King Crimson - The Terrifying Tale of Thela Hun Ginjeet Lyrics

Thela Hun Ginjeet is an anagramistic title
The song has to do with urban violence
Crime in the streets, being mugged
You know, all those kind of useful social comments
Now, there's a line in which the singer has to act the part of a person who is being mugged
And Adrian one day went to the studio and got in front of the microphone
And was saying, "He held a gun against my head, this is a dangerous place
I wouldn't like to live here"
You know, which isn't awfully convincing
So I said to him, why don't you take this pocket cassette machine and walk around the block
And get a bit more of a feel of what it's like to be on the street
So he went around the block, walking and talking into the machine
And as he walked around the corner he said into the machine
"This is a dangerous place, He held a gun against my head, I wouldn't like to live here"
And immediately got set on by a street gang
They said, "Hey man! Hey man! What-what you got there?"

So suddenly, these two guys appear in front of me
Stopped real aggressive, start at me, you know?
What-what's that? What's that on that tape?
You know, what you got there?
I said, "Um, it's a tape"
"What are you talking into that for?" You know?
I said, "oh, it's-it's just a tape" you know?
And they said "Well play it for us"
I said "oh no"
Put 'em for as long as I could
Finally, they turned it on, you know, they-they grabbed it from me, took it away from me
Turned it on and it says, "He held a gun in his hand, this is a dangerous place"
They said, "What daangerous place? What gun? You're a police man"
The deeper I got the worse I got into it

Well, first of all
I couldn't even see his face
I couldn't see his face
He was holding a gun in his hand
I was thinking
This is a dangerous place
Well this is a dangerous place

Thela Hun Ginjeet, Thela Hun Ginjeet
Thela Hun Ginjeet, Thela Hun Ginjeet
Thela Hun Ginjeet, Thela Hun Ginjeet
Thela Hun Ginjeet, Thela Hun Ginjeet
Qua tari mei, Thela Hun Ginjeet
Qua tari mei, heat in the jungle streets

I said, "I'm nervous as hell from this stuff"
'Cause those guys were going to kill me for sure
They ganged up on me like that
I couldn't believe it
I mean look, I'm still shakin'
It's weird
They're out in the streets like that
It's a dangerous place
It's a dangerous place

Thela Hun Ginjeet, Thela Hun Ginjeet
Thela Hun Ginjeet, Thela Hun Ginjeet
Thela Hun Ginjeet, Thela Hun Ginjeet
Thela Hun Ginjeet, Thela Hun Ginjeet
Qua tari mei, Thela Hun Ginjeet
Qua tari mei, heat in the jungle streets

I was walking down the street one day
It wasn't in Philadelphia, thank god
I was talking into a walkman, not a Pac Man
Suddenly, I was surrounded by a a gang of young, rough, tough individuals
They wanted to kill me
Said, "Watch out, it's a dangerous place"

I talked to him, I told him, I said, "Look man, I'm not talkin'"
It went on forever, anyway, I finally unbuttoned my shirt, and said
"Look, look, I'm in this band, you know, I'm in this band you know
And we're makin' a recording, you know
It's just about New York City, it's about crime in the streets"
The explanation was going nowhere, but
Finally, they just kinda let me go, I don't know why
So I walk around the corner
And I'm like shakin' like a leaf
And I thought, "This is a dangerous place once again, you know"

Ah, who should appear, but two policeman

Thela Hun Ginjeet, Thela Hun Ginjeet
Thela Hun Ginjeet, Thela Hun Ginjeet

What happened? They didn't kill me
They didn't tear my limbs off
They let me go
I walked right around the corner
Shakin' like a leaf
Straight into the hands of two policemen
Watch out, it's a dangerous place