"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. Arabic redirects here. ... Rebetiko, plural rebetika, (Greek ρεμπέτικο and ρεμπέτικα respectively) is the name for a type of urban Greek music. ... Raqs Sharqi dancer Chryssanthi Sahar Scharf, Heidelberg. ... Klezmer (from Yiddish כּלי־זמיר, etymologically from Hebrew kli zemer כלי זמר, musical instrument) is a musical tradition which parallels Hasidic and Ashkenazic Judaism. ... In the early 1960s, one of the most popular forms of rock and roll was surf rock. ...

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 originally a Smyrniot, pronounced the song's title [musurlu], approximately similar to the Turkish pronunciation, [mısırlı]. For other uses, see Song (disambiguation). ... Rebetiko, plural rebetika, (Greek ρεμπέτικο and ρεμπέτικα respectively) is the name for a type of urban Greek music. ... This article is about the capital of Greece. ... Year 1927 (MCMXXVII) was a common year starting on Saturday (link will display full calendar) of the Gregorian calendar. ... Anatolia (Greek: ανατολη anatole, rising of the sun or East; compare Orient and Levant, by popular etymology Turkish Anadolu to ana mother and dolu filled), also called by the Latin name of Asia Minor, is a region of Southwest Asia which corresponds today to... A composer is a person who writes music. ... Ä°zmir, historically Smyrna, is the third most populous city of Turkey and the countrys largest port after Ä°stanbul. ...

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. There is also a collection of Hadith called Sahih Muslim A Muslim (Arabic: مسلم, Persian: Mosalman or Mosalmon Urdu: مسلمان, Turkish: Müslüman, Albanian: Mysliman, Bosnian: Musliman) is an adherent of the religion of Islam. ... For other uses, see Christian (disambiguation). ...

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. Zeibekiko (Greek: ζεϊμπέκικο, Turkish:Zeybek) is an originally Turkish improvisational folk dance which was borrowed and slightly revised by Greeks. ... The first two measures of Mozarts Sonata XI, which indicates the tempo as Andante grazioso and a modern editors metronome marking: = 120. “Andante” redirects here. ... In music theory, the key identifies the tonic triad, the chord, major or minor, which represents the final point of rest for a piece, or the focal point of a section. ... Year 1930 (MCMXXX) was a common year starting on Wednesday (link will display 1930 calendar) of the Gregorian calendar. ... This article is about the state. ... Year 1931 (MCMXXXI) was a common year starting on Thursday (link will display full 1931 calendar) of the Gregorian calendar. ...

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 Roubanis or Patrinos. Subsequently S. Russell, N. Wise and M. Leeds wrote English lyrics to the song. Roubanis is also credited with fine-tuning the key and the melody, giving it the oriental sound that it is associated with today. For other uses, see 1941 (disambiguation). ... A Greek American is a citizen of the United States of Greek heritage or descent. ... For other uses, see Jazz (disambiguation). ... The English language is a West Germanic language that originates in England. ... In music, there are two common meanings for tuning: Tuning practice, the act of tuning an instrument or voice. ... In music theory, the key identifies the tonic triad, the chord, major or minor, which represents the final point of rest for a piece, or the focal point of a section. ... Look up melody in Wiktionary, the free dictionary. ...

The song was rearranged as a solo guitar piece by Dick Dale in the 1960s. It was Dale's version 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, sometimes claim it to be a folk song from their own country. For other uses, see Guitar (disambiguation). ... This article is about the surf guitarist. ... Armenia is situated close to the Caucasus Mountains, and its music is a mix of indigenous folk music, perhaps best-represented by Djivan Gasparyans well-known duduk music, as well as light pop, and extensive Christian music, due to Armenias status as the oldest Christian nation in the...

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. The Beach Boys, originally the Beech Boys, a small team of four brothers from the south of Poland, emigrated to America in the early 1950s in search of a fortune to be made in the Arizonian logging industry. When it soon became evident they had been the victims of... Surfin USA is the second album released by The Beach Boys and was released in 1963. ... Agent Orange is a punk band from Placentia, California. ... Connie Francis (born December 12, 1938 in Newark, New Jersey) is an American pop singer best known for international hit songs such as Whos Sorry Now?, Where The Boys Are, and Everybodys Somebodys Fool. She is known to have one of the most distinct voices in the...

