Bonzai Kamikaze

Album: Pandemonium (2014)
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Songfacts®:

  • The first single from Cavalera Conspiracy's Pandemonium album are about the kamikaze suicide aircraft attacks by Japanese pilots during the closing stages of the Pacific campaign of World War II. Max Cavalera explained to Loudwire: "This song is about the Japanese pilots and their fervor to commit suicide for their country."
  • 'Kamikaze' is a Japanese word meaning 'divine wind.' it refers to the providential typhoons in 1274 and 1281, which baled Mongolian invasion fleets under Kublai Khan. During World War II, it was applied to the suicide aircraft attacks under Vice Admiral Onishi in the Pacific between October 1944 and January 1945. Around 3,860 kamikaze pilots gave their lives in attacks when their bomb-loaded fighters crashed into Allied naval vessels. It is estimated that about 19% of kamikaze attacks managed to hit a ship.

    The Norwegian band A-Ha had a 1988 UK Top 40 hit with "The Blood That Moves the Body," which was about the Japanese kamikaze attacks.

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