"Misirlou" (Greek: Μισιρλού < Turkish: Mısırlı 'Egyptian' < Arabic: مصر Miṣr 'Egypt'[1]) is a folk song[2] from the Eastern Mediterranean region.

There are also Arabic belly dancing, Albanian, Armenian, Serbian, Persian, Indian and Turkish versions of the song.

[5] The earliest known recording of the song was by the rebetiko musician Theodotos ("Tetos") Demetriades (Greek: Θεόδοτος ("Τέτος") Δημητριάδης) in 1927.

The rebetiko version of the song was intended for a Greek tsifteteli dance, at a slower tempo and a different key than the Oriental performances that most are familiar with today.

In 1941, Nick Roubanis, a Greek-American music instructor, released a jazz instrumental arrangement of the song, crediting himself as the composer.

7 on the Billboard Jockey charts in the U.S.[9] In 1951, Turkish-Jewish polyglot singer Darío Moreno recorded a version with lyrics sung in French.

It was released the following year on Vince Guaraldi in Person, and received critical accolades from Why It Matters blogger James Stafford stating "for sheer plaster-a-smile-on-your-face delight, nothing beats his take on the Mediterranean traditional song".

She contacted Mercine Nesotas, who taught several Greek dances, including Syrtos Haniotikos (from Crete), which she called Kritikos, but for which they had no music.

The dance was first performed at a program to honor America's allies of World War II at Stephen Foster Memorial Hall in Pittsburgh on March 6, 1945.

In 1994, Dick Dale's version of "Misirlou" was used on the soundtrack of the 1994 motion picture Pulp Fiction, prominently featured over the opening titles.

[16] The Black Eyed Peas heavily incorporates Dale's version of "Misirlou" in their 2006 single "Pump It" from their album Monkey Business.