Gunga Din
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Gunga Din (1892) is one of Rudyard Kipling's most famous poems, perhaps best known for its often-quoted last line, "You're a better man than I am, Gunga Din!"[1] The poem is a rhyming narrative from the point of view of a British soldier, about a native water-bearer who saves the soldier's life but dies himself. Like several other Kipling poems, it celebrates the virtues of a non-European while revealing the racism of a colonial infantryman who views such people as being of a "lower order".
[edit] Film
The poem inspired a 1939 adventure film from RKO Radio Pictures starring Cary Grant, Victor McLaglen, Douglas Fairbanks Jr., Joan Fontaine, and Sam Jaffe in the title role.
A much shorter animated version of the poem and film was made as an episode of The Famous Adventures of Mr. Magoo, with the beloved ultra-myopic character in the title role. He was voiced, as always, by Jim Backus.
[edit] Influence
The name "Gunga Din" is sometimes used in the musical instrument world; brass instruments, particularly bugles, of low or questionable quality produced in India are often called "Gunga Din" horns, as well as "junkers", or more appropriately, "wall-hangers".[citation needed]
A novelty record called The Last Blast of the Blasted Bugler was recorded by Sonny Gianotta.[1]
"The Ballad of Gunga Din" was recorded by Jim Croce in 1966. The song appears on the albums Facets (1966) and The Faces I've Been (1975).
"Gunga Din" is also the title of a 1969 song by The Byrds written by Gene Parsons.
The band UFO on their album Flying (1971) taped backwards the last lines of the poem at the end of the title track.
In Alan Moore's classic graphic novel, Watchmen, the Gunga Diner is a frequent setting.
The Gunga Din Highway is also a novel by Frank Chin, the polemical Chinese American playwright and fiction writer who deals with themes of "authentic" Asian American identity.
The famous last line is also used in a song titled "Gunga Din" on the 1998 solo album Dreamcatcher by Deep Purple vocalist Ian Gillan.
In Hellboy, Hellboy's partner Roger chooses to sacrifice himself in order to save mankind. As Hellboy looks on, he says, "You're a better man than I, Gunga Din."
In the 1993 movie "Dave," senator Alan K. Simpson in a cameo appearance said, "...I've carried more water for him than Gunga Din..."
The movie was also referenced in a song by Bob Dylan called You Ain't Goin' Nowhere[2].
The alternative rock band Bloodhound Gang's 1995 song "Legend in My Spare Time" included the lines, "When I'm feelin' Oriental, I gotta rub my chin, I'm gonna hold my water in like I'm Gunga Din."
A 2003–2004 U.S. presidential campaign song ended in, "You're a better man than he is, Howard Dean."[citation needed]
The song "That's The Way Love Is'", written and performed by popular vocalist Bobby Darin (recorded 1958), features the lyrics, "If you come up with the answer / You're a better man, sir, / Than I, Gunga Din."
American radio host Howard Stern had an intern in charge of bringing him water and broccoli, Steve Grillo, whom Howard often referred to as Gunga Din.
The Gunga Dins, a Springfield, Illinois, alternative/punk band, takes its name from the poem's title.
In the HBO drama The Sopranos, Livia Soprano complains about her neighbor in the retirement community using too much water, saying, "I'm living next door to Gunga Din!"
The poem is parodied as "Gunga Dot" on an episode of Animaniacs.
The 2006 movie The Contract made frequent reference to Gunga Din.
In the soulful revamped version of "Wizard of Oz", called "The Wiz", the Witch enslaves the cowardly lion and makes him carry the dreaded water from her palace. When Dorothy finds him, he says "I feel like Gunga Din!"
During the "Magnificent Muttley" theme song of the cartoon "Dastardly and Muttley in Their Flying Machines", Dick Dastardly melodically tells Muttley, "You're not Robin Hood, and you're not Gunga Din."
Forward Prize-winning poet, Daljit Nagra parodies his own frequent use of Indian accents, in the poem "Booking Khan Singh Kumar", when he asks, "Should I read for you straight or Gunga Din this gig?"
The movie Gunga Din was remade in 1961 as Sergeants 3, starring the Rat Pack. The locale was moved from British-colonial "Injia" to the Old West. The Gunga Din character, originally played by Sam Jaffe was played in this film by Sammy Davis, Jr. Unlike Jaffe's character, Davis' character survives after being shot while sounding the charge that warns his fellow soldiers of the trap.
South African singer/songwriter Warwick Lobban adapted the Kipling Gunga Din poem in his song "Gunga Din".
In The Venture Bros., Hank refers to Dean as Gunga Din when Dean loses a bet in the episode Mid-Life Chrysalis that causes him to be his slave. Dean dresses in a turban and refers to Hank as effendi.
Familiar East Coast reference that signifies that one party will be taking part in a weekly golf match. An example of this usage is, "I'm in like Gunga Din".
The singing group "The 3D's" published a CD with a song using the poem lyrics, called "Gunga Din".
In the play "The Full Monty" Keno tells Jerry, "You are a better than I, Gunga Din"
In the film "Black Belt Jones" a character trying to stop the sale of drugs in the community refers to a drug dealer as a "Black Gunga Din."
Guy Gardner (comics) references it at the beginning of Green Lantern Corps #19
[edit] References
- George Robinson: Gunga Din (article on the 1939 Hollywood film). Soldiers of the Queen (journal of the Victorian Military Society). September 1994.
