One night in Bangkok
| One night in Bangkok | |
|---|---|
| Murray Head | |
| publication | October 1984 |
| length | 3:54 |
| Genre (s) | pop |
| text | Tim Rice , Björn Ulvaeus |
| music | Benny Andersson , Björn Ulvaeus |
| Award (s) | Golden record |
| album | Chess |
One Night in Bangkok is a 1984 Murray Head song written by Björn Ulvaeus , Benny Andersson and Tim Rice . It opens the 2nd act of the musical Chess .
The song consists of an orchestral intro ( Bangkok ), followed by Murray Head's spoken chant, which sarcastically contrasts the city and its nightlife with the upcoming chess grandmasters tournament. It is interrupted several times by the chorus sung by Anders Glenmark. The lyrics contain allusions to Bangkok such as Muddy old river ( Mae Nam Chao Phraya - "Chao Phraya River"), The reclining Buddha (The statue of Wat Pho ), Yul Brynner , known from The King and I , and sex tourism ( the queens we use would not excite you , for example: The ladies we play with would not excite you ). The arbitrariness of the wonderful places from the perspective of the chess players becomes clear ( ... when you play at this level there's no ordinary venue, it's Iceland or the Philippines or Hastings or ... or this place ... , for example: If you play at this level, you will find that doesn't take place in ordinary places, more on Iceland or the Philippines or in Hastings or - or here ... ). Björn J: son Lindh played the flute solo .
The single was awarded a gold record in Germany . In addition to the placements in Germany, Austria, Switzerland, Great Britain and the USA, the song reached No. 1 in Australia, Belgium, Canada, the Netherlands and South Africa, No. 2 in New Zealand, No. 3 in Norway and Sweden, and No. 7 in Ireland, 8th place in France and 10th place in Italy.
In 2011, Mike Tyson sang the song in a brief appearance in the movie Hangover 2 . The title, voiced by Tyson, is also included on the film soundtrack in a studio version.
Cover versions
|
Chart positions Explanation of the data |
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| Singles | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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- 1985: Louise Robey ( included on Robey album)
- 1985: Jürgen Drews ( At night in Bangkok )
- 1996: Steve Vai ( included on Fire Garden album)
- 2003: A * Teens (included in the album New Arrival )
- 2005: Vinylshakerz
- 2008: DJ Antoine
- 2011: Mike Tyson (for the film Hangover 2 )
Awards for music sales
| Country / Region | Award | Sales |
|---|---|---|
| Awards for music sales (country / region, Award, Sales) |
||
 Germany (BVMI)
|
 gold
|
250,000 |
 France (SNEP)
|
 silver
|
200,000 |
 Canada (MC)
|
 platinum
|
100,000 |
 New Zealand (RMNZ)
|
gold
|
7,500 |
| All in all |
1 × silver 2 × gold 1 × platinum |
557,500 |
Individual evidence
- ↑ ABBA - The Worldwide Chart Lists ( Memento of the original from April 6, 2012 on WebCite ) Info: The archive link was automatically inserted and not yet checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.
- ↑ Sources for chart placements: DE / AT / CH / UK , accessed on May 16, 2010.
- ↑ Award in Germany
- ^ Award in France
- ↑ Award in Canada
- ↑ Award in New Zealand
