Misirlou - By Dick Dale (1962)

[Dev]

Dick Dale .

Rating - G



You Tube Info
Misirlou has Egyptian roots. Misrlou means Woman From Misr, where Misr is Arabic for Egypt. Popular among the Greek enclave of Cairo, where the rembetico (Greek Blues) style was born. Misirlou is further known as a dance on Crete, while there are also Armenian and Klezmer variations. Dick Dale learned the tune from an Armenian uncle.

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[Yasmine Bint Al Nubia]

Thanks for the clip. What's interesting though is that, we perpform a debke style dance to a song called Misserlou by Harry Saroyan. Although it's not the same music as the clip. Good info.
Yasmine

 

[Maria_Aya]

PLEASE !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

ALL the info is wrong !!!!

Misirlou a Cretan dance?????? I teach folk cretan 20 years !!!! this is the wrongest thing I've ever read.

Misirlou is a mix of greek-turkish for the word "girl from Egypt".
The music is originated from Smyrna (Izmir) that was greek till the 1922. And the myth says that it was a collection of various musical games between the bands.
It was first performed on stage in Athens at 1927 by the band of Patrinos, and it is sure that the lyrics are by Patrinos.
At first the rythm was zeimbekiko, but later it changed.
On 1941 Roumbanis a greek american composer had on small LP the song, changing the melody to more oriental, as we listen it today.
And for the most people Roumbanis is the composer. S. Russell, N. Wise and M. Leeds later wrote the english lyrics to the song.
Dick Dale on the 60's after a bet he said he can play a whole song with one string of his gitare, and as he had lebanese roots and the song was already popular in arab world he played Misirlou.
On 1994 Misirlou became famous again as it was the soundrack for the film Pulp Fiction.
On 2004 the organizers for the Athens Olympics selected Misirlou as one of the greek songs for the closing ceremony.
Now on 2006 the song won popularity again as the base for the single of Plack Eyed Peas Pump it.

My Misirlou your sweet eye look, have started a fire in my heart.
Ahhh ya habibi, ahh ya leleli, ahh your two lips are droping honey ah.
Ah Misirlou, magical, exotic beauty, i'm getting mad with you,
i cant stand it any more, I'm gonna steal you from the arab world (arabia).
Black eyed crazy Misirlou, my life is changing with a kiss,
ahh ya habibi, one kiss, ahhh from your sweet lips ahh.
Ah Misirlou, magical, exotic beauty, i'm getting mad with you,
i cant stand it any more, I'm gonna steal you from the arab world (arabia).

It is very popular for greek songs of the era 1920 to 1950 to have lyrics refering to arab girls, this for 2 reasons.
Beyrout, Alexandria was the closest ports for the greeks that was sailing.
Also because of the huge amount of population of greeks living at Alexandria Egypt, it was something like a jump to the arab world.
Thats why also we have been influanced so much from arab dance and music.

Maria Aya

 

[Yasmine Bint Al Nubia]

I'm corn-fused Maria . I know the "Misserlou" we danced to is no way near close to what is described by you or the original poster of the clip(not Dipali).
Since you say the info is wrong,but the info on the clip states Misrlou mean woman from Egypt, you said 'misrlou' is a Greek-Turkish mix meaning girl from Egypt. The clip says the song is popular w/ the Greeks enclave in Egypt, you point out that there is a "huge group of Greeks living in Alexandria" also the info on the clip says that it is a dance further known on the island of Crete and you state that it is a Cretan folkdance.
I hope you can see my confusion here, it appears to me you are saying the same thing but adding detailed info that is just as valuable. I want to make sure i understand the info correctly. Thanks.
Yasmine

 

[Suhad]

Maria, you made my day!! I absolutely ADORE learning mostly useless trivia, and realizing that Miserlou is the background musical selection on Pump It made me laugh out loud after I put the CD in and listened!

Trivia for you all: who is the first person in United States history to be successfully prosecuted for starting a wildland fire? No fair googling it either!!

