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The Society of Folk Dance Historians (SFDH) Misirlou
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BACKGROUND
Information: A dance.
Translation: My unhappy one (or My Egyptian girl)
Pronunciation: MEE-zir-loo
ANECDOTES
- Nicholas Roubanis allegedly wrote the song on a napkin in a New York restaurant in the late 1920s. He may have been from Alexandria, Egypt, and he married a woman, Katherine, who served as handmaiden to the queen of Egypt.
- Dick Spottswood issued a re-release of an earlier recording, Mousourloum, in the 1980s. The Turkish word "Mısırlı" means "Egyptian" and derives from the Arabic word "Masr" meaning Egypt. Greeks changed the ending "-li" into "-lou," making it feminine (Egyptian woman).
- Misirlou (Columbia 56073-F) was made by the Greek-American singer and record productor Tetos Dimitriadis in New York, July 1927.
- 1931: The Mousourlou recording by Michalis Patrinos calls the tune a Zeibekiko in 9/4, but it might be a Tsiftetelli in 4/4.
- Steve Frangos ("The Greek-American National Anthem, MS 1996), cites Roubanis as the original composer, copyright Misirlou in 1934.
- 1941: Misirlou Music, Inc. held the copyright for the song. Frangos says Misirlou Music, Inc. was Tetos Demy/Tetos Dimitriadis.
- 1941: Copyrighted by Colonial Music Publishing Co., Inc, New York.
- 1969: Miserlou Music, Inc. Copyright renewed.
- International Copyright Secured.
- English lyrics by Fred Wise, Milton Leeds, and S.K. Russell.
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REFERENCE
- Folk Dance Problem Solver (1997), Society of Folk Dance Historians (SFDH), San Antonio, TX. Misirlou.
DOCUMENTS
- Greece, a country.
- United States, a country.
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