What's going on in Rock the Casbah?

Original ·

Rachid Taha Cover in Arabic ·

We start knowing the time and place: 1982, a British punk band (on its last legs) singing about a situation in the Middle East. As stated in class, Britain has had a long history in the Middle East, especially with regard to natural resources, and by the 1950’s the U.S. was supporting these British interests through CIA aid.

The term “Casbah” (Arabic Qasbah) comes into the English lexicon through French colonialism in Algeria; the Casbah was the traditional center Algiers, marked out by a citadel with minarets.

In 1979 the fundamentalist religious leader Ayatollah Khomeini returned to Iran and banned rock music in the country. By 1980 the Iran-Iraq war had begun, and in 1982 (the year the song came out) Israel engaged in the Lebanese civil war, mainly taking on the PLO (Palestinian Liberation Organization). The Lebanese Civil War had its origins in the aftermath of the French colonial period, much as Algeria did 20 years earlier. The point is, by 1982, post-colonial Middle East was a bit of a political mess, which is a common experience for nearly every post-colonial region.
- (For instance, the U.S. War of 1812 emerged out of trans-national negotiations after the end of British colonial rule, and lead to the creation of a professional military class in the U.S. with the establishment of West Point. This professional military was then first put to effective use in the Mexican-American war of 1846, a war over disputed territory, where our military seized land held by the Mexican state, which did not allow slavery. The capture of these areas then lead to internal disputes over whether the newly-seized land would be slave or free states, which eventually lead to the U.S. Civil War.

The Clash was nominally responding to Ayatollah Khomeini’s banning of rock music in Iran, but the references in the song are broader, and go past the Persian world into the Arab world.

King, sheik, muezzin (a servant in a mosque who announces the call to prayer), Sharif (protector of a tribe and its assets), prophet, Casbah, Bedouin, minarets.

The scenario is an imagined one of people playing rock music in the Casbah, and the Sharif being upset with this. The king, to restore order, calls in jet fighters. But the jet fighters, rather than bombing the minarets, turn on their radios and blare more rock music over the crowd. It’s a kind of real rock revolution, which is not unheard of.

The Czech Republic gained its independence from the Soviet Union in 1989 through the Velvet Revolution. The revolution was a series of peaceful protests by students and others, lead in part by activist, playwright and politician Vaclav Havel (later elected president). Havel had western rock music smuggled in and drew on its sense of freedom. Especially influential was The Velvet Underground, hence Velvet Revolution.
If you look closer at the lyrics, you might notice some things. The Sharif is driving a Cadillac –that’s an American vehicle, and the muezzin is on the grille of the car, literally riding an American vehicle. Jet fighters at that time were primarily made by the U.S., France, and the U.S.S.R. (today mainly the U.S.). This all suggests that those who are working to repress the rock music in the Casbah –the Western influence –are a bit hypocritical because they’re also taking from Western culture.

The video develops this theme of a kind of hypocritical stance. The setting is in a desert with an oil rig pumping behind the band, and an Orthodox Rabbi dancing with a Sheik. The Sheik holds a liquor bottle (and as they say at the end of the song, “this is not kosher,”), and an armadillo wanders around –armadillos are from Texas. In other words, between the lyrical and visual images, we’re getting an argument about hypocritical powers using each other to foment ideological control that can result in war.

Lastly, consider the sound itself: A major part of the ethic of “punk music” was to get on the other side of the musical/cultural status quo and push some boundaries. (Many argued this was the original ethic of rock and roll, but it was lost in commercialism and pay-for-play radio.) The early sound of punk was a stripped down rock sound, which opposed the other predominant melodic easy-listening, disco and funk styles of the time. By the time “Rock the Casbah” comes out, we hear a kind of barrel-house piano in the background, some electronic sounds incorporated to mimic the sound of jet fighters, and the crunchy guitars of the punk era have shifted into something looser and more jangly, but with only about 4 chords. In other words, they’re moving past the traditional “punk style” precisely because it’s become traditional. The singer, Joe Strummer, is not so much singing as reporting a story, and his report is punctuated and interrupted by the interspersing walking bass and claps with some faint guitar falling around in the background: these are all working in their own ways, divergent, but syncopated to work together. In other words, the various parts of the music –like the various subjects in the song –are outwardly not working together, but are actually all of a piece, sounding upbeat and danceable, but relating a bit darker narrative than such a sound might suggest.

This is precisely what we discussed in class when we discussed the idea of the position of the musician/s in relation to the material.

Ironically enough, this song became the sort of theme song by the U.S. military for the first Gulf War, and was the first song played by the U.S. Armed Forces Radio when they set up in Saudi Arabia.A line like “The king called up his jet fighters / He said you better earn your pay / Drop your bombs between the minarets / Down the Casbah way” takes on a whole new resonance once you realize that it’s the king of Saudi Arabia who welcomed the U.S. military in an effort to stabilize the adjoining regions who were still in the midst of the post-colonial civil wars and conflicts –and in effect protecting the power of a monarchy. Two articles on this are below.

USA TODAY

October 10, 1990, Wednesday, FINAL EDITION

SECTION: NEWS; Pg. 4A

LENGTH: 274 words

HEADLINE: GIs rocking to a new desert sound

BYLINE: Kirk Spitzer

DATELINE: EASTERN SAUDI ARABIA

BODY:

Chief Petty Officer Rich Yanku brought Armed Forces Radio to U.S. troops here in a familiar way Tuesday: He used his best Robin Williams voice to wail, ''Gooooooood mornin', Saudi Arabia!''

