Now the king told the boogie men
"You have to let that raga drop"
The oil down the desert way
Has been shaken to the top
The Sheik he drove his Cadillac
He went a-cruisin' down the ville
The Muezzin was a-standin'
On the radiator grille, ow

Shareef don't like it
Rockin' the Casbah, rock the Casbah
The Shareef don't like it
Rockin' the Casbah, rock the Casbah

By order of the prophet
We'll ban that boogie sound
Degenerate the faithful
With that crazy Casbah sound
But the Bedouin they brought out an electric camel drum
The local guitar picker got his guitar pickin' thumb
As soon as the Shareef had cleared the square
They began to wail

Shareef don't like it
Rockin' the Casbah, rock the Casbah
Shareef don't like it
Rockin' the Casbah, rock the Casbah

Now, over at the temple
Oh, they really pack 'em in
The in-crowd say it's cool
To dig this chanting thing
But as the wind changed direction
And the temple band took five
The crowd caught a whiff
Of that crazy Casbah jive

Shareef don't like it
Rockin' the Casbah, rock the Casbah
Shareef don't like it
Rockin' the Casbah, rock the Casbah

The king called up his jet fighters
He said, "You better earn your pay
Drop your bombs between the minarets
Down the Casbah way"
As soon as the Shareef was chauffeured outta there
The jet pilots tuned to the cockpit radio blare
Soon as the Shareef was outta their hair
The jet pilots wail

Shareef don't like it
Rockin' the Casbah, rock the Casbah
Shareef don't like it
Rockin' the Casbah, rock the Casbah

Shareef don't like it, he thinks it's not kosher
Rockin' the Casbah, rock the Casbah
Shareef don't like it, fundamentally can't take it
Rockin' the Casbah, Rock the Casbah

Shareef don't like it, you know he really hates it
Rockin' the Casbah, rock the Casbah
Shareef don't like it, really, really hates it


Lyrics submitted by Brock256

Rock The Casbah Lyrics as written by Mick Jones Joe Strummer

Lyrics © Universal Music Publishing Group, Sony/ATV Music Publishing LLC, Warner Chappell Music, Inc.

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Rock the Casbah song meanings
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  • +11
    General Comment

    the casbah is a sector of Algerias capital Algiers that is largely avoided by most algerians and other outsiders for fear of their lives. So feared is the Casbah that police don't enter the region unless heavily armed. More than 20 police have been murdered in the Casbah since 1992. The Casbah has served as an impregnable warren against Ottoman invaders and French colonialists. It is now the hotbed of resistance against Algeria's military regime - an Islamic insurgency that has resulted in the death of more than 60,000 people in the last five years. The old Casbah was renowned for its tolerant atmosphere. Native Arabs rubbed shoulders with Jews, Spaniards, Portuguese and French. But that tolerance has disappeared and the sector remains isolated.

    WhatAnAnderson May 19, 2002   Link

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