Tuesday, November 10, 2009

Misheard lyrics #2

The Clash's "Rock the Casbah" has always baffled me. In all honesty, I only learned the real lyrics just now.

What they actually said:

Now the king told the boogie men
You have to let that raga drop
The oil down the desert way
Has been shakin' to the top
The sheik he drove his Cadillac
He went a' cruisin' down the ville
The muezzin was a' standing
On the radiator grille

CHORUS
Sharif don't like it
Rockin the casbah
Rock the casbah
Sharif don't like it
Rockin the Casbah
Rock the Casbah

By order of the prophet
We ban that boogie sound
Degenerate the faithful
With that crazy Casbah sound
But the Bedouin they brought out
The electric kettle drum
The local guitar picker
Got his guitar picking thumb
As soon as the sherif
Had cleared the square
They began to wail

CHORUS

Now over at the temple
Oh! They really pack 'em in
The in crowd say it's cool
To dig this chanting thing
But as the wind changed direction
The temple band took five
The crowd caught a wiff
Of that crazy Casbah jive

CHORUS

The king called up his jet fighters
He said you better earn your pay
Drop your bombs between the minarets
Down the Casbah way

As soon as Sharif was
Chauffeured outta there
The jet pilots tuned to
The cockpit radio blare

As soon as Sharif was
Outta their hair
The jet pilots wailed

Chorus

Sharif don't like it
Rock the casbah
(He thinks it's not kosher)
Rock the casbah
Sharif don't like it
Rock the Casbah
(Fundamentally he can't take it.)
Rock the Casbah
Sharif don't like it
Rock the Casbah
(You know he really hates it.)
Rock the Casbah

CP sez "increase your wordiness":
Casbah - specifically the citadel of Algiers and the traditional quarter clustered around it. More generally, a kasbah is the walled citadel of many North African cities and towns.
Muezzin - a chosen person at a mosque who leads the call (adhan) to Friday service and the five daily prayers (salat) from one of the mosque's minarets.
Sharif - a traditional Arab tribal title given to those who serve as the protector of the tribe and all tribal assets. Can also refer specifically to a descendant of the prophet Muhammad through his daughter Fatima.
Bedouin - desert dwelling predominantly Arab ethnic group (previously nomadic but presently mostly settled).
sheikh - Arabic honorific term commonly applied to an elder of a tribe
rāga - refers to melodic modes used in Indian classical music

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What the ?! ..... Chickens! by CP is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 2.5 Canada License.