One Night in Bangkok - Murray Head

"One Night in Bangkok" is a song originally sung by Murray Head on the 1984 concept album for the musical Chess. Its music was composed by former ABBA members Björn Ulvaeus and Benny Andersson, with lyrics written by Tim Rice & Björn Ulvaeus.

The release topped the charts in many countries, including South Africa, West Germany, Switzerland and Australia. It peaked at #3 in both Canada and the United States, and at #12 in the UK. It is the last show tune to chart in the American top five to date.

Lyrics and music

The full version of the song begins with an orchestral intro, "Bangkok", which has oriental styling, but cannot be confused with Thai folk music. This serves as the introduction to Act 2 in the original musical album, and feeds into the first verse of the song itself.

The main song is a pop song, whose lyrics sarcastically juxtapose the city and its night life with the game of chess. Whereas the chorus - sung by Swedish artist Anders Glenmark extoll Bangkok's reputation, the verses - a rap by Murray Head, who performed as American chess grandmaster Freddie in the original concept album for the musical - denounce the city, including its muddy old river and its "reclining Buddha".

The setting for the song is an interview by Freddie, who is in Bangkok to serve as a TV analyst for a match involving his rival, world champion and Russian defector Anatoly. Freddie states a preference for what he sees as an intellectual purity in chess, as compared to the seedier aspects of Bangkok's night life, e.g. "the queens we use would not excite you". His statements suggest a personal lack of interest for the exotic settings typically involved in international chess, preferring to focus on the game itself.

The lyrics also mention actor Yul Brynner, who famously played the King of Siam in The King and I. The "Tyrolean spa" mentioned early in the song refers to Merano in Italy, the site of Act 1 of the musical.

Lyrics

Bangkok, oriental setting
And the city don't know that the city is getting
The creme de la creme of the chess world
In a show with everything but Yul Brynner
Time flies, doesn't seem a minute
Since the Tirolean spa had the chess boys in it
All change, don't you know
That when you play at this level there's no ordinary venue
It's Iceland or the Philippines or Hastings
Or, or this place

One night in Bangkok and the world's your oyster
The bars are temples but the pearls ain't free
You'll find a God in every golden cloister
And if you're lucky then the God's a she
I can feel an angel sliding up to me

One town's very like another
When your head's down over your pieces, brother
(It's a drag, it's a bore, it's really such a pity)
(To be looking at the board, not looking at the city)
What d'ya mean
You seen one crowded, polluted, stinking town
(Tea, girls, warm and sweet, sweet)
(Some are set up in the Somerset Maugham suite)
Get Thai'd! You're talking to a tourist
Whose every move's among the purest
I get my kicks above the waistline, sunshine

One night in Bangkok makes a hard man humble
Not much between despair and ecstasy
One night in Bangkok and the tough guys tumble
Can't be too careful with your company
I can feel the devil walking next to me

Siam's gonna be the witness
To the ultimate test of cerebral fitness
This grips me more than would
A muddy old river or reclining Buddha
Thank God I'm only watching the game, controlling it
I don't see you guys rating
The kind of mate I'm contemplating
I'd let you watch, I would invite you
But the queens we use would not excite you
So you better go back to your bars, your temples
Your massage parlors

One night in Bangkok and the world's your oyster
The bars are temples but the pearls ain't free
You'll find a God in every golden cloister
A little flesh, a little history
I can feel an angel sliding up to me

One night in Bangkok makes a hard man humble
Not much between despair and ecstasy
One night in Bangkok and the tough guys tumble
Can't be too careful with your company
I can feel the devil walking next to me