i heard the clash's straight to hell but to this day it remains in the jukebox at the colorado, a bar in pasadena which happens to have the best jukebox of any bar in pasadena.

i used to play quite a bit of pool at the colorado, and i had some very good nights in terms of winning and holding on to the table. the colorado is not a hip-hop bar or a dancing spot. it is as grimy as can be. they still let you smoke in there, laws be damned. they have been warned by the dept of health on several occasions and had to clean the place up.

there is no carpet to speak of, just a pattern of cigarette burns on tile and where carpet once was. the owner; pete, and his sidekick; johnny, are a couple of armenian americans who cater to the alternative crowd. johnny 86's people, (which is to say he kicks them out,) for any behavior he does not want in his bar. they serve quality beers in the colorado. yeah, they have some bud light or whatever on tap but it doesn't sell. everyone in the joint drinks boddington's or sierra nevada or guiness or newcastle.

i don't really get to the colorado anymore but if and when i do, i go straight to that jukebox and put on the pixies' gouge away and the clash's straight to hell. those two songs make the colorado feel like home.

straight to hell straddles the line between punk rock and reggae. it creates a stark mood right from the opening beat and in its lyrics conjures images of the clash between corporate america and indochine farmers. ultimately, the clash compares being sent to fight in vietnam with the idea of going to hell, which is of course an apt comparison.

a couple of years ago i went out with a big group of people in a limousine for a friend's 40th birthday dinner. i brought a mixed cd that happened to have straight to hell on it for the limo ride and when that song came on, someone from the other end of the limo where the cd player was, ejected it. when i shouted from the other end asking why they had turned off the music, the person, who is a christian, said the song was offensive. they were saying to go straight to hell, for crying out loud, he said. this was a serious stretch limo so i refrained from explaining across 15 people or so how the song was political commentary and should be respected for its artistic merit. i did not hint at how nearly i was to being offended that a grown man can walk around in the world and be offended by a song saying "go straight to hell, boy."

now, i do remember where i was the first time i heard mia's paper planes. i was at a friend's house late one night after work. maybe eight people from the restaurant i worked at had congregated at this person's house to drink some beers and hang out. the guy who lived there, eddie, had his ipod on and all of a sudden i heard the familiar strains of straight to hell. immediately i knew it was not actually the song but rather it was sampled and my first thought was to compliment the new, younger audience for having such good taste.

as the song went on and the gunshot and cash register effects could be heard, along with the utterly danceable and listenable nature of the track, i was sold and said as much to the youngsters i was hanging out with. often times in the past i had chided this group for not knowing who leonard cohen or jeff buckley was. on other occasions i had introduced them to a song such as haile selassie up your ass by propaghandi, which they loved. i remember too, when i came in to work one night and played the amy winehouse cd and everyone stopped in their tracks, incredulous at my being somehow up to date. ultimately, good is good and it transcends time.

recently i was reading the sports page during the dodger's post season run and there was a quote from 3rd baseman casey blake about how he preferred country music but because the guys play mia's paper planes so often in the locker room, (apparently the song had kind of become their rallying song,) he knew all the words, which he suggested was just as improbable as could be. and again, good is good and transcends genres.

i remember that first time i heard paper planes telling eddie he did not know the song mia was sampling but that he should as it is a great song in its own right. mia, (who is called maya,) has said that the gunshots and cash register elements of paper planes can be interpreted as they will be by the listener and she has also said her music is for civilian refugees, so there is a political element to her music.

joe strummer passed away at the tender age of 50 back in 2002 but i have a feeling he would have enjoyed paper planes. it has a pop hook for days and the sample of straight to hell just bounces along in the background like a good infection.

last night i was at a costume party and when paper planes came on, everyone there moved into the room where the music was. some in attendance were into hip-hop, others liked country, still others preferred rock or alt rock. from what i could tell though they all liked mia's paper planes.