Ayatollah (song)

Ayatollah is a 1979 novelty and parody song by American comedian Steve Dahl and his band Teenage Radiation.^{[1] [2]} It references and critiques Iranian ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini, set to the melody of My Sharona by The Knack. ^{[3] [4]}The song was released on the Renta-Hits label with the catalog number Komen I.

Background

The song was released at the height of the Iranian Hostage Crisis when the members of the American embassy were kept hostage in Teheran, Iran by the Iranian government to pressure the Carter administration to hand out former shah Mohammad Reza Pahlavi to them, who received political asylum in the United States at the time. ^[5]

Lyrics

The lyrics are a sarcastic attack at Khomeini. ^[6]The singer questions his sanity and asks him to "bring our people back" since "the Shah is going to die anyway". The singer is sure that when the ayatollah gets the Shah back he is "going to eat him on rye". Yet he acknowledges that "we kind of need your oil to make our gas". The song concludes with the singer threatening to "do something nuclear". ^[7] The singer also asks Khomeini what Mike Wallace looks like, referring to Wallace's interview with the ayatollah at the time.

See also

• Bomb Iran

Source