A song, by David Bowie and Iggy Pop, from Bowie's Tonight album (1984). I was expecting Let's Dance Part Deux; my roommate was hoping for part four of the Berlin Trilogy. We were both very, very disappointed, and many moments of our first audition of the LP were drowned out by our howls of derisive laughter, our bad Bowie-the-crooner impressions, and lamentations over What Could Have Been if Eno or the Chic Posse were back on board. I do a good "cricket menace", David! Call me!

So we were a cross between Cheech and Chong and Siskel and Ebert, giving Tonight Two Thumbs Down, for different reasons. But we found ourselves liking things in Borneo, what with the wild women there and all.

I've seen the city
I took the next flight
for Borneo
They say it's pretty
I like the t-shirts
in Borneo
Some wear Bob Marley
Others in Playboy
or Duvalier
Make the last plane come
Let me rise through the cloudy above
with a book on Borneo


Strangers come and go
It's such a waste of time
Problems far behind
Another day
But even in springtime
It's a rich slice of life
So send me a letter
I'll reply with a broken spear
That dusky mulatto
In nylons and tattoos
Hot juice in Coke bottles
We dance in the sand
Well, they twirl and they tumble
Yes, they twirl and they tumble
Well, I'll twirl and I'll tumble


I've been to Leon's
He's got nine daughters
And a stereo
They say that Leon
Watches from the tree tops
in Borneo
When the road is mud
Everything stops with a thud
That's the way it goes down yonder in Borneo
Far beneath his mansion
There's an open drain
Sending all the sewage down the hill
But when the general shows movies
No one hesitates
To sneak from the jungle
They laugh and they mumble
Enjoying the show
And that dusky mulatto


Hot juice in coke bottles
In Blue Jeans and tattoos
Well, they twirl and they tumble
Yes, they twirl and they tumble
Well, I'll twirl and I'll tumble


I like the free world
They say it's pretty
This time of year
They tumble and twirl
They tumble and twirl
I'll tumble and twirl


They twirl and they tumble
They twirl and they tumble


I like the free world
I like the free world


They say it's pretty
This time of year
This time of year


Tumble and tumble


I like the free world