From the recording RastaJazz (A Jazz Reggae Journey)
“When I was putting the tunes for the project together, I was looking for jazz and reggae styles I could merge to create a style of jazz-reggae,” said composer David Rastrick. “When doing my research I discovered that reggae has roots in Mento, a Jamaican form of Calypso, that already incorporated the instrumentation and some harmonic influences from swing and big band jazz, so I went with that!”
Lyrically, Calypso was often a way of spreading news, with the singers – often sporting monikers such as ‘Lord Invader’ - “telling it like it is”. In this spirit, the song became a lighthearted jibe at Australia’s political system and society.
“Thematically, the song is a satire about Australia’s current (as of 2015) political system – what I call a ‘banana corprotocracy’,” said songwriter David Rastrick. “’King Banana’ is a villainous political anti-hero whose leadership is based on short-term economic rationalism (in support the short-term profits of the nation’s mining industry).” “It’s probably the most fun song on the EP, so we saved it to last to record.”
The song features solos from Kevin Jones on Trombone, David Rastrick on Long Cornet (with a Wah Wah mute), Mike Wiese on Tenor Sax’ and Sean Lillico on Piano, and is based on a repeated 32 bar ‘AABA’ structure.