Misirlou

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"Misirlou" (Greek: Μισιρλού, 'Egyptian Girl'; from Turkish "Mısırlı" 'Egyptian', from Arabic مصر, Miṣr, "Egypt"), is a popular Greek song with a cult-like popularity in four very diverse styles of music: Greek rebetiko, Middle-Eastern belly dancing, Jewish wedding music (Klezmer), and American surf rock.

Contents 1 History 2 Lyrics 3 Other notable recordings 4 Use in Video Game Soundtracks 5 Trivia 6 External links

[edit] History

The song was first performed by the Michalis Patrinos rebetiko band in Athens, Greece in 1927. As with almost all early rebetika songs (a style that originated with the Greek refugees from Asia Minor), the song's actual composer was never identified, and its ownership rested with the band leader. The melody was most likely composed collaboratively by the group, as was often the case at the time; the initial lyrics were almost certainly by Patrinos himself. Patrinos, being a Smyrniot, pronounced the song's title [musurlu], approximately similar to the Turkish pronunciation, [mɯsɯrlɯ].

The Greek word Misirlou refers specifically to a Muslim Egyptian woman (as opposed to a Christian Egyptiotissa); thus this song refers to a cross-faith, cross-race, relationship, a risqué subject at its time.

Initially, the song was composed as a Greek zeibekiko dance, at a slower tempo and a different key than the orientalized performances that most are familiar with today. This was the style of the first known recording by Michalis Patrinos in Greece, circa 1930 (which was circulated in the United States by Titos Dimitriadis' Orthophonic label); a second recording was made by Patrinos in New York, in 1931.

In 1941, Nick Roubanis, a Greek-American music instructor released a jazz instrumental arrangement of the song, crediting himself as the composer. Since his claim was never legally challenged, he is still officially credited as the composer today worldwide, except in Greece where credit is variably given to either Rubanis or Patrinos. S. Russell, N. Wise and M. Leeds later wrote English lyrics to the song. Roubanis is also credited with fine tuning the key and the melody, giving it the oriental sound that the song is associated with today.

The song was rearranged as a solo guitar piece by Dick Dale in the 1960s. It was Dale's version of the piece that introduced "Misirlou" to a wider audience in the United States. Dale was of partially Lebanese background, and often credited Armenian music as the inspiration for his guitar style, and perhaps for this reason the tune has at times been mistakenly described as a Lebanese or Armenian folk song. The song's oriental melody has been so popular for so long that many people, from Morocco to Iran, will sometimes claim it to be a folk song from their own country.

The Beach Boys recorded a Dale-inspired "Misirlou" for the 1963 album Surfin' USA, forever making "Misirlou" a staple of American pop culture. Hundreds of recordings have been made to date, by performers as diverse as Agent Orange and Connie Francis.

In 1994, Dale's version of "Misirlou" was heard on the soundtrack of the motion picture Pulp Fiction, thanks to a suggestion to Quentin Tarantino from his friend Boyd Rice. More recently, the song was selected by the Athens 2004 Organizing Committee as one of the most influential Greek songs of all time, and was heard on venues and the closing ceremony it was performed by Anna Vissi. In March 2005, Q magazine placed Dale's version at number 89 in its list of the 100 Greatest Guitar Tracks. In 2006, his version once again found popularity, this time as the basis of The Black Eyed Peas' single "Pump It."

[edit] Lyrics

Greek		Translation
Μισιρλού μου, η γλυκιά σου η ματιά Φλόγα μου 'χει ανάψει μες στην καρδιά Αχ, για χαμπίμπι, αχ, για χαλέλι, αχ Τα δυο σου χείλη στάζουνε μέλι, αχ Αχ, Μισιρλού, μαγική, ξωτική ομορφιά Τρέλα θα μου 'ρθει, δεν υποφέρω πια Αχ, θα σε κλέψω μέσα από την Αραπιά Μαυρομάτα Μισιρλού μου τρελή Η ζωή μου αλλάζει μ' ένα φιλί Αχ, για χαμπίμπι ενα φιλάκι,άχ Απ' το γλυκό σου το στοματάκι, αχ		My Misirlou (Egyptian girl), your sweet glance It's lit a fire in my heart Ah, ya habibi, Ah, ya haleli, ah (Arabic: Oh, my love, Oh, my night) Your lips are dripping honey, ah Ah, Misirlou, magical, exotic beauty Madness will overcome me, I can't take any more Ah, I'll steal you away from the Arab land My black-eyed, my wild Misirlou My life changes with one kiss Ah, ya habibi, one little kiss, ah From your sweet little lips, ah

English Lyrics by Russell, Wise and Leeds:

Desert shadows creep across purple sands
Natives kneel in prayer by their caravans
There, silhouetted under an eastern star
I see my long lost blossom of Shalimar
You, Misirlou, are the moon and the sun, fairest one

Old temple bells are calling across the sand
We'll find our Kismet, answering love's command
You, Misirlou, are a dream of delight in the night

To an oasis, sprinkled by stars above
heaven will guide us, Allah will bless our love
Ah, Ah, Misirlou

[edit] Other notable recordings

• Ben Folds Five recorded a Piano/Bass/Drums/Strings rendition of the piece entitled "Theme from Dr. Pyser"

• There is a Ladino version of "Misirlou" by the Turkish-Jewish band Los Pasharos Sefaradis.

