What the heck was going on with “One Night In Bangkok”? You heard the song on the radio, sang along with the chorus, and maybe even rapped along to the verses. But you couldn’t quite know what it was trying to say, at least not at the time of its release.
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Well, if you were in that camp and you haven’t yet checked in on the whos and whats of the Murray Head 1984 hit, we’re here to help. Or, if you just found the song, you can discover how this unique, somewhat bizarre, only-in-the-80s hit came to be.
Tim, Bjorn, and Benny
The first thing that probably surprises you when it comes to “One Night In Bangkok” is who wrote it. Tim Rice, who wrote the lyrics, made his bones churning out the words to Broadway musicals like Jesus Christ Superstar and Evita. As for the music, Benny Andersson and Björn Ulvaeus, who were just coming out of their stint with ABBA, composed it.
Rice had long envisioned a musical that would tackle the Cold War between the USA and Russia. When his usual collaborator, Andrew Lloyd Webber, was unavailable, he turned to Andersson and Ulvaeus. The pair were looking for new challenges after the dissolution of their billion-selling band.
Chess, the musical they constructed, took on the Cold War by exploring the rivalry between the two countries in the titular game. To drum up excitement, they put together an album of the score that was released in 1984, a year and a half before the actual musical debuted in London. “One Night In Bangkok” was earmarked as the single.
Pieces on the ‘Chess’ Board
“One Night In Bangkok” comes from the perspective of an American character who has been hired as a commentator for the huge chess clash at the heart of the story. He compares the nightlife of Thailand, where the event is being held, with the intricacies of the chess action.
To tackle the verses, which are rendered in a kind of monotone rap, the trio tapped Murray Head. An apropos choice, since Head had enjoyed a hit with “Superstar” from Jesus Christ Superstar in 1970. The choruses were sung by the famed Swede, Anders Glenmark.
Considering that most listeners who heard the song couldn’t have known the context of the song in the musical, it’s a marvel that “One Night In Bangkok” caught on as it did. But the combination of musical elements (disco, rap, synth-pop) and Murray Head’s charismatic performance worked their magic. The song hit No. 3 in the US in 1984.
Behind the Lyrics of “One Night In Bangkok”
The quotability of the lyrics of “One Night In Bangkok” pops even without the need for any exposition about the musical. For example: “I’d let you watch, I would invite you/But the queens we use would not excite you.” And, of course: “The crème de la crème of the chess world in a show/With everything but Yul Brynner.”
But once you dig in deeper, Rice’s ingenious structure comes to the fore. The narrator finds himself wholly engaged by the life of the mind. “I get my kicks above the waistline, sunshine,” Head snipes. But the chorus is like the devil on his shoulder, pulling him toward the delights of the flesh. “It’s a drag, it’s a bore, it’s really such a pity,” they beckon him. “To be looking at the board, not looking at the city.”
“One Night In Bangkok” proved that the 80s airwaves were available to you, even if audiences couldn’t possibly glean the entire meaning of your song. With Rice, Ulvaeus, and Andersson moving the pieces and Head calling the game, it was checkmate right from the get-go.
Photo by RAPH GATTI/AFP via Getty Images
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