Killamangiro

From Libertines Wiki

[edit] Info:

Killamangiro (or Kill a man for his giro) is a Babyshambles track that features as track #7 on their debut album, Down in Albion, with the writing credit going to Doherty. This track was also released as a single in November 2004[1]. Although officially released by Babyshambles, Killamangiro was first heard in May 2003 when it was recorded by The Libertines for their Babyshambles sessions, in America. When Peter Doherty's "My Music" folder was leaked onto the Internet, some early versions of Killamangiro were heard for the first time.

The song itself features an unusual opening beat from ex-Babyshambles drummer Gemma Clarke and is also recognised for guitarist Patrick Walden's "messy" style of play and frontman Peter Doherty's distinctive vocals. It is a regular feature of live setlists by Babyshambles and has gone on to be one of their most popular and well known songs, often requested by fans.

The song's title is a pun on the name of Mount Kilimanjaro in Tanzania, but further mixes in the song's lyrics about "kill[ing] a man for his giro" - the "giro" being a bank deposit method often associated with British unemployment benefits.

The track was released as a single, and subsequently included on Down in Albion with different production from the original. The circumstances of the recording of the song for the album were remarked upon by Babyshambles bass player Drew McConnell on 5 November 2005 in the NME:

"We weren't planning on having 'Killamangiro' on there. We got in the room and thought, "Let's run through 'Killamangiro'," but sneaky Mick pressed record. Pete was jumping over the desk and giving the engineer a heart attack. Pete's got a thing about not releasing tracks more than once. People have written that we can't play our instruments and that's really not true because this is completely live."

The music video for "Killamangiro" features orange tinted live footage of the band on stage, with snippets of Doherty walking down a street, out of a shop, mock hanging himself with his mic cord, flicking through a magazine, and driving along in a car (complete with a Christmas tree air freshener)[2].

The B Side on both the CD version and the 7" is The Man Who Came to Stay [3], also a fan favourite, but played less frequently at gigs than its A Side.

In an interview in 2008, Carl Barat cited Killamangiro as his favourite Peter Doherty song, rather than choosing a Libertines number that they wrote together[4].

[edit] Versions:

- Babyshambles sessions CD#3: Track #3 (As "Libertines do the Coral") (Download)
- Babyshambles sessions CD#3: Track #4 (Download)
- Sailor sessions: Track #4 (Download)
- HQ sessions (2nd wave): Track #4 (Download)
- The Freewheelin' Pete Doherty : Track #3 (Download)
- Untitled: Track #11 (Download)
- Down in Albion: Track #7
- Liverpool sessions: Track #11 (Download)
- Diamond Liner sessions: Track #3 (Download)
- Royalty Songs: Track #13 (Download)
- Killamangiro Session Monitor Mix (Download)
- Killamangiro Session Monitor Mix 2 (Download)
- Killamangiro Vocal Comp (Download)
- Early Demo Version (Download)
- Sweet By and By Recording Session : Track #4 (Download)
- Early Recording Session 1 (Download)
- Early Recording Session 2 (Download)
- XFM sessions (Babyshambles): Track #1 (Download)
- Up the Shambles : Track #14
- Flophouse Rambles : CD #1 Track #1 (Download)