• In the late 1960s a recording of "Misirlou" was made by a group called The Devil's Anvil. Felix Pappalardi (who would go on to fame as producer for British super-group Cream, and as bassist for legendary guitarist Leslie West's hard rocking band Mountain) acted as producer on the album "Hard Rock from the Middle East" by the multi-cultural Devil's Anvil. Pappalardi, in fact, handled lead vocals on the track "Misirlou" according to the liner notes of a late 1990s re-release of the original album on CD. In 1967, the release of "Hard Rock from the Middle East", coincided almost exactly with the outbreak of the Arab-Israeli Six-Day War. As a result of this unfortunate coincidence, radio stations, record stores and The Devil's Anvil's record label, Columbia Records, all allowed the album to quickly sink into obscurity.

• A Serbian version of this song titled Vranjanka (The Girl from Vranje) was created by Serbian singer Staniša Stošić. This version is widely sung across the territory of the former Yugoslavia; when Pulp Fiction appeared, to many it was a surprise to find out that the song was indeed Greek.

• French-Algerian rock star Rachid Taha recorded an Arabic, drum'n'bass-inspired version, titled "Jungle Fiction".

• Woody Herman and his Orchestra recorded a foxtrot version, published by Decca, which can be found as the b-side to "Blue Flame".

• The Greek garage rock band The Last Drive record an instrumental version of this song on its first album Underworld Shakedown (1986).

• Interestingly, American ethnomusicologist Harry Smith made several recordings of Naftali Zvi Margolies Abulafia, a prominent Jewish orthodox rabbi who lived on New York's Lower East Side as he sang and told stories in Yiddish. On January 1, 2006, NPR presented a story on the efforts of his grandson Lionel Ziprin to preserve these recordings and played some of them in their story. One of the pieces sounds identical to the melody of "Misirlou". (The melody can be heard, beginning at 4:13.) NPR: A Grandson's Quest To Preserve His Jewish Heritage A version with Yiddish lyrics is often performed at weddings, and has been recorded by Klezmer Conservatory Band on their CD Dancing in the Aisles. The style is a hybrid of Ashkenazic Klezmer and Mizrahi (Jewish songs set to Arab melodies).

• California Guitar Trio (with Tony Levin and Pat Mastelotto as special guests) covered Dale's version of the song on their album Rocks the West (2000).

• The song is featured in the opening sequence to the cult French film Taxi, released in 1998. The film, starring Samy Naceri, written by Luc Besson, and directed by Gérard Pirès forms part of one of the most successful French franchises ever. It also features in the sequel Taxi 3

• The Czech grindcore band Perversist recorded a cover for their album Machine Grind Surgery.

• The Kronos Quartet released a version of "Misirlou" on their album Caravan, called "Misirlou Twist."

[edit] Use in Video Game Soundtracks

• "Misirlou" has been featured in Konami's Guitar Freaks and Drummania games.

• In November of 2006, contrary to popular belief, the original 1963 version of Dick Dale's rendition was featured in Guitar Hero II, the followup title to RedOctane and Harmonix's popular Playstation 2 game, Guitar Hero as opposed to the Pulp Fiction version most commonly known. It is the third track of the most difficult standard category of songs, "Face-Melters".

• "Misirlou" has also been featured as a song in Rayman Raving Rabbids in its rhythm mini-game, and in this game's advertising campaign.

• The sound track to the videogame Command & Conquer: Red Alert contains a homage as a secret track

• The Sega Saturn title Guardian Force features an homage to the Pulp Fiction rendition in level 3.

• "Misirlou" was also featured in the PlayStation title JetMoto.

• The song of the first stage of Metal Slug 2 and Metal Slug X use some cuts of Misirlou.

[edit] Trivia

• This song was briefly played in a commercial for Garfield: A Tail of Two Kitties (2006).

[edit] External links

• Original (MP3) versions of Greek Song Misirlou
• U.S. Air Force Band Recording of Misirlou (MP3)
• Dick Dale's Extensive Explanation (with guitar tabs and standard notation)
• Yiddish lyrics for Misirlou with English translation
• Misirlou, from Klezmer to Surf Guitar (NPR Weekend Edition Sunday, January 8, 2006)
• 2-hour radio show with nothing but various versions of this song. Click on Listen icon and scroll to 61:00