 

[Maria_Aya]

Dear Nubia, I guess my english need clearing lol

First of all, its NOOOOOO way connected with Crete (Crete is the biggest island of Greece, and my father is from there)

Back in 1920 many things happened (historic)

But the general idea is that its a greek song (of the greeks that was living in Smyrna that now is Turkish land) that speaks about a beautiful arab girl.

Hope this is better

Maria Aya

 

[Yasmine Bint Al Nubia]

Yep that clears it up! Thanks
Yasmine

 

[Sharif]

There's a whole Wikipedia page of trivia and history about this song:
Misirlou - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Of course, if you disagree you can simply change the contents and reshape history with the click of a mouse. Truthiness rules!

 

[Gabi]

Regardless - verrrrry cool and excellent shimmy practice music :dance:

 

[chryssanthi sahar]

There's a whole Wikipedia page of trivia and history about this song:
Misirlou - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Of course, if you disagree you can simply change the contents and reshape history with the click of a mouse. Truthiness rules!

?????
Sorry Sharif, but what do you want to tell by this? What Maria told about Misirlou, is exactly what it says in Wikipedia and it is the RIGHT information about the song

 

[chryssanthi sahar]

Popular among the Greek enclave of Cairo, where the rembetico (Greek Blues) style was born. ..

Dear Dipali.
The information about the birth of Rembetiko is completely wrong! The Rembetiko was not born among the Greeks of Egypt, but among the Greeks of Smyrna (today Izmir, Turkey), after their expatriation. It was born out of the desperation and poverty they were thrown in, after they lost their homes and their city. It was mainly born in Piraeus and Athens among the Smyrna people, but it got further developed also by Greece-Greeks (like Markos Vamvakaris, who was one of the first very important Rembetiko musicians). So whoever wrote this stuff on youtube, had no idea about the subject.
And, as Maria allready said, Misirlou has nothing to do with Crete. There is no Cretan dance called Misirlou.

 

[Sharif]

?????
Sorry Sharif, but what do you want to tell by this? What Maria told about Misirlou, is exactly what it says in Wikipedia and it is the RIGHT information about the song

Just that it's rather rare to have a Wikipedia page about a middle-eastern song in the first place, and that it contains much more information than any of you has posted so far.

 

[chryssanthi sahar]

Just that it's rather rare to have a Wikipedia page about a middle-eastern song in the first place, and that it contains much more information than any of you has posted so far.

This song is originally Greek and very famous and we Greeks are quite conscious about our musical tradition. So you find a Wikipedia site also about other famous Greek songs, for example Sirtaki (Zorba's Dance)
Sirtaki - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
So what is weird about it?

 

[Sharif]

This song is originally Greek and very famous and we Greeks are quite conscious about our musical tradition. So you find a Wikipedia site also about other famous Greek songs, for example Sirtaki (Zorba's Dance)
Sirtaki - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
So what is weird about it?

I said rare, not weird... At the time I looked it up on Wikipedia there were less than 100 songs that had their own Wiki - of all the songs in the world! I'd call that a rare find. I wanted to know the background because I really like Misirlou and I was going to perform a sword dance to a slow languid version of the song. That's all.

 

[Suhad]

itunes has a version by the master himself that is slow, acoustic, and very nice, I just downloaded it myself a couple of days ago.

I am also thinking of a sword dance to that one, but I'm already working on a different song at the moment.

 

[Sharif]

itunes has a version by the master himself that is slow, acoustic, and very nice, I just downloaded it myself a couple of days ago.

I am also thinking of a sword dance to that one, but I'm already working on a different song at the moment.

I am using a version by the Larry Steen World Jazz Ensemble that I downloaded from Rhapsody. Slow and sultry, 7 minutes, really nice jazzy improvisations and very danceable. These music services are great to expand your music library, and for finding alternative versions of songs you like!

 

[Alvonorey]

Misirlou

The Moderator Dipali is ABSOLUTELY CORRECT !!! except for learning it from an Armenian uncle - Dick Dale is of LEBANESE origin, so his Uncle, who was a Oud Player, is also Lebanese. Dick Dale confirmed this to me himself.
The tune is Arab - never Turkish ( except for cover tunes of the original) and NOT from CRETE. Here is my ethnomusicology research i carried out on the subject of the TRUE Origins of Misirlou.

