Roger and Japs

iwantmypinkfloydnow · Post by **iwantmypinkfloydnow** » Sun May 28, 2006 4:53 am

Can anyone tell me what is it with Roger and stating about the Japenese in some of his songs.

Post by **mosespa** » Sun May 28, 2006 5:29 am

Could you be more specific?

iwantmypinkfloydnow · Post by **iwantmypinkfloydnow** » Sun May 28, 2006 5:33 am

Um, "What God Wants" and Not Now John

Post by **mosespa** » Sun May 28, 2006 7:10 am

The reference that might clarify the whole thing the most is the one from "The Post War Dream;"

If it wasn't for the nips
Being so good at building ships
The yards would still be open on the Clyde

By using "nips" (Japan was once called "Nippon" and in certain parts of the world, "nip" is a racial slur aimed at the Japanese,) Roger isn't so much engaging in racism himself as he is displaying a mindset not uncommon in certain parts of the world at certain times...much like ITF2.

But the reason he's referencing the Japanese in the first place is this:

They took the ship building business away from *England.

When you consider that the "market forces" are one of Waters' lyrical obsessions, it's not hard to see why he'd write about the Japanese. They ARE one of the world's economic leaders, right?

I need to look at the lyrics for "What God Wants" again...which Part of WGW are you referring to specifically, 1, 2 or 3?

EDIT: As for Not Now John, those references tie in with the above explanation, as well.

EDITED AGAIN: *The River Clyde is in Scotland. My bad. It wasn't just England who was affected.

WishIwasthere · Post by **WishIwasthere** » Mon May 29, 2006 3:27 am

It's surely nothing personal. He's writen lots of songs during his career and they hardly figure highly in his lyrics. What about Jews and Coons?

It seems to me that he's just writing about the subject matter of the songs, not singling them out for special mention.

Alternative 4 · Post by **Alternative 4** » Mon May 29, 2006 6:40 am

mosespa wrote:
When you consider that the "market forces" are one of Waters' lyrical obsessions, it's not hard to see why he'd write about the Japanese. They ARE one of the world's economic leaders, right?

Yea. And after WWII there was lots of money out in by the allies to help rebuild the country (America still has a big armed forces presence there). Maybe he is showing some resentment that a country that we were fighting is now doing better (I saw we because NZ is part of the commonwealth) economically (Or building better ships) than the UK. War is also one of his lyrical obsessions.

nosaj · Post by **nosaj** » Mon May 29, 2006 9:49 pm

Question from earlier:

Yosemate...oh I can't spell it, It's a Miracle - "...been turned into a golf course for the Japs"

I guess Rog doesn't like Yoko Ono.

AtomHeartMomma · Post by **AtomHeartMomma** » Mon Jun 12, 2006 1:30 am

Roger mentions Japs in "IT"S A MIRACLE"....They turned Yosemite into a golf course for the Japs....

wiped · Post by **wiped** » Thu Jun 15, 2006 7:53 pm

Roger's constant mentioning of Japs / Nips is due to him being disgruntled over the purchase of a particularly poorly assembled Nissan Micra in 1982*

*Source - Wiped's Bullshit News Letter No. 16 Vol 8, April 1969

zag · Post by **zag** » Thu Jun 15, 2006 9:59 pm

nosaj wrote:I guess Rog doesn't like Yoko Ono.

well, who does ?

Post by **mosespa** » Thu Jun 15, 2006 10:05 pm

Kate and Cindy from B-52's.

davidjay · Post by **davidjay** » Thu Jun 15, 2006 10:06 pm

zag wrote:
nosaj wrote:I guess Rog doesn't like Yoko Ono.
well, who does ?

she wasn't much of a singer, but if john loved her, that's good enough for me.

zag · Post by **zag** » Thu Jun 15, 2006 10:34 pm

davidjay wrote:she wasn't much of a singer, but if john loved her, that's good enough for me.

see, love?s not only blind

btw, mosespa, were Kate and Cindy somekind of lucky figures on the Nagasaki and Hiroshima planes ?

another bad joke i?m afraid

Post by **mosespa** » Thu Jun 15, 2006 10:44 pm

LOL, zag.

At first I thought they were kidding when they said that in an interview...but then, I thought about the way they sing sometimes...and it's pretty clear that Yoko WAS actually an influence on them.

Kind of cool, in a way.

Massed Gadgets · Post by **Massed Gadgets** » Thu Jun 15, 2006 11:08 pm

mosespa wrote:Kate and Cindy from B-52's.

Love the B-52's!