By 1996 he was thoroughly bored by European dance music and moved to Santiago, Chile to explore Latin music. He quickly adopted the intentionally ridiculous Señor Coconut moniker, and soon released El Gran Baile, finding time afterwards to do a little remix work for Towa Tei, formerly of the multi-national Deee-Lite.
His next release, in 2000, was the delightful Latin-Kraftwerk fusion of El Baile Alemán. The album featured several Kraftwerk classics reworked with Latin instrumentation and rhythm. The LP was intended as a salute to, and a parody of Kraftwerk as evidenced by the intro to Autobahn which features the sound of a car that won't start.
Water
Señor Coconut Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
On the Lake Geneva shoreline
To make records with a mobile
We didn't have much time
Frank Zappa and the Mothers
Were at the best place around
But some stupid with a flare gun
Burned the place to the ground
They burned down the gambling house
It died with an awful sound
Funky Claude was running in and out
Pulling kids out the ground
When it all was over
We had to find another place
But Swiss time was running out
It seemed that we would lose the race
Smoke on the water, fire in the sky
We ended up at the Grand Hotel
It was empty cold and bare
But with the Rolling truck Stones thing just outside
Making our music there
With a few red lights and a few old beds
We make a place to sweat
No matter what we get out of this
I know we'll never forget
Smoke on the water, fire in the sky
The song "Smoke on the Water" by Senor Coconut is a cover of the classic song by Deep Purple. The lyrics tell the story of an event that took place in Montreux, Switzerland on December 4th, 1971. Deep Purple was in town to record their latest album using a mobile recording unit set up in the town's casino. During a Frank Zappa and The Mothers of Invention concert, someone in the audience fired a flare gun, catching the roof on fire and causing it to burn down. The lyrics describe the chaos that ensued as people scrambled to get out of the burning building, with "Smoke on the water, fire in the sky" referring to the thick smoke and flames that could be seen from the nearby lake.
The second verse of the song describes the aftermath of the fire, with the band forced to find a new place to record their album. They eventually ended up at the Grand Hotel in Montreux, which was empty and cold, but they made the best of it, using a few red lights and old beds to create a makeshift recording studio. The lyrics end on a note of defiance, with the band vowing that no matter what happens, they will never forget the experience of making music in the face of adversity.
Line by Line Meaning
We all came out to Montreux
We all traveled to Montreux, Switzerland
On the Lake Geneva shoreline
Near the shore of Lake Geneva
To make records with a mobile
To record music using a mobile recording studio
We didn't have much time
The recording session was short
Frank Zappa and the Mothers
Musicians Frank Zappa and the Mothers of Invention
Were at the best place around
They were performing at the best venue in the area
But some stupid with a flare gun
Someone foolishly shot a flare gun
Burned the place to the ground
They set fire to the building and destroyed it completely
Smoke on the water, fire in the sky
The burning of the venue created smoke above the water and flames in the sky
They burned down the gambling house
The venue that was set on fire was also a gambling house
It died with an awful sound
The building collapsed with a terrible noise
Funky Claude was running in and out
A man named Funky Claude was rescuing people from the building
Pulling kids out the ground
He was rescuing young people from the rubble
When it all was over
After the building was completely destroyed
We had to find another place
They had to find a new venue to record music
But Swiss time was running out
They were running out of time to record in Switzerland
It seemed that we would lose the race
It seemed like they would not be able to finish recording in Switzerland
We ended up at the Grand Hotel
They relocated to the Grand Hotel
It was empty cold and bare
The hotel was not very inviting
But with the Rolling truck Stones thing just outside
The Rolling Stones' mobile recording studio was parked outside
Making our music there
They were able to record their music there
With a few red lights and a few old beds
They set up the recording equipment with minimal resources
We make a place to sweat
They made a place where they could work hard and produce music
No matter what we get out of this
Regardless of the outcome of the recording session
I know we'll never forget
They would always remember their time spent recording in Switzerland
Smoke on the water, fire in the sky
The memory of the burning gambling house would always be with them
Lyrics © Sony/ATV Music Publishing LLC
Written by: Ritchie Blackmore, Ian Gillan, Roger D Glover, Jon Lord, Ian Paice
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind