Remarks:
Have you ever written a poem about your Hare Krishna ex-husband and then have a bandmate turn it into a stadium-rock song? Well, that happened to Annie Lenox:
“‘Missionary Man’ had to do with my slight dabbling with Hare Krishna. They’re very similar to other fundamentalist religions, like Hasidic Jews; they want to go back to the old days, family values, us and them. And some of these values are very good. Hare Krishna is an extreme-looking cult and that attracted me. I like that they dared, that they didn’t care what society thinks – I think Western society is really fucked up – and just wanted to do what’s right for them. But you have to beware of people giving you answers to everything. I found hypocrisy and double standards.”
Dave Stewart, the bandmate in question:
“‘Missionary Man’ opened the album and became a lynchpin song on the Revenge tour. I wanted to create a spiritual feeling at the opening of the song. I felt like an alchemist cooking up a weird brew of blues, rock and voodoo, with a strange mixture of guitars, synthesizers, backwards noises, and harmonica that spiraled toward the opening line, ‘Well I was born an original sinner.’ This was the perfect way to take our shows to another level.”
Thus his love of chemistry in the video.
What I really wondered about, though, was who the backing singer was and what has become of her. She is Joniece Jamison. She was born in Baltimore, though by this time she was already living in France. Her most notable songs are in French.
This song came out in 1986, going to #14 in the US and #31 in their native UK, though it broke the top ten in Australia (#9) and in the US on mainstream rock radio (#1).
See also:
- songs: the 1980s
- overseas Black American singers:
- Silver Convention: Fly Robin Fly
Lyrics:
Well I was born an original sinner.
I was borne from original sin.
And if I had a dollar bill
For all the things I’ve done
There’d be a mountain of money
Piled up to my chin
My mother told me good
My mother told me strong.
She said “Be true to yourself
And you can’t go wrong.”
“But there’s just one thing
That you must understand.”
“You can fool with your brother
But don’t mess with a missionary man.”
Don’t mess with a missionary man.
Don’t mess with a missionary man.
Well the missionary man
He’s got god on his side.
He’s got the saints and apostles
Backin’ up from behind.
Black eyed looks from those bible books.
He’s a man with a mission
Got a serious mind.
There was a woman in the jungle
And a monkey on a tree.
The missionary man he was followin’ me.
He said “Stop what you’re doing.”
“Get down upon your knees.”
“I’ve a message for you that you better believe.”
Source: Songfacts
This is a banger. This is one of my favorite of many tunes from the Eurythmics. I really loved the Black woman singer’s vocals in the background.
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Hope you are doing okay, since this is the 2nd Sunday in a row with no music and no new posts
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@ Johnny Cake
I’m still here!
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A take on the dogma of Fundamentalist religion.
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