Boom Skit
M.I.A. Lyrics


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Brown gal, brown gal, turn your shit down
You know America don't wanna hear your sound
Boom boom jungle music, go back to India
With your crazy shit, you're bumming up the area
Looking through your Instagram, looking for a pentagram
All I see is poor people, they should be on ghetto-gram
You don't get our underground, Bro-fest are overground
Fist pump, eat, hammer, even throw your dick around
Yeah you try to stick around do you do your bic around?
Let you into superbowl you tried to steal Madonna's crown
What the fuck you on about?
Think about goin to France, quelle heure est-il?
Its the time to do the terror dance
Eat, pray, love, spend time in the Ashram
Or I'll drone you, Kony 2012 you now scram!

(Boom shaka laka boom)
(Boom shaka laka boom)
(Boom shaka laka boom)
(Boom shaka laka boom)
(Boom shaka laka boom)
(Boom shaka laka boom)
(Boom shaka laka boom)
(Boom shaka laka boom)
(Boom shaka laka boom)
(Boom shaka laka boom)




(Boom shaka laka boom)
(Boom shaka laka boom)

Overall Meaning

M.I.A.'s song "Boom Skit" is a commentary on the racist and xenophobic attitudes that some Americans hold towards people of non-Western cultures. The lyrics address a hypothetical "brown gal" who is playing music that is considered too ethnic and foreign for mainstream American tastes. The singer tells the brown gal to "turn your shit down" and go back to India with her "crazy shit" because she is "bumming up the area." The singer is critical of the brown gal for not understanding American culture and for trying to infiltrate it with her own foreign ideas.


The singer also makes references to social media, suggesting that the brown gal is obsessed with her Instagram and "looking for a pentagram." The singer implies that the brown gal is only interested in superficial trends and doesn't truly understand the struggles of everyday people. The singer also comments on the music scene, mocking "Bro-fests" (a term for frat-style music festivals) and suggesting that the brown gal is not cool enough to understand the true underground music scene.


The song concludes with the singer telling the brown gal to either go to France or a spiritual retreat in India, or else get droned (killed by a drone strike) or "Kony 2012'd" (a reference to the viral charity campaign that was criticized for oversimplifying complex issues in Africa). The overall message of the song is to critique the arrogance and ignorance of American culture towards non-Western cultures and to call for a greater level of cultural understanding and tolerance.


Line by Line Meaning

Brown gal, brown gal, turn your shit down
Addressing a brown girl to lower her volume as America doesn't want to listen to her music


You know America don't wanna hear your sound
Suggesting that America isn't interested in the music of the brown girl


Boom boom jungle music, go back to India
Labeling the brown girl's music as 'jungle music' and asking her to go back to India


With your crazy shit, you're bumming up the area
Accusing the brown girl of introducing 'crazy' music and ruining the place


Looking through your Instagram, looking for a pentagram
Observing the brown girl's interest in pentagrams on social media


All I see is poor people, they should be on ghetto-gram
Noticing the brown girl's followers are mostly poor people who should be on a platform called 'ghetto-gram'


You don't get our underground, Bro-fest are overground
Doubting the brown girl's comprehension of the American underground music scene as she's only familiar with more popular events like 'Bro-fests'


Fist pump, eat, hammer, even throw your dick around
Suggesting rambunctious behavior like fist pumping and showing off, even going so far as to use sexually inappropriate behavior


Yeah you try to stick around do you do your bic around?
Asking if the brown girl even belongs there and if she's using drugs like cocaine (bic is a reference to a lighter)


Let you into superbowl you tried to steal Madonna's crown
Implying she tried to usurp Madonna during the Super Bowl Halftime Show


What the fuck you on about?
Questioning the brown girl's behavior and what she's trying to accomplish


Think about goin to France, quelle heure est-il?
Suggesting the brown girl leave for France using French words to question the time


Its the time to do the terror dance
Saying that it's time to 'terror dance' or act crazily


Eat, pray, love, spend time in the Ashram
Making light of the popular book, Eat Pray Love, and telling the brown girl to go spend time in an Ashram, a retreat center in India


Or I'll drone you, Kony 2012 you now scram!
Threatening violence by using a drone and referencing the Kony 2012 movement to try and make the brown girl leave


(Boom shaka laka boom)
Repeating a sound effect throughout the song


(Boom shaka laka boom)
Repeating a sound effect throughout the song


(Boom shaka laka boom)
Repeating a sound effect throughout the song


(Boom shaka laka boom)
Repeating a sound effect throughout the song


(Boom shaka laka boom)
Repeating a sound effect throughout the song


(Boom shaka laka boom)
Repeating a sound effect throughout the song


(Boom shaka laka boom)
Repeating a sound effect throughout the song


(Boom shaka laka boom)
Repeating a sound effect throughout the song


(Boom shaka laka boom)
Repeating a sound effect throughout the song


(Boom shaka laka boom)
Repeating a sound effect throughout the song


(Boom shaka laka boom)
Repeating a sound effect throughout the song




Lyrics © Universal Music Publishing Group, CONCORD MUSIC PUBLISHING LLC
Written by: CHAUNCEY A. HOLLIS, MATHANGI ARULPRAGASAM

Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind
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Comments from YouTube:

Ishaqzaade

She's so underrated, she should be so much bigger she is a lyrical beast. I wish this was actually longer!

N. V

Manam Virumbuthe Unnai -Harini

Snow White

wish granted.

priya t

I can't stop listening to this. M.I.A. is the baddest.

N. V

Manam Virumbuthe Unnai -Harini

Joyce J / ASouthernWriter

Thus should have been longer. Would have made a great song!

Andre Alex

https://youtu.be/4PwMSF_r-Zg

hryjel

Look up "Boom ADD" (didn't exist at the time of posting this comment, but it's on youtube!)

hello

+Zxx Axx D: omg where do I find that?

miamiwax

wtf this is a skit? this is the best song on the album!

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