ELEGANZA
In 1981 I interviewed the Cure for CREEM. That was three years after they’d released their paean to Albert Camus’s superb existentialist novel, The Stranger. The song was called "Killing An Arab,” and it was about the climax of the novel, wherein the protagonist murders a Morrocan for no discernable reason.
ELEGANZA
THISISM, THATISM by Iman Lababedi
In 1981 I interviewed the Cure for CREEM. That was three years after they’d released their paean to Albert Camus’s superb existentialist novel, The Stranger. The song was called "Killing An Arab,” and it was about the climax of the novel, wherein the protagonist murders a Morrocan for no discernable reason. I’m Arabic. And if I’d believed there was any racist overtones in the song, I’d have certainly taken the Cure to task for it.
In 1986 the Cure released Standing On The Beach, a two-album overview of their career and their first sizable hit Stateside. It went gold. The first track on the LP was "Killing An Arab,” and the album’s success brought the song to the attention of Faris Bouhafa, the spokesperson of the American-Arab Anti-Discrimination committee. He wrote a letter to the Cure’s American label, Elektra, and Elektra placated him with assurances, which, since he apparently had little choice, Mr. Bouhafa accepted.