[ ]   [ ]   [ ]                        [ ]      [ ]   [ ]
No-No Boy — Imperial Twist
Album: 1975
Avg rating:
7.1

Your rating:
Total ratings: 1061









Released: 2021
Length: 3:26
Plays (last 30 days): 5
Can you give the world a twist
Just by doing the twist?
At the moment the bomb went off,
They were playing Purple Haze

I met Robert at his restaurant,
Septième arrondissement
The Doors still echo in the jungle.
He said, Your mother brought back 45s from Paris in '65
and we learned ʼem note for note.
Some broken English Rolling Stones
Fenders, girls, and dope
America provides

Oh, Saigon teens...

Can you give the world a twist
Just by doing the twist?
Can you save the world with acid rock?
I didn't know my mother's maiden name
That time in Texas when we was detained
And I've been back to old Saigon
But how much of you is lost
When they change your name?

Oh, Saigon teens...

And it was half a world away
The band got back on stage
Four decades to the day
Purple Haze
Comments (28)add comment
I like this song better than The Oh So Protective One by Girls, but they are eerily similar.
Well damn, I thought this was "Saigon tease", about a GI reminiscing about his favorite bar girl (who is singing the duet).  Guess I should pay more attention to the lyrics.
 tm wrote:
me too my friend me too




https://www.nonoboyproject.com...
 timmus wrote:
Pretty disappointing that there's nothing about this band or the album on Wikipedia, yet people keep wanting to add to a ultramassive Taylor Swift page that right now has 619 citations.  Who could possibly need all that information?
 
I really wish smaller artists would get more recognition!!
me too my friend me too

Pretty disappointing that there's nothing about this band or the album on Wikipedia, yet people keep wanting to add to a ultramassive Taylor Swift page that right now has 619 citations.  Who could possibly need all that information?
 
I really wish smaller artists would get more recognition!!
 deniseperry wrote:

Album 1979. Released 2021. ??


No, 1975. Released 2021.
Wow.  I'm a Viet Nam vet - 1967 to 1971.  Loved the country and the people.  This piece really moved me.
While this is a couple of years old, it's new to me and it very cool sounding.  Must investigate this No-No Boy further.
Album 1979. Released 2021. ??
 cc_rider wrote:

This song sounds current, not almost 50 years old.
Lyrics are suited to the era, but the sound is 'modern'.
Impressive.
c.



Pretty sure its the album name and not the date it hit the shelves.
This song sounds current, not almost 50 years old.
Lyrics are suited to the era, but the sound is 'modern'.
Impressive.
c.
Sounds like Alt-J
Is that Alan Watts in the beginning of this song?
Oh, my.  This is very impressive.  Well done.
I've been accused of using my no-no to get a yes-yes....
 michael_crf wrote:

Very cool
Fits well with an excellent book I just read: The Sympathizer by Viet Thanh Nguyen


An obscure aside:
The original No-No Boy is a book by John Okada.

No-No Boy tells the story of Ichiro Yamada, a fictional version of the real-life “no-no boys.” Yamada answered “no” twice in a compulsory government questionnaire as to whether he would serve in the armed forces and swear loyalty to the United States.

Very cool
Fits well with an excellent book I just read: The Sympathizer by Viet Thanh Nguyen
Thanks to RP for sharing this song.  I dig it. Reading along to the lyrics I was curious to learn more about the song and came across this article (https://www.opb.org/article/20... ) for anyone interested.  An interesting interview but related to this song specifically was the following:

JW:
Julian, my favorite song on the album is “Imperial Twist,” which is set
in Saigon during the Vietnam War. Can you tell me about that song?
There’s just so much to unpack and chew on in there.


JS: It all started with a visit to a restaurant in Paris. This is where most of my family went after the war. They were refugees in France – that’s a long colonial history. But I’m talking to this old high school friend of my mom’s, Robert Vifian, this very French Vietnamese guy. I just wanted to know about what it was like growing up in Saigon because, like I said, it was a hard story to tell from my mom’s perspective.

And he started talking about how he was in a band. And automatically I lit up. This is how I relate to history. I’ve got to know what songs were being played, what bands were popular. That’s how I have a way in. And he says, “Yeah, we were playing American music for the Americans. Rock and roll because they wanted bands to dance to and listen to. And so they’d buy us instruments and we’d form bands and we’d fly through the jungle in helicopters piled with drugs and prostitutes and then the Vietcong would be shooting at us and then we’d go play Hendrix and The Doors in the jungle for these American G.I.s.”

It just lit me on fire, man. A history never came alive so much as when Robert recounted that story, and I had to pass that along. And then that started a whole excavation, a process of discovery [for me], of all these Southeast Asian rock bands who were just incredible, who made a few scant recordings and they’re in a few compilations. It became some of my favorite music ever.

I like this; I think he has a talent for catchy arrangement -- and quite a cool, unique sound. The music makes me think of "Apple Pie Bed" and the voice makes me think of The Strokes... ~Dig!
Loving the duet, her voice is crisp sweetness.
 SeriousLee wrote:

1975? Wow, way ahead of their time. Maybe he grew up and became No-Man?


The album is titled 1975. It was released in 2021.
Just caught the end of this one-maybe a touch of later Lennon on it? Good noise either way. 
1975? Wow, way ahead of their time. Maybe he grew up and became No-Man?
So new there's no wiki page. Nice, 7 for now but has potential.
I'm sure there's a story behind the lyrics.. "But how much of you is lost when they change your name?"

Solid 8.
I do like RP! Always something new to discover.