M.I.A. - Paper Planes
M.I.A. wants to mug you. Tom looks at just why this is.
I fly like paper, get high like planes
If you catch me at the border I got visas in my name
If you come around here, I make 'em all day
I get one down in a second if you wait
Okay. M.I.A. (for posterity purposes her real name is Mathangi "Maya" Arulpragasam, so we'll just be calling her Maya) would appear to be likening herself to paper (little bits of tree) and feels as though she gets high like planes. This provides the hilarious mental image of a bunch of planes sitting there in the hanger at an airport each smoking a joint, listening to Sublime and discussing the merits of taking over their human masters - the planes fly themselves as we all know.
Maya then claim that she has Visas in her name (well we've already discussed her full name and unless she has an embarrassing middle name that she is keeping from the rest of the world, it is quite clear to see that the word Visa does not appear in her name and that as such she is misinformed). She then ascribes herself to making something all of the day, and that she has one brewing at the moment - what she is making though is up for discussion.
Perhaps she is making cookies. Or a nice woollen jumper. One of the two, anyway.
Sometimes I think sitting on trains
Every stop I get to I'm clocking that game
Everyone's a winner, we're making our fame
Bona fide hustler making my name
It would appear that Maya often reminisces about sitting on trains; I would imagine that with her finances she enjoys first class fare all the way, and as a result I do not blame her for wanting to remember these good times; with free nibbles, comfortable chairs and (depending on your service) a hook for your coat - all luxuries that we like to remember.
She then talks about clocking some sort of game every time the train stops. This confuses me; does she start a new game of tetris every time the train stops, or perhaps she starts a new game of eye-spy every time the train draws to a halt. Either way the logic here is limited; however even more limited is her statement that Everyone is a Winner. Um, no Maya. In life there are a minority of winners and a majority of Losers; yes you may well fall into the former category with your "music" and "fans" but the people your singing to and about are generally LOSERS.
She also claims to be a bona fide hustler; this is a contradiction and a half in terms and one that I will ignore for sanity's sake.
All I wanna do is (BANG BANG BANG BANG!)
And (KKKAAAA CHING!)
And take your money
OH MY GOD! Maya wants to shoot some shit up and STEAL YOUR MONEYZZZ! OMFG! How dare she! I don't even have any money for her to steal, why does she want my, er, nothing?
Pirate skulls and bones
Sticks and stones and weed and bongs
Running when we hit 'em
Lethal poison through their system
Maya now starts to list things ascribed with alternative culture. It is a curious list; she starts off by talking about Pirate skulls and their bones (is a skull not a bone? I mean I know the iconic pirate image is a skull and crossbones but here Maya is talking about bones as a general category and not crossbones and therefore surely she is incorrect?) before moving on to more conventional matters such as sticks, bones and then weed/bongs.
She then does not elaborate any further on why she has listed these substances/things or what purpose they would hold in anyones life. All that matters is that when "we" (and by that we mean Maya and her cronies) hit someone running they will pour lethal poison through their system; something which seems a bit harsh really. I don't quite get what Maya's nemesis has done to annoy her so, and some further elaboration would be quite nice really.
No one on the corner has swagger like us
Hit me on my Burner prepaid wireless
We pack and deliver like UPS trucks
Already going hell just pumping that gas
Presumably in order for Maya to secure the necessary funding to be able to make this song happen she has had to include some corporate names in this song, and I seek to help her by talking about the products that she so seemingly wants to flog.
Firstly she wants to talk about Burner prepaid wireless internet - a product I am not particularly familiar with but I guess there must be some key merits to it (and yes I know that in reality she is saying ring me on my payphone but I can't quite get my head round that meaning enough to put it outside of brackets, thus giving it a proper context that it quite frankly does not deserve as a statement).
Secondly she also mentions being in the employ of UPS who, while going to hell allegedly, still get a mention in this song and for that I'm sure she'll pick up a cool million or two.
She still has talked about very little and in reality I'm still somewhat taken aback by her earlier statement that she wants to take my (non-existant) money.
M.I.A.
Third world democracy
Yeah, I got more records than the K.G.B.
So, uh, no funny business
Some some some I some I murder
Some I some I let go
Some some some I some I murder
Some I some I let go
M.I.A. discusses democracy by introducing her statement with, er, her name. Not the title of the matter at hand but the author; as a result she attributes a huge degree of importance to herself. And while there's nothing wrong with a healthy bit of self promotion I tend to think its best avoided with regard to sensitive global political issues - and she also shows herself to be up with the times by throwing that classic 1970's entity the KGB in there.
Maya finally reveals more about her mugging by saying that some of her victims she murders and some she decided to let go. Well. What a lovely, lovely human being.
Leave a comment