DUBAI:
Oh baby, you're all I want
But I ain't got you
Oh baby, Oh baby all I got is the Dubai blues.
I got the Dubai blues
So goes the screaming chorus of track no 9 on rock supergroup Chickenfoot's latest album released on September 27. The song's called Dubai Blues.
Chickenfoot is no ordinary band. With none other than Joe Satriani on guitars, ex-Van Halen members Sammy Hagar on vocals and Michael Anthony on bass, and Red Hot Chili Peppers drummer Chad Smith doing percussion duty, this is as big as any supergroup can get.
After their 2009 self-titled debut album, which received mixed reactions, fans have been eagerly waiting for a follow-up worthy of such talents coming together. Strangely titled Chickenfoot III, the second album shows the bond among band members getting stronger even as their individual space gets more room. It's a highly listenable album with Satriani playing some great solos and Sammy showing no sign of ageing. Our problem is with the track Dubai Blues.
In it Sammy sings about owning everything money can buy but love. He owns a 747 private jet with a bedroom, can shower a girl with diamonds from head to toe…but he can't win over the girl he is trying to woo. He calls his helplessness ‘Dubai Blues'. What should we make of it? Should we laugh or should we cry?
While we laud the supergroup for using ‘Dubai' in its song title, the idea of likening brand Dubai with the notion of something that is desirable but not achievable is unsettling and sends out a wrong message about the city.
Should Chickenfoot ever set foot on UAE for a gig, the first question we'd throw at them would be: Why Dubai Blues?
