Meaning of “Cambodia” by Kim Wilde
Cambodia is one of British singer Kim Wilde’s most prominent songs. The lyrics of the song were inspired by the bombing campaign (Operation Menu) in eastern Cambodia by the secret United States Strategic Air Command (SAC). This bombing campaign, which occurred during the Vietnam War, took place from March 18, 1969 to May 26, 1970 and claimed the lives of thousands of innocent civilian Cambodians.
Facts about “Cambodia”
- Cambodia was written by Wilde’s musician brother Ricky Wilde and her musician father Marty Wilde.
- Ricky Wilde produced the song.
- The song was the first single released from Wilde’s 1982 second studio album Select.
- The song performed well in a number of countries, including Switzerland and Sweden where it topped the charts. In Australia and Finland the song peaked at number 7 and 10 respectively.
Q: Which artists have covered Cambodia?
A: Since the song came out in 1981, it has been covered by various artists including Swedish band Enigmatic in 1996, Yugoslav-German electronic music DJ and producer Pulsedriver in 2001, Swedish melodic death metal band Hearse in 2004, legendary German group Scooter in 2007, and Dutch electronic music DJ Marco V in 2009.
Q: What is the genre(s) of the song?
A: Synthpop and new wave.
Q: Did Kim play any role in the writing process of the song?
A: No. The song was entirely written by her father Marty and brother Ricky, who are both renowned songwriters.
What a load of useless bullshit
Bad day?
Apparently you are correct in that the OP was confusing Operation Menu with Operation Freedom Deal. Very few USAF (airforce) planes were lost, if any, and the action was swift (3 months), mostly just across the border.
This is quite unlike the much longer Operation Freedom deal, which lasted more than 4 years. However, there is almost nothing online about losses of the US from said actions, much less Operation Menu. In all, the loses from Operation Rolling Thunder or Operations Linebacker I & II.
Since the large majority of bomb tonnage were from B-52s and the communists of any variety had no defenses of these some 35,000 feet up in the sky (when they typically let loose their payload of bombs), almost all of those casualties would have been operational, and not over Cambodia at all (B-52s were launched from the Philippines as recalled). So the Wildes’ fictional pilot casualty would have likely been from the close support of fighters or low level bombers. Again,
Unknown. The estimated population of the target areas for Operation Menu was more than 4,000 Cambodian civilians. Much higher estimates of civilian casualties in the tens of thousands are confusing Operation Menu with Operation Freedom Deal.
” 338 killed in action
1,525 wounded
13 missing[2]: 194″ This was US losses for the incursion into Cambodia in 1970 alone. However, the large majority of these were US Army and USMC, not USAF.
https://apps.dtic.mil/dtic/tr/fulltext/u2/a324718.pdf
In short, an anti military song, focusing upon the US losses, a bit like “I Was Only 19″ (Redgum) or In the Army Now” (Status Quo) both were both originally anti war songs, while Riding with Private Malone (David Ball) does not strike me as such. While I personally witnessing the cost military wives have had, this apparently true story found in a book of the USAF applies:
A Korean war air force pilot had a lucky day near the end of his tour and shot down 3 MIGs. That plus his earlier catch meant he was only one away from becoming an ‘Ace’ (which meant an almost certain promotion to general. So the guy wrote to his wife saying he was going to extend his tour to become an Ace.
“Congratulations on your recent success.” She wrote back, “I, too, have made a decision, to have a baby in 9 months. If you want to be in the action, you better high tail back to America.” The author’s friend never did make general, and did as requested. Wives have feelings, too, and the wear is very strong.
Thanks for all this information !
Thanks, it was very instructive.
B-52s flew out of U-Tapao airport in Thailand. It’s quite well known as the military presence turned nearby Pattaya into one of the world’s most infamous red light districts. Also Guam, and Okinawa. I just read the Philippines forbade any live ordinance over its airspace during the war.
Maybe ur mom had a bad day when u came to this world
Also covered by the Norwegian electro-rock band Apoptygma Berzerk on their 2005 record You And Me Against The World
An awesome cover!
Great track though…