Casbah Udine

Wikipedia on Rock The Casbah

Autore: Orma

From: Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia: "Rock the Casbah"

"Rock the Casbah" is the title of a song by The Clash, and was released on their 1982 album Combat Rock. It was later released as a single, and is their only song to become a Top 10 hit in the United States, reaching #8 on the Billboard Hot 100.[1]

Origins of the song

The song was inspired by the banning of rock music in Iran under Ayatollah Khomeini. The song gives a fabulist account of the ban being defied by the population, who proceed to "rock the casbah". The King orders jet fighters to bomb any people in violation of the ban. The pilots ignore the orders, and instead play rock music on their cockpit radios.

The song does not mention Iran or any other Islamic nation by name. The lyrics include a mixture of Arabic, Hebrew, Hindi, and North African terms such as sharif, bedouin, sheikh, kosher, raga, and casbah.

According to the album notes on the box set The Clash on Broadway, "Rock the Casbah" originated when the band's manager, after hearing them record an inordinately long track for the album, asked them facetiously "does everything have to be as long as this raga?" (referring to the Indian musical style known for its length and complexity). Joe Strummer later wrote the opening lines to the song: "The King told the boogie-men 'you have to let that raga drop'". The rest of the lyrics soon followed.

The song is one of the few in which drummer Topper Headon played a substantial role in the writing of the music beyond the percussion tracks. The instrumental opening was a tune he had written on the piano some time earlier, and had toyed with during rehearsals before being incorporated into the song. In the 2000 Documentary Westway to the World Headon played drums, bass, and piano on the record for the song. Headon claims that, while he thought he was merely playing the song for the band, his performances were, unbeknownst to him, recorded.

The Clash made low-budget music videos for several of their songs, and the one for "Rock the Casbah" may be their most memorable. Filmed in Austin, Texas, it depicts an Arab and an Hasidic Jew skanking together through the streets, often followed by an armadillo, interspersed with the band performing in front of an oil well. The humorous tone of the video fits the song, although it is easy to read the antics of the Arab and Jew as a desire for better relations between Israelis and Arabs. Many Muslims objected to the Arab man displaying a liquor bottle, as alcohol is forbidden in Islam. The video also features their first drummer Terry Chimes, because at the time of its release Headon was out of the band, due to his growing drug addiction.

The single version of the song features a mix different from the album version. The single version has more pronounced bass. Also when Joe Strummer screams "Of that crazy casbah jive" at the end of the third verse the word "jive" is sustained for a few seconds with a synthesized echo. The single version of the song is what is played in the music video.

The song also has a 12" instrumental version entitled "Mustapha Dance"

Political impact

The song became an unofficial anthem for U.S. forces during the first Gulf War, largely on the basis of the line about dropping "bombs between the minarets". It was the first song played by Armed Forces Radio at the start of the war. This is ironic given the band's well established anti-war stance. Conservatives counter that it is entirely appropriate, since "rocking the casbah" (with bombs) was seen as one of the objectives of the U.S. military effort, although it is worth noting that the jet fighters described in the song disobey their orders to bomb the casbah in favor of "rocking" to the music.

In 2006, the conservative National Review released their list of the top 50 "Conservative Rock Songs", with "Rock the Casbah" at #20,[2] noting its frequent requests during the Iraq War, despite the fact that The Clash has a left-wing ideology. Despite, or perhaps because of, its popularity with soldiers during the Gulf War, "Rock the Casbah" was one of the songs deemed inappropriate by Clear Channel following the September 11, 2001 attacks.

References in pop culture

The title of the song is used as a euphemism for sex in The Simpsons episode "Natural Born Kissers." Marge says "It is our anniversary night, I suppose we should... Rock the Casbah"; later on in the episode; Bart says "So did you guys... Rock the Casbah?" The song also plays over the credits.

Cover versions

Other versions of "Rock the Casbah" have been recorded by the Austin, Texas band One Bad Pig, on the 1992 album Blow the House Down; the Australian band Something for Kate; the band Solar Twins on the movie soundtrack for the 1999 film Brokedown Palace; the Algerian rock singer Rachid Taha (in Arabic) on his 2004 album Tékitoi; and the band Trust Company, on the 2005 album True Parallels. Will Smith's song "Will 2K" of the Willennium album samples "Rock the Casbah" both instrumentally and in some of the lyrics. Richard Cheese recorded a lounge cover of the song on his 2004 album I'd Like a Virgin. U2 have also snippeted this song on their 2005-2006 Vertigo tour. Green Day covered the song near the end of their AOL Session

External links

"A Brief History of 'Rock the Casbah' City Pages (December 15, 1999)

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