Sri Lanka's Cricket World Cup Song Banned For Promoting Whale Mutilation

Did you know? The World Cup for cricket, the second most popular sport in the world, is underway in India. The 43-day tournament runs through April 2. Did you also know? The festive song above is what it sounds like to say "let's feed the Australian kangaroos cheap bird grain" in Sinhala, the Sri Lankan language. Today, Sri Lanka President Mahinda Rajapaksa ordered that the "insulting" song be taken off air. Singer Lahiru Perera says the song was approved by the country's cricket board, and that his lyrics have been misinterpreted. "I only tried to include some humor as this is a song to encourage the team," Perera told the AP. "I did not want to insult anybody."

The lyric translations should satisfy both parties: this song is humorously offensive. Perera is apparently singing, rather brightly, that Sri Lankan supporters should break the jaws of whales in New Zealand, melt the snow on Indian mountains, and watch the roof of the Buckingham Palace cave in: "sixes hit (by Sri Lankans) shatter the roof of the English palace and things in it tumble!" And of course, the call to feed kangaroos a food intended for another animal. I shudder.

Sri Lankan president stops ‘insulting' WCup song [AP]