From The Vault: Urge Overkill
Sister Havana
Note: An earlier version of this first ran in the fall of 2021. The band recently noted that the record will be turning 30 next month. That seemed like as good of reason as any to dust this off and give it another spin. The text has been modified lightly to fit this newsletters current form.
Good Morning!
Today we’re listening to “Sister Havana” by Urge Overkill
In April of 1994, a coworker and I went to see Urge Overkill. I don’t remember a whole lot about the show, but I can tell you with certainty 3 things that did happen:
We got in a minor fender bender on the way to the show.
A (then) middle-aged guy standing next to us took his shirt/shoes/socks off after the first song and spent the rest of the show doing an odd sort of kick dance and shouting out band member names at odd intervals.
Urge Overkill tore the roof off of the place.
If forced to add a 4th, I’d be pretty safe in saying this song was part of their set list. The band was touring in support of the album it’s on (1993’s Saturation), and at the time “Sister Havana” was a modest hit.
“She’s comin’ on like a bicycle army
Everybody’s waitin’ for the man to come down from the tower
Every day is just like a vacation with you layin’ right here now
I’m watchin’ you and Fidel Castro in the sand, assassin!”
Like most songs, you don’t have to wade too far off the path to find some wild interpretations. In the absence of anything definitive from the band, I think this submission from Lyric Interpretations might be my favorite.
Like any good conspiracy theory, it’s totally bonkers but makes just enough sense to, well, almost make sense.
This song is clearly about about a CIA spy master who’s become romantically enamored with a women he trained as a “honey trap” in order to assassinate Fidel Castro with a poison cigar.
Sounds thin right? Here’s a few things:
1) The CIA did have a plan to assassinate Castro with a poison cigar.
2) Don’t know if a honey trap (seductive sexual partner) was how they planned to do it but its one of the better ways I can think of.
3) A “Bicycle army” (that thing she’s coming on like) is a term associated with 3rd world gorilla warfare.
4) “Come around to my way of thinking” can, of course mean anything but is a term that is known for coming up in cold war political rhetoric.
5) Many a spy novel and move centers on a spy master falling for a girl he’s training as a honey trap.
6) First shot of the video.
So is it a treatise about Communism, or just about a guy trying to woo a girl? The band isn’t saying, but either way, it’s definitely a track that gets you moving (shirt/shoes optional).
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More:
“…when the band were first working on what would become “Sister Havana” in 1991, they were on tour with Nirvana since both bands were signed to Geffen. At one soundcheck in Europe, Nirvana sat in with Urge Overkill as they hashed out the tune. Nirvana had an impact on Urge Overkill who desired to write something simple that connected.”
Click here to read the rest of the retrospective.
Listen:
“Sister Havana” by Urge Overkill | Saturation, 1993
Click the record to listen on the platform of your choice.
As always, I’d love to hear your thoughts on this track!
Thanks for being here,
Kevin—
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Good Lord but I love this album and especially this track. Great power pop and from a decade where mostly the sad songs seem to have survived. It holds up, too. And of course it’s about spy stuff! Sister Havana is the Smugglers Blues of the 90s. Or, at least, the All She Wants to do is Dance of 1993...
Great song and a great album. I'm sure I will listen to it a ton again in and around the 30th anniversary date.