Asian Paradise

Sharon O'Neil is an incredible writer and performer. Even when she's celebrated I think she's under-rated, and this song is as evocative as any produced in a great era of music. For me, the song encapsulates the transition of New Zealand culture from a colonial childhood to an Asia-Pacific adolescence. There's conflicting emotions here though: the thrill of the exotic other and the realization that pleasure can be had without guilt; tempered with a sense of world-weariness - the tired dusk after a dirty day. Wonderful song, brilliant song, brilliant song indeed.