In 1994, Dale's version of "Misirlou" was used 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." Dale's version would also be used in the reggaeton song "Dame Un Kiss" by Franco "El Gorilla". For other uses see film (disambiguation) Film refers to the celluliod media on which movies are printed Film — also called movies, the cinema, the silver screen, moving pictures, photoplays, picture shows, flicks, or motion pictures, — is a field that encompasses motion pictures as an art form or as... Pulp Fiction is a 1994 film by director Quentin Tarantino, who cowrote the film with Roger Avary. ... Quentin Jerome Tarantino (born March 27, 1963) is an American film director, actor, and Oscar winning screenwriter. ... Boyd Rice (born 1956) is an American experimental sound artist, occultist, archivist, actor, photographer, prankster and writer best known for his pioneering industrial noise music under the name NON. // Rice started creating experimental noise recordings in 1975, drawing on his interest in tape machines and bubblegum pop sung by female... The Games of the XXVIII Olympiad, commonly known as the 2004 Summer Olympics were the 28th Summer Olympic Games. ... Anna Vissi (Greek: Άννα Βίσση; born December 20, 1957) is a Cypriot-Greek singer, famous mainly in Greece, and her home country Cyprus, with success in the United States as well. ... Q is a music and entertainment magazinepublished monthly in the United Kingdom. ... The Black Eyed Peas is an American hip-hop group from Los Angeles, California, who have enjoyed worldwide pop success. ... Audio sample Info (help· info) Pump It is a song by The Black Eyed Peas that heavily incorporates music from the Dick Dale version of the song Misirlou (known by many for being featured on the Quentin Tarantino movie Pulp Fiction). ...

Lyrics

Other notable recordings

• Ben Folds Five recorded a Piano/Bass/Drums/Strings song that interpolates 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.

• Martin Denny and Arthur Lyman, founding fathers of Tiki and Exotica music, recorded two covers of the song.

• 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.

• There is a Spanish version of "Misirlou" made by the Italian singer Caterina Valente with the Edmundo Ros Orchestra. This version appeared in the album called "Caterina Valente com Edmundo Ros", released in Brazil in 1961.

• 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).

• NPR did a full report on the evolution and multiple versions of "Misirlou," which can be heard at [1].

• 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 2007 movie Ocean's Thirteen contains a version of the Misirlou melody.

• 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."

• Fourplay often perform "Misirlou" during their live performances, using a Viola for the primary guitar. A recording of a live performance is in the first "Fourplay String Quartet" single.

• American jazz pianist Vince Guaraldi included a live version of the song on his 1963 album In Person.

Ben Folds Five (1994–2000) was a trio formed in Chapel Hill, North Carolina who were a mainstay of piano rock until their breakup in 2000. ... Not to be confused with Ladin. ... Sefarad is a sephardic music band from Turkey. ... Felix Pappalardi (December 30, 1939 – April 17, 1983) is best known as the producer of the psychedelic, blues-inspired rock trio Cream, beginning with their second album, Disraeli Gears. ... Cream were a classic 1960s British rock band, which consisted of guitarist Eric Clapton, bassist Jack Bruce and drummer Ginger Baker. ... Leslie West (born October 22, 1945) is an American rock guitarist, singer and songwriter. ... Mountain is an American rock band, popular in the early 1970s. ... Combatants Israel Egypt Syria Jordan Iraq Commanders Yitzhak Rabin, Moshe Dayan, Uzi Narkiss, Israel Tal, Mordechai Hod, Ariel Sharon Abdel Hakim Amer, Abdul Munim Riad, Zaid ibn Shaker, Hafez al-Assad Strength 264,000 (incl. ... Columbia Records is the oldest brand name in recorded sound, dating back to 1888, and was the first record company to produce pre-recorded records as opposed to blank cylinders. ... Martin Denny (April 10, 1911 - March 2, 2005) is universally known as the founder and reigning king of exotica music, a type of big band music with Latin rhythms and overtones of Pacific Ocean culture that is largely scorned by critics but was extremely popular in the 1950s and 1960s. ... Arthur Lyman (February 2, 1932 - February 24, 2002) popularized a jazzy style of Hawaiian music during the 1950s, and gathered a following as a purveyor of so-called exotic music or Exotica. ... A Māori man retouches the painted tattoo on a carved wooden tiki at Whakarewarewa Model Village, New Zealand, 1905. ... Martin Dennys breakthrough album, Exotica Exotica is a musical genre, named after the 1957 Martin Denny album of the same title, popular during the late 1950s to mid 1960s typically with the suburban set who came of age during World War II. The musical colloquialism exotica means tropical ersatz... Pulp Fiction is a 1994 film by director Quentin Tarantino, who cowrote the film with Roger Avary. ... The two faces of Caterina Valente: lady and tomboy. ... Rachid Taha (born 1958 in Oran, Algeria) is a French-Algerian musician. ... Woodrow Charles Herman (May 16, 1913 – October 29, 1987), better known as Woody Herman, was an American jazz clarinetist, alto and soprano saxophonist, singer, and big band leader. ... For other uses, see Blue (disambiguation). ... The Last Drive were a Greek garage revival rock group which formed in 1983 and broke up in 1995. ... A musicologist is someone who studies musicology. ... Cover of Think of the Self Speaking: Harry Smith -- Selected Interviews; Singh, Rani, editor Seattle: Elbow/Cityful Press, 1999. ... NPR logo For other meanings of NPR see NPR (disambiguation) National Public Radio (NPR) is a private, not-for-profit corporation that sells programming to member radio stations; together they are a loosely organized public radio network in the United States. ... Lionel Ziprin (b. ... This page is a candidate for speedy deletion, because: not even a stub If you disagree with its speedy deletion, please explain why on its talk page or at Wikipedia:Speedy deletions. ... Ashkenazi (אַשְׁכֲּנָזִי, Standard Hebrew Aškanazi, Tiberian Hebrew ʾAškănāzî) Jews or Ashkenazic Jews, also called Ashkenazim (אַשְׁכֲּנָזִי&#1501... Mizrachi is also an organisation of the Religious Zionist Movement Mizrahi Jews or Oriental Jews (מזרחי eastern, Standard Hebrew Mizraḥi, Tiberian Hebrew Mizrāḥî; plural מזרחים easterners, Standard Hebrew Mizraḥim, Tiberian Hebrew Mizrāḥîm... NPR logo For other meanings of NPR see NPR (disambiguation) National Public Radio (NPR) is a private, not-for-profit corporation that sells programming to member radio stations; together they are a loosely organized public radio network in the United States. ... Paul Richards of Salt Lake City, Utah, Bert Lams of Brussels, Belgium, and Hideyo Moriya of Tokyo first met in England at one of Robert Fripps Guitar Craft Courses in 1987. ... Tony Levin (born June 6, 1946, Boston, Massachusetts) is an influential American bass player. ... Lee Patrick Mastelotto (born September 10, 1955 in Chico, California) is a rock drummer who has worked with King Crimson and XTC. Pat started playing the drums at the age of 10. ... Movie poster of Taxi Taxi was a 1998 French movie starring Samy Naceri, written by Luc Besson, and directed by Gérard Pirès. ... The Peugeot 406 from the movie doing a ski stunt off a flower container Taxi 3 is a 2003 French film directed by Gérard Krawczyk. ... Year 2007 (MMVII) is the current year, a common year starting on Monday of the Gregorian calendar and the AD/CE era in the 21st century. ... This article or section contains a plot summary that is overly long or excessively detailed compared to the rest of the article. ... Kronos Quartet in 2006. ... FourPlay Electric String Quartet is a four-piece rock band from Sydney, Australia, formed in 1995. ... Vince Guaraldi (July 17, 1928 - February 6, 1976) was an American jazz musician and pianist best known for composing music for animated adaptations of the Peanuts comic strip. ...

