I always find karaoke really amusing, not just because of how bad people are who think they can sing, but because you actually get to read lyrics of songs you have heard a thousand times. In my experience I tend to have a rather creative interpretation of what I thought the lyrics were before reading them.
Recently, I was hearing some karaoke and was shocked by the Middle-Eastern-ness of the lyrics of some famous pop songs. There was the obvious Rock the Casbah by the Clash, which has a lot of obvious Middle Eastern references (lyrics). However, while I knew of Farrokh's, I mean, Freddie Mercury's Middle Eastern-S. Asian (-African?) heritage, I had never realized that Queen was throwing out the Bismallahs right and left in Bohemian Rapsody (wait till about 3:35):
All this was toped when I heard a blast from the past, Midnight at the Oasis by Maria Muldaur (not Minnie Ripperton as I had thought). What the hell is this song even about?
Shadows paintin' our faces, Traces of romance in our heads
Heaven's holdin' a half-moon, Shinin' just for us
Let's slip off to a sand dune, real soon, And kick up a little dust
Come on, Cactus is our friend, He'll point out the way
Come on, till the evenin' ends, Till the evenin' ends
You don't have to answer, There's no need to speak
I'll be your belly dancer, prancer, And you can be my sheik
(for complete lyrics click, here)
I ain't gonna lie, I actually like the song, but where the heck did this piece of crazy orientalism drop from? Had the lyricist read 1001 nights while smoking a fatty and then thought this was a good idea? Do I even want to know the meaning of "cactus is our friend" or "Send your camel to bed"? Enjoy a super disturbing version of the song from the Jacksons TV Show:
10 comments:
If memory serves me well, Freddie is from Tanzania - and, as far as I'm concerned, a rock god. (
Is it just me, or does System of a Down remind you a lot of Queen? Speaking of SOAD - Serj is Armenian Lebanese (raised near Beirut). Lebanese and Armenian flags are regular fixtures at their shows... as well as Mid East and Arab references.
Nice post.
Freddie was of Parsi descent -- Zoroastrian people from India that have had along presence in Iran. His dad was some sort of low-level colonial civil servant in Africa.
I remembered the bismallahs. The Clash not only have the Rock the Casbah lyrics, but in the opening talk of "Should I stay or should I go" (beofre Mick Jones starts singing), Joe Strummer shouts "Al-lah!" the way another might shout "Good God!" or "Lord Knows!" they also wore kuffiyehs a lot in shows and videos. In Strummer's solo acts he had a lot of middle eastern influence, and in fact had a song caled "Yalla Yalla".
Hippie rocker Donovan had a great song called 'wear your love like heaven' where he goes "Oh Lord, kiss me once more, fill me with song! Allah, kiss me once more..."
And then there's Frank Zappa's immortal 'Sheik Yerbouti Tango'.
Freddie was indeed Parsi. And grew up in British schools in India and Africa. And shouts Bismillah like it's nobody's business. And is one of the most awesome performers ever to have lived.
"wear your love like heaven" immediately came to mind when i read this post. i can't believe someone else thought of it too! :) i'm glad i'm not the only one to admit that i like that hippy song. the lyrics are beautiful "allah kiss me once more, fill me with joy." sarah mclachlan did a nice remake of it on one of her early albums.
apparently i hear what i want to hear on songs. correct lyrics: Lord, kiss me once more
Fill me with song
Allah, kiss me once more
That I may, that I may
Wear my love like heaven
@ Ellen: "that I may, that I may"...ohhh. For like fifteen yers now, I always thought Donovan was saying "Laramie, Laramie". I always wondered who Laramie was and what he had to do with Allah! The real lyrics make much more sense... I guess that's what happens when lispy hippies sing with thick scottish accents...
saladin, that's funny. a friend of mine in college used to think alanis morissette in "you oughtta know" was singing "this cross-eyed bear" instead of "this cross i bear." :)
EXCUSE M - WHILE I KISS THIS GUY!
I thought Freddie was Syrian and the "Bismillah, we will not let you go" was the representation of his family's refusal to accept his homosexuality and release him from his religious designations.
Apropos nothing: With the Police reunion, it's worth remembering that their name came from the fact the group's drummer, Stewart Copeland, is the son of Miles Copeland (pere), who was CIA station chief in Beirut for years in the 1960s. Copeland speaks Arabic and his brother Miles Copeland (II) - the group's manager, as well as Sting's - had a hand in steering Sting towards his "Arab encounter" with Cheb Memi in "Desert Rose" - a wonderful update of "Midnight at the Oasis".
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