Ranko
I'll shoot the gunner first!
I just finished watching The Man Who Would Be King, a movie from 1975 starring Sean Connery, Michael Caine and Christopher Plummer.
After having seen it, I'd say that there's a pretty good chance the song is related either to the movie or Rudyard Kipling's book of the same name and theme.
The movie begins in a manner very similar to Rime of the Ancient Mariner - Peachy (M. Caine) comes to Kipling (C. Plummer) and tells him how a few years back himself and Danny (S. Connery) were in the very same office, plotting their plan. The plot then goes back a few years when Peachy first encounters Kipling and realizes that they're both freemasons, as is Danny.
Kipling is actually just a side character, and Danny and Peachy are the main characters. Their plan is to go to the land of Kafiristan (part of modern-day Afghanistan) and become rulers of the land. On their journey, they run into desert robbers and even survive an avalanche.
When they finaly arrive to one of the villages in Kafiristan (armed with rifles and guns), they promise the local people to rid them of their enemies. A few battles after, Danny gets shot at with an arrow that hits his bandolier and doesn't injure him. The local people see this as a sign and start considering him to be a god, and he manages to unite all of the villages without even a fight. A priest discovers that he's wearing a medallion with masonic symbols (square, compasses and the all-seeing eye) and declares him to be the son of Sikander, or as we know him, Alexander the Great, who also apparently wore the same symbols.
The Kafiri people, who have been guarding Sikander's treasures for two millennia, now relinquish it all to Danny (and we're talking an entire room filled with gold and rubies). However, because it's monsoon season, they can't leave for another four months so Danny starts ruling the country and eventually planning to turn it into an empire and creating a dynasty of his own. Although Peachy warns him against his delusions of grandeur, Danny decides to take a local girl and marry her. The priests warn against it, but he remains adamant about it. During the wedding ceremony, the girl bites him and of course he starts bleeding, which is a sign to everyone that he is no god.
The locals decide to execute him by throwing him off a bridge. Back in the present time, Peachy tells Kipling that he himself was crucified between two trees and presents him with Danny's crowned head. The end.
As I said, the narrative structure is similar to ROTAM, as is the morality of the story - don't get cocky, you'll get your punishment for it.
A little bit about the movie itself: the pacing is kind of slow, there are no twists or turns during its course, the plot just goes forward, follows their journey. All of the British characters act a bit racist towards the non-British (Indians, the Kafiri etc) whom they consider subordinate. The non-Brits are portrayed like simple and obedient people, at first it seemed to me that it's satirical, but after reading a bit about Kipling's views, it's also possible that he personally believed that Britain was there to help the other "lower" nations, whether they wanted it or not, and that they in turn owed them obedience.
After having seen it, I'd say that there's a pretty good chance the song is related either to the movie or Rudyard Kipling's book of the same name and theme.
The movie begins in a manner very similar to Rime of the Ancient Mariner - Peachy (M. Caine) comes to Kipling (C. Plummer) and tells him how a few years back himself and Danny (S. Connery) were in the very same office, plotting their plan. The plot then goes back a few years when Peachy first encounters Kipling and realizes that they're both freemasons, as is Danny.
Kipling is actually just a side character, and Danny and Peachy are the main characters. Their plan is to go to the land of Kafiristan (part of modern-day Afghanistan) and become rulers of the land. On their journey, they run into desert robbers and even survive an avalanche.
When they finaly arrive to one of the villages in Kafiristan (armed with rifles and guns), they promise the local people to rid them of their enemies. A few battles after, Danny gets shot at with an arrow that hits his bandolier and doesn't injure him. The local people see this as a sign and start considering him to be a god, and he manages to unite all of the villages without even a fight. A priest discovers that he's wearing a medallion with masonic symbols (square, compasses and the all-seeing eye) and declares him to be the son of Sikander, or as we know him, Alexander the Great, who also apparently wore the same symbols.
The Kafiri people, who have been guarding Sikander's treasures for two millennia, now relinquish it all to Danny (and we're talking an entire room filled with gold and rubies). However, because it's monsoon season, they can't leave for another four months so Danny starts ruling the country and eventually planning to turn it into an empire and creating a dynasty of his own. Although Peachy warns him against his delusions of grandeur, Danny decides to take a local girl and marry her. The priests warn against it, but he remains adamant about it. During the wedding ceremony, the girl bites him and of course he starts bleeding, which is a sign to everyone that he is no god.
The locals decide to execute him by throwing him off a bridge. Back in the present time, Peachy tells Kipling that he himself was crucified between two trees and presents him with Danny's crowned head. The end.
As I said, the narrative structure is similar to ROTAM, as is the morality of the story - don't get cocky, you'll get your punishment for it.
A little bit about the movie itself: the pacing is kind of slow, there are no twists or turns during its course, the plot just goes forward, follows their journey. All of the British characters act a bit racist towards the non-British (Indians, the Kafiri etc) whom they consider subordinate. The non-Brits are portrayed like simple and obedient people, at first it seemed to me that it's satirical, but after reading a bit about Kipling's views, it's also possible that he personally believed that Britain was there to help the other "lower" nations, whether they wanted it or not, and that they in turn owed them obedience.
