--- In FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com, Vaj <vajradh...@...> wrote: > > > On Mar 2, 2010, at 2:16 AM, TurquoiseB wrote:
Excellent naildown guys. I thought some post tiger hunting spin doctoring was involved. > > > Speaking as the only person here who seems to have > > actually *met* Nancy Cooke de Herrera and her son > > Rick Cooke, my impression when the song came out > > shortly after I met and interacted with them was > > that the Beatles just *nailed* it. *Especially* the > > bit about Nancy's behavior when someone challenged > > her hey-I'm-the-center-of-attention-here-not-you- > > ness or laughed at her son. > > > > The tiger hunt was pre-arranged. It was a tiger hunt. > > The guns they carried were their own, brought along > > with them to Teacher Training. They left the course > > *in the middle of it* to go on the hunt, because that > > was the only "time slot" they could book and the > > hunt meant more to them than Maharishi did. They > > *bragged* about this to a stranger (moi) before the > > Beatles song came out. Afterwards, they changed their > > story. That's who you're dealing with. > > > Mia Farrow seems to also nail her, and her son, in her Autobio, as > does Lennon in his Playboy interview. For me she just sounded like a > typical naive, wealthy TMers, who even after being dissed by her > guru, continues to speak praises for him and self-importantly > imagines herself as some emissary of the Marshy's mythical Wedic > tradition. An old friend was on this course, but I never thought to > ask him of this incident: > > This song mocks the actions of a young American named Richard A. > Cooke III, known as Rik who was visiting his mother, Nancy Cooke de > Herrera, at the ashram of Maharishi Mahesh Yogi in Rishikesh at the > same time that the Beatles were staying with the Maharishi. According > to his mother, both she and her son maintained friendly relations > with all of the Beatles except for Lennon, who by Cooke de Herrera's > account was "a genius" but distant and contemptuous of the wealthy > American Cooke de Herrera and her clean-cut, college-attending son. > According to Nancy's life account, Beyond Gurus, the genesis of the > song occurred when she, Rik, and several others, including native > guides, set out upon elephants to hunt for a tiger (allegedly > presented by their Indian guide as a traditional act). The pack of > elephants was attacked by a tiger, which was shot by Rik. Rik was > initially proud of his quick reaction and posed for a photograph with > his prize. However, Rik's reaction to the slaying was mixed, as he > has not hunted since. Nancy claims that all present recognised the > necessity of Rik's action, but that John Lennon's reaction was > scornful and sarcastic, asking Rik: "But wouldn't you call that > slightly life-destructive?" The song was written by Lennon as mocking > what he saw as Rik's bravado and unenlightened attitude.[2] > > Lennon later told his version of the story in a Playboy interview, > stating that: "`Bungalow Bill' was written about a guy in Maharishi's > meditation camp who took a short break to go shoot a few poor tigers, > and then came back to commune with God. There used to be a character > called Jungle Jim, and I combined him with Buffalo Bill. It's sort of > a teenage social-comment song and a bit of a joke."[3] Mia Farrow, > who was also at the ashram during the period supports Lennon's story > in her autobiography; she writes, "Then a self-important, middle-aged > American woman arrived, moving a mountain of luggage into the brand- > new private bungalow next to Maharishi's along with her son, a bland > young man named Bill. People fled this newcomer, and no one was sorry > when she left the ashram after a short time to go tiger hunting, > unaware that their presence had inspired a new Beatles' song - > 'Bungalow Bill.'"[4] >
