What was writer Liam Sternberg’s first thought when seeing people stumble on a ferry in 1985? No, he harbored no inclination to help them. Rather, seeing them stumble reminded him of figures moving awkwardly in Ancient Egyptian reliefs. Associated with the ‘Akron Scene’ movement of the late 1970s and the theme from the television series 21 Jump Street, Sternberg also helped to launch new wave artists Devo (best known for “Whip It”) and The Waitresses (known for “I Know What Boys Like”). However, Sternberg’s “Walk Like An Egyptian” remains his most successful creation.
After offering the track to Toni Basil (“Mickey”), producer David Kahne suggested the arrangement to The Bangles as an addition to their 1986 album Different Light. No one expected the trippy track to be such an immense and immediate hit, not even Bangles members, which at the time included Vicki and Debbi Peterson, Susanna Hoffs, and Michael Steele. Steele stayed mostly in the background of all band activities (the band was focused on the women) as shown by the covers of all Bangles records.
But why record a track like “Walk Like An Egyptian”? The song carries little or no relation to the rest of the tracks on Different Light, though it did help propel the album to #2 on Billboard Charts in 1986. In fact, it is safe to say it is as if the song was accidentally tacked onto the end of the wrong CD! At the time, it was popular to release music with Arab themes or subject matter to protest the decline in U.S. relations with Eastern nations. Iran had just banned music in the rock genre from its country only years earlier (protested by The Clash in “Rock the Kasbah”) and the Gulf War wasn’t far off in the future. Could there be political implications to “Walk Like An Egyptian”? Sadly, we are not so lucky—“Walk Like An Egyptian” is purely about having fun and making a fool of oneself and others. After all, think of the origin of the song—people stumbling on a boat hardly justifies a song written about an imagined or perceived method of walking for Ancient Egyptians. Gotta love the 80s.
However, in many ways “Walk Like An Egyptian” still sits very well alongside other late 80s hits. ‘New Wave’ was on its way out, but still hugely popular among many audiences. In the United States, ‘New Wave’ referred to most artists in the late 1980s that used synthesizers as well as real instrumentals when creating music—subject matter often revolved around something offbeat if not absurd, and for this reason, the subgenre today is often not taken seriously. Certainly, “Walk Like An Egyptian” was intended to be an escapist track and continues in that tradition today. Unfortunately, as with many tracks from its time, much of the music from the ‘New Wave’ period is often somewhat forgotten or seemingly stuck in a perpetual 80s time capsule—the track sounds like a freak hit or novelty record, which, essentially, is spot on. “Walk Like An Egyptian” really had little to do with The Bangles persona or identity as a band, even if it does paint a telling portrait of the confusing 1980s pop landscape.
Still, “Walk Like An Egyptian” should be a part of everyone’s music library. In what other song can you pretend to be Egyptian, sing oh-way-oh, lose your cigarette to a crocodile, drop your books, and strike a pose on a Cadillac? You aren’t afforded these opportunities very often—I’m guessing a trip to Cairo wouldn’t even allow for a pose on a Cadillac. I know I’ve never felt more Egyptian.
The Bangles, “Walk Like An Egyptian”
Different Light, 1986.
-0:14 second intro, very repetitive, extremely Westernized view of Egypt (punk rock, metal, Cadillac, blonde waitresses, cops at the donut shop)
-Electric guitar, Western drum set, tambourine, synthesizer
All the old paintings on the tombs
They do the sand dance don't you know
If they move too quick (oh whey oh)
They're falling down like a domino
All the bazaar men by the Nile
They got the money on a bet
Gold crocodiles (oh whey oh)
They snap their teeth on your cigarette
Foreign types with the hookah pipes say
Ay oh whey oh, ay oh whey oh
Walk like an Egyptian
Blonde waitresses take their trays
They spin around and they cross the floor
They've got the moves (oh whey oh)
You drop your drink then they bring you more
All the school kids so sick of books
They like the punk and the metal band
When the buzzer rings (oh whey oh)
They're walking like an Egyptian
All the kids in the marketplace say
Ay oh whey oh, ay oh whey oh
Walk like an Egyptian
Slide your feet up the street bend your back
Shift your arm then you pull it back
Life is hard you know (oh whey oh)
So strike a pose on a Cadillac
If you want to find all the cops
They're hanging out in the donut shop
They sing and dance (oh whey oh)
Spin the clubs cruise down the block
All the Japanese with their yen
The party boys call the Kremlin
And the Chinese know (oh whey oh)
They walk the line like Egyptian
All the cops in the donut shop say
Ay oh whey oh, ay oh whey oh
Walk like an Egyptian
Walk like an Egyptian
Now that you know the lyrics, you can sing along! The video below was extremely popular on MTV in its earliest years. You know, when it actually played music. Enjoy!
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