You weren't there that night
You didn't get it right
You weren't there that day
I know you will never know
That the lady got no soul
She got no soul yeah
You weren't there that night
You didn't get it right
You weren't there that day
I know you will never know
That the lady got no soul
She got no soul yeah
She got no soul yeah
Lyrics by:
Brown / Tunon / Kebleris
Available on:
Golden Greats (4.04)
Details:
Babasonicos are a group of musicians in Argentina whom Ian Brown collaborated with for this track. This indignant finale perhaps channels anger from the singer's 'air rage' incident aboard a British Airways flight from Charles De Gaulles airport to Manchester airport, on 13th February 1998. The air stewardess on that BA 1611 flight, Christine Cooper, had been asking passengers if they would like to make any duty-free purchases. She thought that Brown had gestured towards her affirmatively in response, but soon realised he had simply been putting something into his pocket. She told the court: "I realised I had made a mistake, and I offered him an apology with an open palm gesture. As I was about to continue, I heard him shout: 'Hey you'." Ian was alleged to have used threatening behaviour towards both her and Captain Martin Drake. Ian allegedly told the stewardess, "Don't wave your fucking hands at me. I'll fucking chop them off." Ms Cooper went on to explain, "I was immediately shocked at the response I got from doing nothing wrong. I apologised but he kept up the abuse in a threatening way, pointing a finger with a menacing tone. I was terrified... it was an individual threat to me." She said he threatened her four or five times. Upon intervention of Captain Drake, Ian allegedly told him, "If she points at me again, I'll chop her hands off." Ian also allegedly told Captain Drake, "piss off and have a shave, Pugwash." As the British Airways flight began its descent into Manchester Airport, Ian allegedly ran towards the cockpit door, and hammered on it for 20 to 30 seconds. At the trial, Ian admitted telling Christine Cooper he would "chop her hands off" - but claimed it was intended as a joke. He also admitted tapping on the cockpit door, but claimed this was only for the purpose of obtaining names of the crew in order to make a complaint. Brown denied using threatening and abusive behaviour towards Ms Cooper and Mr Drake. Ian had his appeal against the case thrown out in November 1998, after Judge Simon Fawcus said he was guilty of "disgraceful and loutish behaviour." Not helped by having 'previous', Ian was subsequently banned by British Airways from all the company's flights. The singer was sentenced to 60 days in Strangeways prison, but was released on Christmas Eve 1998, having served only half of his jail term.
In February 1998, on a flight from Paris to Manchester, Brown became involved in an argument with a stewardess. She summoned the captain, and Brown, complaining that the staff were rude, hammered on the cockpit door. On landing, he was charged with threatening behaviour on board an aircraft. He maintains that he was made an example of: "To send a message out not to mess about on aircraft - but I never messed about on no aircraft. I didn't even swear." That October, he was sentenced to 60 days in Strangeways prison. He bristles with indignation: "I got the same as Gary Glitter. I was sent away for words I'm supposed to have said, and I didn't even say the words they put me away for. He had 4,500 images of kids..." He trails off, shaking his head. "And me and him get the same sentence." He says that, when he was taken from the courtroom, the jailer wouldn't jail him, because he'd seen the Roses play. "He said, 'It's Ian Brown, I can't do it, I love 'im.'"
(Ian Brown speaking to The Guardian, 2nd February 2002)
When your primary mode of defence is 'I'm not as bad as Gary Glitter', then you really are on a sticky wicket. Nice to see some acknowledgement of a moral spectrum here, but I don't see why Ian Brown is any more holy than Gary Glitter ?
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