Hey Big Al,

I came oh so close to including Strummer's brilliant ode to multicultural cuisine: Bhindi Bhagee. One of my last memories was of seeing Joe perform an absolutely riveting version of this tune, like a whirling dervish restaurant critic. As you know, it begins with a reference to "mushy peas". Well, someone in the crowd presented Joe with a bag of peas as the song began. Over the course of the performance, the peas were flying in all directions as Joe, in his machine-gun style vocal delivery, was rattling off the joys of eating the expansive variety of foods found in London. One of the legend's last great songs.

Raise a toast, and eat your peas!

Peter T.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SZiPCJrd0_4

Joe Strummer & The Mescaleros - Bhindi Bhagee Lyrics

Related: Biography Albums Lyrics Send "Bhindi Bhagee" Ringtones to Cell

Well, I was walking down the High Road And this guy stops me He'd just got in from New Zealand And he was looking for mushy peas I said, no, we hadn't really got 'em round here I said, but we do got

Balti, Bhindi, strictly Hindi Dall, Halal and I'm walking down the road We got rocksoul, okra, bombay duck-ra Shrimp beansprout, comes with it or without - with it or without Bagels soft or simply harder Exotic avocado or toxic empenada We got akee, lassi, Somali waccy baccy I'm sure back home you know what tikka's all about - what tikka's all about

Welcome stranger to the humble neighborhoods You can get inspiration along the highroad

Hommus, cous cous in the jus of octopus Pastrami and salami and lasagne on the go Welcome stranger, there's no danger Welcome to this humble neighborhood

There's Balti, Bhindi, strictly Hindi Dall, Halal and I'm walking down the road Rocksoul, okra, bombay duck-ra Shrimp beansprout, comes with it or without

So anyway, I told him I was in a band He said, "Oh yeah, oh yeah - what's your music like?" I said, "It's um, um, well, it's kinda like You know, it's got a bit of, um, you know."

Ragga, Bhangra, two-step Tanga Mini-cab radio, music on the go Um, surfbeat, backbeat, frontbeat, backseat There's a bunch of players and they're really letting go We got, Brit pop, hip hop, rockabilly, Lindy hop Gaelic heavy metal fans fighting in the road Ah, Sunday boozers for chewing gum users They got a crazy D.J. and she's really letting go

Oh, welcome stranger Welcome stranger to the humble neighborhoods

Well, I say, there's plenty of places to eat round here He say, "Oh yeah, I'm pretty choosy."

You got Balti, Bhindi, strictly Hindi Dall, Halal, walking down the road Rocksoul, okra, bombay duck-ra Shrimp beansprout, comes with it or without Let's check it out

Welcome stranger to the humble neighborhoods, neighborhoods Check out all that

Por-da-sol, por-da-sol Walking down the highroad