It was their first single, in 1979, and is not what you think its about. It's not a call to kill Arabs, it's a reference to "Albert Camus's novel The Stranger. Because of the title, the song has drawn controversy for what critics have described as promoting violence against Arabs, which songwriter Robert Smith pinned on the public's lack of knowledge regarding the novel. Shortly after its release, Smith said, 'It just happened that the main character in the book had actually killed an Arab, but it could have been a Scandinavian or an English bloke.' In 2003, Smith acknowledged that, 'If I knew it before, I would have called it Standing on the Beach. It would have avoided many troubles."
They named their first hit compilation "Standing on the Beach' :)
However, I'm all for the adoption of the song as satire, a protest against imperialism and the dehumanising of people into massive groups that aren't supposed to matter to us. My South African government did that. Surely we were a sufficient lesson not to do that to others.
Great reference to The Cure. They used more smoke than any group I ever saw. Not sure why I remember that. Sad times but that seems to be a recurring theme these days.
Iran English TV has posted two responses, the first ahead of the expected attack (massive crowd), and the second after.
1. From Yemen: https://www.urmedium.net/c/presstv/128426
2. From Iran: https://www.urmedium.net/c/presstv/128423
And because I resisted using The Cure's 'Killing an Arab' instead of Metallica, here it is - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZMqPlQgHww8
It was their first single, in 1979, and is not what you think its about. It's not a call to kill Arabs, it's a reference to "Albert Camus's novel The Stranger. Because of the title, the song has drawn controversy for what critics have described as promoting violence against Arabs, which songwriter Robert Smith pinned on the public's lack of knowledge regarding the novel. Shortly after its release, Smith said, 'It just happened that the main character in the book had actually killed an Arab, but it could have been a Scandinavian or an English bloke.' In 2003, Smith acknowledged that, 'If I knew it before, I would have called it Standing on the Beach. It would have avoided many troubles."
They named their first hit compilation "Standing on the Beach' :)
However, I'm all for the adoption of the song as satire, a protest against imperialism and the dehumanising of people into massive groups that aren't supposed to matter to us. My South African government did that. Surely we were a sufficient lesson not to do that to others.
It seems that war will come despite the efforts of peace loving people. I suppose that it will come to my homeland in due time.
Thanks for all the helpful links,Mike.
Glad it's appreciated.
Great reference to The Cure. They used more smoke than any group I ever saw. Not sure why I remember that. Sad times but that seems to be a recurring theme these days.
Some imagine-your-reality guru will say it's because Mike imagined Daniel's thought. I've never seen them live and I know they used a lot of smoke.