Rock the Casbah

"Rock the Casbah" is a song by The Clash, 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 chart.^[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 said he 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.^{[citation needed]} All that was left to record was the guitar parts and the vocals.

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.

Single

The US 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.

"Mustapha Dance", that features in many releases of the single, is an instrumental version of the song.

Single issues

The single has several issues, all with different cover, format and B-side (see the table below).

Year	B-side	Format	Label	Country	Note
1982	"Rock the Casbah"	45 rpm 7" vinyl	Epic 34-03245	CAN/USA	Promo
1982	"Mustapha Dance"	45 rpm 12" vinyl	Epic 49-03144	JP	—
1982	"Mustapha Dance"	45 rpm 7" vinyl	CBS/Sony Records Inc. 07.5P-191	USA	—
1982	"Mustapha Dance"	45 rpm 12" vinyl	Epic 49-03144	CAN	—
1982	"Mustapha Dance"	45 rpm 7" vinyl	CBS A112479	UK	Picture disc
1982	"Red Angel Dragnet"	45 rpm 7" vinyl	Epic 34-03245	CAN	—
1982	"Long Time Jerk"	45 rpm 7" vinyl	Epic 34-03245	USA	In blue Epic generic die cut sleeve
1982	"Mustapha Dance"	45 rpm 12" vinyl	CBS A 13-2479	UK	—
1982	"Long Time Jerk"	45 rpm 7" vinyl	Epic 15-05540	USA	—
1991	"Mustapha Dance"	45 rpm 7" vinyl	Columbia 656814-7	UK	Reissue
1991	"Mustapha Dance" "The Magnificent Dance"	45 rpm 12" vinyl	Columbia 656814-6	UK	—
1991	"Mustapha Dance" "The Magnificent Dance"	CD	Columbia 656814-2	UK	—

Music sample

The Clash - Rock the Casbah excerpt

An excerpt from "Rock the Casbah"

Problems listening to the file? See media help.

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 left-wing 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. The song can also be understood as a message that western rock and roll will help defeat radical Islamist regimes by winning over the people of the Middle East, especially the young.

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, 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.
In Camelot, a season 5 episode of The Sopranos, features the track during a prominent scene. When Tony Soprano attempts to collect a debt from future rival Phil Leotardo, the latter attempts to flee. A vehicle pursuit ensues, while Rock the Casbah plays loudly from Soprano's stereo. The song is largely used as a reference to Leotardo, who is often called "The Shah" by members of the DiMeo crime family.
The song "Beelzeboss" from the second album of popular rock band Tenacious D contains the line "...we rock the casbah...". The line appears in the band's movie "Tenacious D in The Pick of Destiny" as well.
American Dad episode "Stan of Arabia": Part 1. Steve finally realises he is classed as a man in Saudi Arabia, he proceeds to buy a car and grenades to celebrate. The music is played during the part. He also later crashes into an oil well.
In one episode of King of the Hill, in a lawnmower focus group, Kahn sings the song while spinning around in his chair.
The song may be humorously referred to as "Lock The Taskbar" by college students, as the refrain sounds like an option on a menu that appears when one right-clicks on the taskbar in Windows XP.
In a television advertisement, a few people listening to the song cannot make out the lyrics. They think the lyric says "rock the catbox."

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 Asturian studio project Soncai System, who did an Asturian language version of the song on the album Clashturies (2007).

The Algerian rock singer Rachid Taha covered the song (in Arabic) on his 2004 album Tékitoi. On November 27, 2005 at the Astoria, London, during the Stop the War Coalition Benefit Concert, "...for the night's grandstanding conclusion, the Clash legend Mick Jones strides on in a skinny black suit and plays probably the most exciting guitar he has delivered in years. He and the band are brilliant on Taha's definitive take on "Rock the Casbah", for which the audience goes berserk." Cumming, Tim (2005-11-29). A riotous night for peace (htm). Review: A riotous night for peace. The Independent, and Stop the War Coalition. Retrieved on 2007-09-06. ^[3] They played again the Taha's version of the song, "Rock el Casbah", on February 2006, at the France 4 TV show Taratatà (Videos: Rachid Taha & Mick Jones - Rock El Casbah and Rock El Casbah - Rachid Taha & Mick Jones - Taratata). In 2007 at the Barbican, ".... The band were later joined by special guest Mick Jones from The Clash who performed on "Rock El Casbah" and then stayed on stage for the remainder of the show." AFRICA ON YOUR STREET Celebrating African Music in the UK (shtml). bbc.co.uk. Retrieved on 2007-09-06. ^[4] (Video: Rock The Casbah,Rachid Taha,Barbican,2007,mick jones,guest).

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. After hearing the crowd singing the song as it was played over the loudspeaker before the start of the concert, the lead singer of U2 started singing "Rock the Casbah" in the middle of one of their songs during a concert in Melbourne. Green Day covered the song near the end of their AOL Sessions, and also have performed it live. Trust Company also covered the song, which ended up being a b-side from their 2005 album True Parallels.

References

External links

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

The Clash
Joe Strummer · Mick Jones · Paul Simonon · Topper Headon Nick Sheppard · Keith Levene · Pete Howard · Terry Chimes · Vince White · Rob Harper
Discography	Studio albums: The Clash · Give 'Em Enough Rope · London Calling · Sandinista! · Combat Rock · Cut the Crap Compilations and lives: Black Market Clash · The Story of the Clash, Volume 1 · Clash on Broadway · The Singles · Super Black Market Clash · From Here to Eternity: Live · The Essential Clash · Singles Box · The Singles (2007)
Related articles	Punk rock · The 101ers · London SS · Public Image Ltd · Big Audio Dynamite · Havana 3am · The Latino Rockabilly War · The Pogues · The Mescaleros · The Libertines · Carbon/Silicon · The Good, the Bad and the Queen

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