Gazpacho

Introduction: Boxers Mike Tyson and Jake la Motta and American Footballer/actor OJ Simpson all feature in this song, Tyson and La Motta are used in the analogy of the raging bull and OJ Simpson's escape 'attempt' is narrated by a journalist from Los Angeles television during the infamous 'slow pursuit' of Simpson's white Ford Bronco.

The news report
Fangorn has sent in an exact version of the news report heard under the intro: "Ladies and gentlemen in attendance, and boxing fans joining us around the world, it's show time! The Heavyweight Championship of the World..."

If anyone happens to know from where this is taken, please let us know.

John Lennon Quote
This quote is based upon an interview Lennon did with David Scheff of Playboy in 1980; the same interview is referenced in Rich. The section from which it's culled concerns how Lennon saw the world differently from his contemporaries.

LENNON: There was something wrong with me, I thought, because I seemed to see things other people didn't see. I thought I was crazy or an egomaniac for claiming to see things other people didn't see. As a child, I would say, "But this is going on!" and everybody would look at me as if I was crazy. I always was so psychic or intuitive or poetic or whatever you want to call it, that I was always seeing things in a hallucinatory way. It was scary as a child, because there was nobody to relate to. Neither my auntie nor my friends nor anybody could ever see what I did. It was very, very scary and the only contact I had was reading about an Oscar Wilde or a Dylan Thomas or a Vincent van Gogh - all those books that my auntie had that talked about their suffering because of their visions. Because of what they saw, they were tortured by society for trying to express what they were. I saw loneliness.
PLAYBOY: Were you able to find others to share your visions with?
LENNON: Only dead people in books. Lewis Carroll, certain paintings. Surrealism had a great effect on me, because then I realized that my imagery and my mind wasn't insanity; that if it was insane, I belong in an exclusive club that sees the world in those terms. Surrealism to me is reality. Psychic vision to me is reality. Even as a child. When I looked at myself in the mirror or when I was 12, 13, I used to literally trance out into alpha. I didn't know what it was called then. I found out years later there is a name for those conditions. But I would find myself seeing hallucinatory images of my face changing and becoming cosmic and complete. It caused me to always be a rebel. This thing gave me a chip on the shoulder; but, on the other hand, I wanted to be loved and accepted. Part of me would like to be accepted by all facets of society and not be this loud-mouthed lunatic musician. But I cannot be what I am not. Because of my attitude, all the other boys' parents, including Paul's father, would say, "Keep away from him." The parents instinctively recognized what I was, which was a troublemaker, meaning I did not conform and I would influence their kids, which I did."
Playboy interview with John Lennon and Yoko Ono, by David Sheff, conducted Sept 1980, published Jan 81.

Red Glenn tells us that the voice isn't actually Lennon's but actor Bernard Hill as Lennon from a docu-drama called John Lennon: A Journey In The Life.

'The house is surrounded by helicopters'
I've seen a reference to this being quote that follows on from the Lennon quote above being part of a conversation between John Lennon and Phil Spector, presented as though it's a quote from something. "Startled, Lennon gasped: 'What are you talking about?' Suddenly Phil cried: 'The house is surrounded by helicopters. They're trying to get them!'".

The mentally-ill Spector did apparently have a fear of black helicopters coming to get him because of work he claimed he'd done for Richard Nixon doctoring the Watergate tapes, but I cannot find any reference to the quote above online apart from where I found it, and the only Lennon biog I have doesn't make any mention, so if anyone is able to add anything to this, I'd be most grateful.

'Gazpacho'
A cold tomato soup.

'Raging like a bull'
Raging Bull (1980) was Martin Scorcese's violent thriller about a boxer (Robert de Niro) on the edge. Loosely based on the life of Jake LaMotta, Raging Bull focuses on Jake's rage and violence that make him almost unstoppable in the ring. The same anger drives Jake to beat his wife and his brother and sends Jake down a self-destructive spiral of paranoia and rage.

The news report at the end
Recounting the flight of OJ Simpson in a white Ford Bronco on the evening of Friday, June 17, 1994. Driven by former football player Al Cowlings, OJ was in the back, reportedly with a gun to his own head. Simpson had been expected to surrender to police to be charged with the murders of his ex-wife Nicole Brown and her friend Ron Goldman. Instead, he left a number of notes for family, friends and public. These were interpreted as suicide notes. Simpson contacted police, who traced the call to a Lake Forest, LA freeway.

A slow chase ensued, the pace dictated by Cowlings's speed and his stating OJ was going to kill himself. Hundreds turned out to wave banners as the Bronco passed, and millions watched live on TV. More than three hours elapsed between Simpson's call to the police and him eventually handing himself over at his Rockingham Avenue home, more than 50 miles away. He was subsequently arrested. The news report on the track is as follows:

They're heading towards that Rockingham address, we have literally thousands of onlookers stopping on both sides of the freeway and the south bound freeway is literally stopped... And people are lining the street ..there are about 20 or 30 police cars in pursuit... ..he's flown the coop, he's in the breeze, we don't know where he's at, the man is a fugitive...

Lyrics: Steve Hogarth & John Helmer

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Songs with a link have explanations.

3 comments:

Dyon Burger1 September 2019 at 11:29
Hi, I found the source of the News Report in the song. Here's the link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5fyOddeXDdk You can hear it at 3:22, it's not completely accurate, but I guess that the band just cut some small parts out.

Thanks for your comments.

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