Origin
Liam Sternberg wrote the song after seeing people on a ferry walking awkwardly to keep their balance, which reminded him of figures in Ancient Egyptian reliefs. The opening lyrics state, "All the old paintings on the tombs/They do the sand dance don't you know". The reference to the sand dance possibly refers to a music hall routine performed by Wilson, Keppel and Betty where Wilson and Keppel danced around in the postures portrayed on the reliefs wearing the fez while Betty watched.
By January 1984, Sternberg was finished cutting a demo version of the song with Marti Jones singing the lyric. He offered his song to Toni Basil, who turned it down. From Peer Southern Publishing, David Kahne, the producer of Different Light, received a copy of the demo and liked it, especially Jones's "offhand quality". Kahne took the song to the Bangles who agreed to record it. He had each member of the group sing the lyrics to determine who would sing each verse, with Vicki Peterson, Michael Steele, and Susanna Hoffs singing lead vocals on the first, second, and third verses, respectively, in the final version. Kahne did not like any of Debbi Peterson's leads, and so she was relegated to backing vocals. This angered Debbi and caused tension within the group, as she felt the rest of the band was not supportive. The situation was exacerbated by the drumming in the song being done by a drum machine instead of by her, further diminishing her role in the song.
Read more about this topic: Walk Like An Egyptian
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