Yanku, 38, of Albany, N.Y., one of four broadcasters making a debut here, had promised he wouldn't steal Williams' line from Good Morning, Vietnam. But he couldn't resist.

''I liked that. I think I'll do it every morning,'' Yanku said.

Military officials have high hopes for the radio: relief from the boredom and loneliness of desert duty.

''We feel like we're doing a lot to help the morale of people living out in the desert, sleeping in tents, eating food out of a package. This is a touch of home,'' said another broadcaster, Air Force Staff Sgt. John Haynes, 27, of Phoenix.

In addition to music and news, the 24-hour service will include live broadcasts of U.S. sports, as well as tips and reminders for soldiers in the field: ''Drink plenty of water; watch for snakes at sundown.''

Lt. Col. David MacNamee, chief of the radio service, said it will operate much like a commercial U.S. radio station, playing mostly popular songs and airing commercial network news. However, he said broadcasters have been told to avoid mentioning subjects that might be ''sensitive'' to Saudi Arabia's Islamic government.

Air Force Staff Sgt. Harry Lockley, 25, of New Castle, Pa., said he'll play a little bit of everything.

He said he wants listeners to think of him as ''just Harry,'' but he clearly has an irreverent sense of humor.

The first song that Yanku played on the opening broadcast was Lockley's suggestion: Rock the Casbah, by The Clash.

The Associated Press

These materials may not be republished without the express written consent of The Associated Press

October 9, 1990, Tuesday, AM cycle

SECTION: International News

LENGTH: 639 words

HEADLINE: U.S. Armed Forces Radio Rocking Saudi Arabia

BYLINE: By NEIL MacFARQUHAR, Associated Press Writer

DATELINE: CAMP SCHMOOZ, Saudi Arabia

BODY:

U.S. Armed Forces Radio started live broadcasts in Saudi Arabia Tuesday with an almost inevitable opening line: "Goooood Maaawrning, Saudi Arabia!"

Echoing comedian Robin Williams' intro in the movie "Good Morning, Vietnam," disc jockey Rich Yanku broke in at 9:05 a.m. to bring the Heart of the Desert FM 107 direct from an airbase in the desert.

An average mobile home would dwarf the two trailers that make up the broadcast unit. They were dubbed Camp Schmooz by the four disc jockeys after the favorite question of the unit's director, Bronx native Lt. Arnie Pon.

"What are you guys schmoozing around for?" Pon asks constantly, using the Yiddish slang for idle talk.

Picking the first song took a lot of schmoozing. Much of it was worthy of Adrian Kronauer, the character Williams portrayed in the film about Armed Forces Radio during the Vietnam War.

"Midnight at the Oasis" was rejected as too sugary.

Ray Steven's "Ahab the Arab" was also passed over and Hank Williams' "Don't Give Us a Reason" was dismissed for hinting at criticism of rather senior officials.

"We're probably always going to avoid playing that," acknowledged Air Force Staff Sgt. Harry Lockley, 25, of New Castle, Pa.

"Rock the Casbah" by The Clash finally was first on the air. It seemed to fit with both the Middle East landscape - the tune abounds with references to sheiks, Bedouins and Cadillacs - and the role of nearly 200,000 U.S. troops underwritten by Saudi Arabia to confront Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein after he invaded neighboring Kuwait Aug. 2.

One verse goes:

"The king called out his jetfighters.

"He said you better earn you pay.

"Drop your bombs between the minarets,

"Down the Casbah way."

The radio station's format will be rock 'n' roll, with some country, folk, rap and reggae music from their collection of 8,800 compact discs. There will also be a jazz hour on most nights. The station starts the hour with the AP Network News.

Classical music? None scheduled, and polka is also doubtful.

"There are a lot of young guys out here used to hearing hard-core rock 'n' roll, hard driving music," said Air Force Staff Sgt. John Haynes, 27, of Phoenix, Ariz., one of four disc jockeys. "I try to target the young guys."

The Saudi government has put some limits on what the radio can broadcast. But no one in the unit would specify what was forbidden.

"It's basically just common sense," about what might offend Saudi sensibilities, said Lt. Col. David MacNamee, head of the Armed Forces Radio and Television Services in Saudi Arabia. A TV station is still under discussion.

The Moslem and tribal codes that determine public behavior in Saudi Arabia include bans on alcohol, and the mixing of men and women outside their homes.

Most U.S. soldiers out in the field have been prohibited from entering villages, and there has been cultural friction in places where the troops share facilities. Saudi troops are shocked by American men walking naked to the showers.

Part of the radio broadcasts include pep talks on the kingdom.

"Saudi Arabia's a land of mystery. Or is it?" said Yanku between songs during his first 30 minutes on the air. "If you take a little time to learn about it you'll make your stay more enjoyable."

Public service messages will include warnings about scorpions in the desert.

There's some question about how many soldiers will hear the 24-hour broadcasts because the number of transmitters is limited and few troops brought radios. Several thousand radios have been distributed and another 30,000 donated in the United States are expected to arrive soon.

Requests started rolling in within minutes of the live show.

The first soldier to call was a woman named Kim, dedicating Bruce Springsteen's "Born in the U.S.A." to her fellow troops.

Got a request? Dial 9663-899-1119, extension 7231.