music connects us to memories, and creates longing for treasured places and times
Even before the discovery of the tomb of Tutankhamun in 1922 resulted in a burst of Egyptomania in fashion, furniture, and architecture, the allure of Egypt fascinated people in the West. Egypt was inspiration for many songs, musicals, and the famous opera “AIDA”.
* throughout this post, click on each hyperlink to listen to audio or watch video.
sheet music covers of songs with Egyptian themes
music: ”There’s Egypt In Your Dreamy Eyes”
One of the earliest examples of songs mentioning Egypt is Go Down Moses (this version by Louis Armstrong, the earliest version is referenced to the 1850s).
This African American spiritual describes the Hebrew Exodus, drawing from the Book of Exodus 5:1 in which God commands Moses to demand the release of the Israelites from Egypt.
Below are a few of the hundreds of sheet music covers and posters designed for the opera AIDA, which is still in the performance repertoire of companies including the annual Verona Arena di Verona Opera Festival in Italy. The opera by Giuseppe Verdi with Italian libretto by Antonio Ghislanzoni was commissioned by Cairo’s Khedivial Opera House and had its premiere in 1871.
from the 2025 production of AIDA Arena di Verona Opera Festival
Ancient Egypt and its timeless icons – the Nile, the pyramids, the desert – and also modern Egypt have featured in the lyrics of many songs from the second half of the 20th century onwards, including in songs that do not have a direct Egyptian reference in their title.
Many have inspired fanciful videos that are far from the reality you will experience in Egypt.
You Belong To Me (1952) covered by Jo Stafford and many others.
”See the pyramids along the Nile
Watch the sun rise on a tropic isle
Just remember, darling, all the while
You belong to me.”
Egypt (1979) by Kate Bush, who described the song as “an attempted audial animation of the romantic and realistic visions of a country”. The song was premiered during her Christmas Special in 1979 and released on the album “Never For Ever” in 1980.
Night Boat to Cairo (1979) by British ska/pop band Madness from their album “One Step Beyond”. A low-budget karaoke-type video for the song was filmed in a studio. The video featured the band dressed in fez and stereotypical British colonial attire, including short trousers and pith helmets, in front of a chroma key backdrop of an Egyptian pyramid.
Fire In Cairo (1980, audio; live performance ) by The Cure from the album “Boys Don’t Cry”.
album cover “Boys Don’t Cry” by The Cure
Walk Like An Egyptian by The Bangles (1986) Possibly the best known of the songs that refer to Egypt, and used often on social media in videos made during tours in Egypt.
Remember the Time by Michael Jackson (1992) The video is set in ancient Egypt and features Eddie Murphy, Iman, Tommy “Tiny” Lister and Magic Johnson.
Egypt by Mental As Anything (1979) In this song, Egypt could refer to the country or to a woman, the video is typical Australian humour, filmed in sand hills in Sydney, Australia not in Egypt.
Inshalla (2009) by Eskimo Joe, mentions the Nile and Fishawy cafe, a historic cafe you can visit on tours with Real Egypt.
In an interview with Australian radio station Triple J, singer Kav Temperley explained his choice of an Arabic word for the album title and this song:
“It basically translates to ‘what will be will be’ but the literal translation is ‘God willing’. It’s a really beautiful Arabic word and it basically means a resignation to fate, like you’re kind of letting the chips lie where they will. The people in the Arabic world use it all the time, they use it for like, ‘who knows?’…I had a real moment when in Egypt with our manager and I kind of had to make a decision whether I wanted to jump further off the precipice of being a rock star or just be Kav again and go back home to Fremantle… that’s where the stories from the album came from.”
The Nile Song (1969) by Pink Floyd.
Cleopatra (2014) by Weezer.
Schnappi – Das Kleine Krokodil (2004) Debut single of animated cartoon crocodile Schnappi from his first album, Schnappi und Seine Freunde. The voice of Schnappi is provided by Joy Gruttmann, a child singer. Joy’s aunt, Iris Gruttmann, originally wrote the song in 1999.
Dark Horse by Katy Perry (2014).
In 1966, Barbra Streisand was costumed as Egyptian queen Nefertiti in her television special “Color Me Barbra”, for her performance of the song “Where or When”. This was filmed at the Philadelphia Museum of Art, with Streisand wandering among the ancient Egyptian antiquities.
For those who prefer more Egyptology references, Egyptologist and photographer Tetisheri made a list of her “top 5 Egyptology songs” https://tetisheri.co.uk/my-top-5-egyptology-songs/
Naturally, many songs about places in Egypt and with Egyptian themes were written in Arabic. Many became favourites of Egyptians and visitors to Egypt, across decades.
Helwa Ya Balady / My Country Is Beautiful (1979) by Dalida, the essential song of love and longing for Egypt.
Dalida in Alexandria and on the Nile
Boshret Kheir / Good Omen (2014) sung by Emirati singer Hussain Al Jassmi, names many places and the video shows Egyptians throughout the country, in an effort to unite them and convince them to vote.
The video was filmed in eight Egyptian provinces by eight different cameras and was put together in less than a day.
Composer Ayman Qamar planned to sing it himself but Al Jassmi was coming to Egypt and he offered to sing the song himself to show his love for Egypt. Translation of the lyrics at https://lyricstranslate.com/en/boushret-kheir-good-tiding.html reveals the many places named in the song.
Um el dunia / Mother of the world (2009) by Mohamed Hamaki.
Enta Masry / I Am Egyptian (2013) by Nancy Ajram.
Wahshani Ya Masr / I Miss You Egypt (2011) by Nancy Ajram.
Some of the songs written in Arabic were inspired by the Egyptian locations in the popular films in which they featured.
Two examples come from “Love in Karnak” / “Gharam fi al-Karnak”, 1967, the fictionalized story of the Reda Troupe, Egypt’s first professional folkloric dance group:
Luxor Baladna where the troupe arrive in Luxor and are taken to their hotel in a horse carriage (singing along the way), and this tribute song and dance performance at the mortuary temple of Hatshepsut, Deir al-Bahari, on the West Bank of Luxor. At the beginning of this video we see the performers arriving on the West bank and travelling past the Colossi of Memnon to the temple.
Of all the Egyptian cities and towns portrayed in song, Alexandria is perhaps the most honoured.
Shat Eskendereya / Coast of Alexandria (1987) by Fairouz.
Ya Eskenderia (1990) by Mohamed Mounir.
Ya Banat El Eskandiria / The Girls of Alexandria has been recorded and performed by many, including this version by Tamer Abdo from the 2023 album “Zikrayat Sayed Darwish”; this version by Mohammed El Bakkar from the Al Chark Recordings 1953 – 1955; and this emotive instrumental remix
Alexandria (2017) an instrumental featuring oud by Ramy Adly. “One day while in Alexandria, I remember meeting a homeless man who only had one leg but he was smiling so big and was so happy; I can never forget his face. I wrote this song thinking of him and how one can still be happy no matter what the circumstances.”
There are undoubtedly many more songs inspired by Egypt, we hope this post inspires you to come to explore Egypt with us and see the Real Egypt
from “Remember The Time” video, Michael Jackson
