Music is often seen as a form of rebellion, a method of expressing ideas in a way that will not upset convention but still spread a stronger message to the audience. The catchy lyrics of the Clash’s 1982 hit single “Rock the Casbah” tells the story of a Sharif, or Arab ruler, who orders his people not to play any rock music, but the population refuses to comply with his directive. Written in part as a reaction to the Iranian Ayatollah’s decision to punish those who owned disco players, the song promotes disobeying authority to do something that is right, although not legal. The music video conveys this message by demonstrating the principles of breaking the rules to have fun.

The music video features the interactions between an Arabic man and an Orthodox Jew limo driver, two ethnic groups that have always shown hostility to each other. Although each originally reacts with suspicion to the other, they are soon dancing together to “Rock the Casbah” in the Jew’s limo. This unlikely pair frolics around the town, doing things that are against their respective religions’ rules. The Arabic man is seen drinking beer with his Jewish counterpart, as the lead vocalists sings, “Degenerate the faithful,” which is what Muhammad declared alcohol would do to the Islamic people. The limo driver and his companion are also seen frequenting a Burger King, a place that would not be serving Kosher food pure enough for an Orthodox Jew to eat. These two men getting along and participating in these morally illicit activities together shows the audience that breaking the rules can lead to good as these two groups were brought together, despite the long-standing animosity between them.

The lyrics of the song itself show rebellion against authority for a good reason. The song speaks of all manner of people, from Bedouin nomads to the Sharif’s air force, flagrantly ignoring the Sharif’s wishes and “rocking the Casbah.” The chorus of the song begins with the line “The Sharif don’t like it,” implying that the people are enjoying themselves with music because it is banned by their tyrannical leader. The idea of music being a sign of rebellion is continued as the Arabic man totes a boom box around with him as he goes about town.

This song represents the purpose of rebellion as the people constantly subvert the Sharif’s ruling and they party to the banned music. This was meant as a contrast to the new Iranian government, headed by the Ayatollah, which had banned all music and other Western influences as the Ayatollah deemed them harmful influences to Muslim culture. As seen in the video, the Arabic man is listening to his music while drinking beer with his Jewish friend; all things that the Ayatollah would have considered heretic and, as the song says, ”not kosher.” Overall, “Rock the Casbah” is designed to show that breaking the law to do something that is right should not be considered evil.