The Clash's Rock The Casbah Has More Meaning Behind It Than You Probably Thought

May 2024 ยท 1 minute read

Topper Headon, The Clash's drummer, not only wrote "Rock the Casbah," but also recorded the drums, piano, and bass parts. "I went to Electric Lady (a New York City recording studio) and there was no one there and I just recorded it onto an old ghetto blaster," Headon told Chris Salewicz for his book "Redemption Song: The Ballad of Joe Strummer." The rest of the band loved it, but Headon hadn't written many lyrics for the tune. The ones he had written were about his girlfriend and were quite filthy, the band's co-manager, Kosmo Vinyl, told Rolling Stone.

Joe Strummer took a stab at the lyrics, which started off with a single line he wrote that night in his hotel room: "The King told the boogie men You gotta get that raga drop." He wrote this line in response to another of the band's managers, Bernie Rhodes, complaining that all the band's songs were as long as ragas, per Rolling Stone. A raga is a classical Indian musical framework and raga performances typically last for at least a half-hour, per Britannica.

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