Gandhi Mate, Gandhi

Album: A Flash Flood Of Colour (2012)
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Songfacts®:

  • The song title namechecks the Indian political and ideological leader Mohandas Gandhi, whose non-violent protests inspired movements for civil rights and freedom across the world. However it cannot be said that this is an earnest ode to the famous advocate of pacifism. Said frontman Roughton Reynolds to Kerrang!: "Inspired by the man himself, yet the music couldn't be anything further from peaceful and compassionate. There are points in this where the song breaks down into utterly ludicrous rants. It's the most ridiculous song on the album."
  • Bassist Chris Batten told Noisecreep: "That one was one of the most fun to record, for sure. It starts off with our singer having a bit of a rant. It's one of the lighter songs on the album."
    He added: "It's very lighthearted, but it's one of the most crazy songs on the album as well, musically and lyrically. It completely breaks down at one point because Roughton, our singer, gets so angry about what he's saying that he breaks down [laughs] and we have to tell him to calm down remember what Gandhi did and stuff like that [laughs]. It's a bit silly."
  • Here's a couple more bits of Gandhi linked pop music trivia:
    (1) Robbie Williams quotes Gandhi when he opens his 2005 hit single, "Tripping" with the lyric, "First they ignore you, then laugh at you and hate you, then they fight you, then you win."
    (2) Gandhi was originally included on the cover of Sgt Pepper, but was subsequently removed as the Beatles' record company feared that in India they wouldn't allow the record to be printed.
  • The song started off as a track for Reynolds' side project Rout. He told Alternative Press: "It just sounded so heavy live everytime I dropped it when DJing that I thought about trying to evolve it into a full-on Shikari track. The bouncing electro synths went really well around a stabby guitar part so we ended up going for it."
  • Said Reynolds to Alternative Press: "It was one of the most fun tracks on the album to record as vocally, the track is full of different characters and their trials through the emotion of anger."

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