I once thought it would funny to compile a list of lyrics to instrumental songs. The inspired concept behind such a feat was that occasional instrumental jazzy-rock tunes sometimes featured dialogue – be them mumbled or scat-sung in the background. However, to shoot down this lead idea, much of these spoken bits were not prominent to begin with (probably nothing more than verbal brainstorming) and we all should focus on the music at hand as that was what got us listening in the first place.
Still, with that mindset, there was a certain scholarly attempt to decipher not only the chanting chorus that grooved along with David Sanborn's saxophone in Bang Bang, but its meaning. I had first caught an earful of the rolling tune in the early 90s and found it an irresistible piece of jazz-fusion, an instrumental piece standing out like a sore thumb in the midst of bawdy balladry of Adult Contemporary radio.
Sanborn's been in the music biz for decades, having released albums since 1975 and is still going strong 30 years later, but this was my first encounter with him and his music. Still, having heard nothing by him before this, I sensed something different with this track. Like cornbread. And hog maw. Plus chitlins. But tofu? What's carrot juice got to do with the equation? Finally making out some of the words was a step in the right direction but it never really answered the question of what the song is about – except maybe food. To understand the song, you have to realize Sanborn's version is a cover of song written by Joe Cuba in the late 1960s. Cuba, better known as Gilberto Miguel Calderon, is considered the father of the style of music called Boogaloo, culled from elements of rock, blues, jazz, and Latin American rhythms. These musical styles were first fused together in the late 1960s, with Bang Bang recognized as the biggest Boogaloo hit of that decade.
Buscasalsa.com explains the lyrics: "though of no consistent narrative or dramatic significance, [the lyrics] nevertheless do have a meaning, which is the interplay of Black and Latin festivity and culture, the playful mingling of African-American phrases and cultural symbols with those from Puerto Rican daily life."
And now we know. Or at least we like to think we do.
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Bang Bang
(Joe Cuba/Jimmy Sabater)
David Sanborn
From the album Upfront
1992