The song “Misirlou” (“Misir” meaning “Egypt” in Arabic, and the Greek suffix “lou” meaning “girl”) is most likely a cover version of an Egyptian song titled “Bint Misr” (“Egyptian Girl” or “Girl of Egypt”) composed by Sayyed Darwish {1892-1923}and released on record in 1919 on the Mechian Recording Label.This precedes any other recorded cover versions of this melody - under any other title. Darwish was a furiously prolific Egyptian composer who died at 31 in 1923, and is one of the most influential figures in modern Arab music. He befriended and employed many Greek session musicians available at that time. He also wrote tunes with Greek lyrics and in Greek style (Nezar Mrouhe; Sayyed Darwish, Major Arab Music Pioneer).
The Misirlou melody was carried out to the rest of the world by the multi-cultural inhabitants of Cairo and Alexandria where Darwish lived. In the late 19th century up until 1960, both these Egyptian cities were bustling cosmopolitan communities that attracted every kind of ethnic group around the Mediterranean Basin. There were Italians, French, Greeks, Turks, Jews, Lebanese, British and others living side by side and enjoying a free and culturally vibrant lifestyle.Greek inhabitants [possibly (Pitraikis) or (Tetos Demetriades) or (Michalis Patrinos)] and others probably took Darwish’s tune and other melodies from Egypt back home and recorded their own versions with localized lyrics. In the absence of copyright laws, such unattributed borrowing was common.

The tune appears to have been brought to the United States by Greek immigrant Nick Roubanis in the 1930’s. The original American copyright is to N. Roubanis, 1934 for the Greek lyrics and music and assigned to Colonial Music Publishing Co. of New York City in 1941. The song is identified on the recording as” Misirlou, Arabian Serenade,” indicating the Arab origin of the tune.
[Dick Dale explains his influences here and where he got his Misirlou from.]

 

[Maria_Aya]

And this thread is why I LOVE this forum !!!
The only thing I want to say and cause I'm greek is that "lou" doesnt mean in anycase girl in Greek.

The situation in east mediterenean 1 century back was so mixed and so "international" and thats why we have great songs that live till today from that era.

maria aya

 

[Aisha Azar]

Miserlou

Dear Gang,
When we were in high school in gym class they used to make us take folk dancing. We were taught that it was a Jewish folk song and the dance was sort of a slow grapevine, crossover step. Oh, the lies perpetrated upon the young and innocent!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Anyway, Dick Dale's version is sort of the precursor to all things punk, though he was a surfer. All of his music sounded just like that!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Regards,
A'isha

 

[Marya]

Dear Gang,
When we were in high school in gym class they used to make us take folk dancing. We were taught that it was a Jewish folk song and the dance was sort of a slow grapevine, crossover step. Oh, the lies perpetrated upon the young and innocent!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Anyway, Dick Dale's version is sort of the precursor to all things punk, though he was a surfer. All of his music sounded just like that!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Regards,
A'isha

for some reason Misrlou has been discussed on two other lists I am on. One is the Eastern European folklife Center list. There they commented on how back in the 60's the music for the song Misrlou was used for a folkdance that was usually danced to some other music because Misrlou was the only music the instructor had available that would work for the folk dance thus starting the United States of America myth that a particular folk dance went with Misrlou. I too learned a folk dance to the music that sounds like the one Aisha learned, although I think the teacher explained that the dance had been adapted to Misrlou. That's what Folk means, stuff gets created by people with not a whole lot of logic behind it, so really, I would call it an American (USA) folk dance now since it is so prevalent.

Misrlou is one of those songs that take on a mythical life and have many guises. Like Uskadara/Iskandaria. there was even a move made about songs like this in Eastern Europe called "whose song is this" people got into fights about which country Uskadara belonged to. Each country had their own version of course.

IMNSHO, Misrlou has been way overused in the American Style Belly Dance scene. I would like to hear a Rembetiko version, I have heard Dick Dale, Harry Saroyan and a few other instrumental versions. Frankly, I prefer Dick Dale to Harry.

Marya