Cambodia (song)
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| "Cambodia" | ||
|---|---|---|
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| Single by Kim Wilde | ||
| from the album Select | ||
| B-side(s) | "Watching For Shapes" | |
| Released | 1981 | |
| Format | 7", 12" | |
| Genre | Pop | |
| Label | RAK | |
| Writer(s) | Ricky Wilde, Marty Wilde | |
| Producer(s) | Ricky Wilde | |
| Chart positions | ||
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| Kim Wilde singles chronology | ||
| Water on Glass/Boys (1981) |
Cambodia (1981) |
Bitter is Better (1982) |
"Cambodia" is the fourth single by British singer Kim Wilde released at the end of 1981, the year in which Wilde had already scored three highly successful hit singles and a best-selling debut album. It became another international success, reaching the Number One position in France, Sweden and Switzerland, as well as becoming a Top 10 in several other nations. The single was released internationally on the 7" format, but was also released in Germany as a 12" single, although this did not contain any extra tracks or special versions of either the A or B-side, the latter being an exclusive non-album track called "Watching For Shapes." "Cambodia" was later included on Wilde's second original album, Select and was followed by a more uptempo, instrumental version of the song with the title "Reprise." Today, "Cambodia" is regarded as one of Wilde's classic songs, and is still played regularly in many European radio stations and has been included on several compilation albums.
Musically and lyrically, "Cambodia" showed a change in direction for Wilde from the new wave feel of her debut album. The song was mainly synth-driven, with oriental-sounding percussion. The lyrics, telling the story of a Thailand-based RAF wife whose husband mysteriously disappears after flying out to Cambodia and never returns, are inspired by some of the tragedies that occurred in South Vietnam. In writing the lyrics, Marty Wilde imagined an American pilot flying in a MacDonnell Phantom and getting shot down by an SAM air missile. In fact the "Reprise" track was originally intended to include sound of jet engines followed by the sound of a rocket blowing the Phantom up, but the sleeve of the single showed a cartoon featuring helicopters, so these sounds had to be replaced.
