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Killer Caribbean Queen

from Black & Orange by vonHummer

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about

"Killer Caribbean Queen" is another one of my mash-up songs, combining the lyrics from, in this case, Queen's "Killer Queen" and Billy Ocean's "Caribbean Queen." [A previous example would be my song "The Night," which mashes up the lyrics for "The Night Chicago Died," "The Night They Drove Ol' Dixie Down," and "The Night the Lights Went Out in Georgia," but I digress...] My process for a piece like this starts with pulling up the lyrics for each source song, starting with one song's line and finishing with another. This doesn't guarantee a coherent meaning overall for the end product, but when was that ever a pop prerequisite? I think song meaning was banished sometime in the early 90s, thank you very much, Mr. Cobain.

I had finished lyrics and music for this one in April of 2008, and shelved it deliberately for the day I would make a Halloween album. It's got a great riff. Perhaps a bit like Peter Gabriel's "No Self Control." Kind of Cat Stevens melody on the verses and Daltrey on the chorus?

This isn't an album with backing vocals, (unlike "Are You Committed") but I added some on "Killer Caribbean Queen" for fun. Seems kind of Paul Simon-y, like Graceland, with the interfering vocals in the back.

No cymbals at all. The drums kind of blast here and there, adding more drama than beat. Very fun. Like early Adam and the Ants, perhaps.

lyrics

"Killer Caribbean Queen" [vonHummer]

(No more/Love on the run/Guaranteed…)

She keeps dashing by me/with Moet et Chardon/
In painted-on jeans/“Let them eat cake,” she said/
And all heads turned/cos she was the dream…/
Just like Marie Antoinette/I knew her number and her name/I was the tiger cigarette/she wanted to tame/anytime…/

I lose my cool/to avoid complications/when she steps in the room/She never kept the same address/like a baroness/and I get her perfume…/
Naturally from Paris/electric eyes careless from China/
And passion burns you like never down/to Geisha Minor/incidentally…/

She’s a killer Caribbean queen/now we’re sharin’ the same gunpowder gelatine/and two hearts that beat dynamite with a laser beam…/

I was in search/of a built-in remedy/running my game/Kruschev and Kennedy/ Was the furthest thing from my mind/just a good time pussycat you can’t decline/anytime?

She’s a killer Caribbean queen/now we’re sharin’ the same gunpowder gelatine/and two hearts that beat dynamite with a laser beam…/

(No more/Love on the run/Guaranteed…What a drag…)

credits

from Black & Orange, released October 6, 2010
Vocals: vonHummer
Bass: vonHummer
Drums: vonHummer

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vonHummer Portland, Oregon

vonHummer is a Portland music/cable access legend whose career spanned from Fall of 2001 to Fall of 2011, during which he recorded a hundred or so songs for use in his absurdist show (and feature film) and played only a handful of concerts. Currently retired, his work shines on for the ages. Or will he someday return...? ... more

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