Wog
Cornershop Lyrics

The song "Wog" by Cornershop is an interesting commentary on racial identity and cultural hybridity. The title of the song is a derogatory term used to describe people from South Asia and the Middle East, and the lyrics play with this idea of being seen as an outsider in Western society. The opening lines "Get your fat ass off the acetate into / Down twen'y stairs" suggest a sense of urgency and movement, as if the singer is trying to escape from something. The line "It came from the rest / There, goes to rest in the heart" can be interpreted as a reference to the idea of cultural memory - that one's own personal history is intertwined with the history of one's culture. The lines "First I was a foreigner / Then suddenly 'Everything (is) was cool forever'" suggest a shift in identity, as if the singer has gone from feeling like an outsider to feeling fully assimilated into Western culture.

The chorus of the song - "This Western Oriental's going full circle" - is interesting because it can be interpreted in a number of different ways. On one hand, it could be seen as a celebration of cultural hybridity - that by blending elements of Eastern and Western culture, a new, unique identity is created. On the other hand, it could be interpreted as a critique of cultural appropriation - that Western culture has co-opted elements of Eastern culture for its own purposes.

The second verse of the song continues this theme of cultural hybridity, with lines like "Mar ships sexier" - a reference to the fact that some South Asian languages use gendered language to describe inanimate objects. The line "Put the volume down on adverts / To emphasize how sad they are" is interesting because it suggests that the singer is attuned to the emotions being conveyed through media, perhaps as a result of being attuned to diverse cultural expressions.

Overall, "Wog" is a thought-provoking song that speaks to issues of identity, cultural memory, and hybridity.