One Night in Bangkok - Murray Head , 1984

 
 

(The American)
Bangkok, Oriental setting
And the city don't know that the city is getting
The creme de la creme of the chess world in a
Show with everything but Yul Brynner

Time flies - doesn't seem a minute
Since the Tyrolean spa had the chess boys in it
All change - don't you know that when you
Play at this level there's no ordinary venue

It's Iceland... or the Philippines... or Hastings... or... or this place!

(Company)
One night in Bangkok and the world's your oyster
The bars are temples but the pearls ain't free
You'll find a god in every golden cloister
And if you're lucky then the god's a she
I can feel an angel sliding up to me

(The American)
One town's very like another
When your head's down over your pieces, brother

(Company)
It's a drag, it's a bore, it's really such a pity
To be looking at the board, not looking at the city

(The American)
Whaddya mean? Ya seen one crowded, polluted, stinking town...

(Company)
Tea, girls, warm, sweet, sweet
Some are set up in the Somerset Maugham suite

(The American)
Get Thai'd! You're talking to a tourist
Whose every move's among the purest
I get my kicks above the waistline, sunshine

(Company)
One night in Bangkok makes a hard man humble
Not much between despair and ecstasy
One night in Bangkok and the tough guys tumble
Can't be too careful with your company
I can feel the devil walking next to me

(The American)
Siam's gonna be the witness
To the ultimate test of cerebral fitness
This grips me more than would a
Muddy old river or reclining Buddha

And thank God I'm only watching the game, controlling it

I don't see you guys rating
The kind of mate I'm contemplating
I'd let you watch, I would invite you
But the queens we use would not excite you

So you better go back to your bars, your temples, your massage parlours

(Company)
One night in Bangkok and the world's your oyster
The bars are temples but the pearls ain't free
You'll find a god in every golden cloister
A little flesh, a little history
I can feel an angel sliding up to me

One night in Bangkok makes a hard man humble
Not much between despair and ecstasy
One night in Bangkok and the tough guys tumble
Can't be too careful with your company
I can feel the devil walking next to me


 
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Chess is a musical revolving around a love triangle during an international chess championship.The lyrics were written by Tim Rice and music by Björn Ulvaeus and Benny Andersson (formerly of the group ABBA). Although the play was only mildly successful in Europe, and a bit of a dud on Broadway, one particular song from the album version was a smash around the world. Murray Head's release of One Night in Bangkok topped the charts in countries like Australia, Germany, France and even made it to # 3 in the U.S.

The song is about a great chess match to take place in Bangkok, Thailand. There are references to the moral decay of society, particularly in Bangkok. Clever double-entendres such as "...I would invite you,
but the queens we use would not excite you" reinforce the intellectual snobbery of 'The Amercian'.

Murray head started out as an actor, his debut film being The Family Way (1966) with Hayley Mills. He was asked to sing the part of Judas Iscariot in Tim Rice and Andrew Lloyd Webber's album version of Jesus Christ Superstar. The title song was a #14 hit for Head in 1971, but I think he will be best remembered for the sarcastic vocals in One Night in Bangkok.

There was a cool video, too - with great dancers near the end...