Use in video game soundtracks

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

• In November of 2006 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. The version used differs from the one popularized in Pulp Fiction and can also be found on the soundtrack for Riding Giants.

• "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 an homage as a secret track

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

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

• The song in the first stage of Metal Slug 2 and Metal Slug X uses some portions of Misirlou.

• The character theme for Bowser Jr. in Mario Strikers Charged is a variation of Misirlou.

Konami Corporation ) (TYO: 9766 NYSE: KNM SGX: K20) is a leading developer and publisher of numerous popular and strong-selling toys, trading cards, anime, tokusatsu, slot machines and video games. ... Guitar Freaks is a video game created by Konami that is part of the Bemani series. ... DrumMania (alternately drummania, abbreviated DM) is a video game created by Konami as part of the Bemani series. ... This article is about the surf guitarist. ... Guitar Hero II is a music video game developed by Harmonix Music Systems and published by RedOctane. ... RedOctane is an electronic entertainment company perhaps best known for their efforts in publishing the Guitar Hero series. ... Harmonix is a game developer for the PlayStation 2. ... “PS2” redirects here. ... This article is about the 2005 video game. ... Rayman Raving Rabbids is a party game in the popular Rayman series, and was a launch title for Nintendos Wii console. ... A music video game, also commonly known as a music game or rhythm game, is a type of video game where the gameplay is oriented almost entirely around the players ability to follow a musical beat and stay with the rhythm of the games soundtrack. ... This article or section does not cite its references or sources. ... It has been suggested that Arcade Racer Joystick be merged into this article or section. ... The Sony PlayStation ) is a video game console of the 32/64-bit era, first produced by Sony Computer Entertainment in the mid-1990s. ... Metal Slug 2 ) is a run and gun video game for the Neo-Geo console/arcade platform created by SNK. It was released in 1998 for the MVS arcade platform and is the sequel to the popular Metal Slug. ... Metal Slug X ) is a run and gun video game in the Metal Slug series. ... It has been suggested that this article or section be merged into List of Mario series enemies. ... Mario Strikers Charged ), known as Mario Strikers Charged Football in Australia[2] and Europe,[5] is a sports video game developed by Canadian developer Next Level Games and published by Nintendo for the Wii. ...

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). (It should be noted that the program makes some patently incorrect statements - Rembetiko is not "a slow circle dance"; it does not have origins in Thraki; the Jews of Constantinople were Sephardim, not Askenazi, etc.)
• Playlist of a KGNU broadcast listing 25 performances of Misirlou.

Thracian Tomb of Kazanlak  Thrace (Bulgarian: , Greek: , Attic Greek: ThrāíkÄ“ or ThrēíkÄ“, Latin: , Turkish: ) is a historical and geographic area in southeast Europe. ...

Footnotes

1. ^ The Arabic verse in the song is badly mispronounced - "ya leli" would be more correct. This is probably because (a) Patrinos and his audience did not speak Arabic and/or (b) "ah yahaleli" needs to have exactly 5 syllables to fill the verse. The same sentence is very frequently used in Greek rembetiko songs (orientalism is a frequent theme) and is more frequently rendered "ah yahabibi ah yaleleli".