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ABDUL ABULBUL AMIR (Original Title: Abdulla Bulbul Ameer) (Percy French - 1877) Frank Crumit - 1928 Ben Pollack & His Orch. - 1935 George Melly - 1959 Also recorded by: The Sons of the Pioneers; Brendan O'Dowda; Charlie King; Bert Parks. The sons of the Prophet are brave men and bold And quite unaccustomed to fear But the bravest by far in the ranks of the Shah Was Abdul Abulbul Amir If you wanted a man to encourage the van Or harass the foe from the rear Storm fort or redoubt, you had only to shout For Abdul Abulbul Amir Now the heroes were plenty and well known to fame In the troops that were led by the Czar And the bravest of these was a man by the name Of Ivan Skavinsky Skavar One day this bold Russian, he shouldered his gun And donned his most truculent sneer Downtown he did go where he trod on the toe Of Abdul Abulbul Amir "Young man," quoth Abdul, "Has life grown so dull That you wish to end your career? Vile infidel know, you have trod on the toe Of Abdul Abulbul Amir" "So take your last look at the sunshine and brook And send your regrets to the Czar For by this I imply, you are going to die Count Ivan Skavinsky Skavar" "My friend, your remarks in the end Will avail you but little, I fear For you ne'er will survive to repeat them alive Mister Abdul Abulbul Amir" Then this bold Mameluke drew his trusty skibouk Singing, "Allah! Il Allah! Al-lah!" And with murderous intent he ferociously went For Ivan Skavinsky Skavar They parried and thrust, they side-stepped and cussed Of blood they spilled a great part The philologist blokes, who seldom crack jokes Say that hash was first made on the spot They fought all that night neath the pale yellow moon The din, it was heard from afar And huge multitudes came, so great was the fame Of Abdul and Ivan Skavar As Abdul's long knife was extracting the life In fact he was shouting, "Huzzah!" He felt himself struck by that wily Calmuck Count Ivan Skavinsky Skavar The Sultan drove by in his red-breasted fly Expecting the victor to cheer But he only drew nigh to hear the last sigh Of Abdul Abulbul Amir Czar Petrovich, too, in his spectacles blue Sauntered up in his gold-plated car And arrived just in time to exchange a last line With Ivan Skavinsky Skavar There's a tomb rises up where the Blue Danube rolls And engraved there in characters clear Is, "Stranger, when passing, oh pray for the soul Of Abdul Abulbul Amir" A splash in the Black Sea one dark moonless night Caused ripples to spread wide and far It was made by a sack fitting close to the back Of Ivan Skavinsky Skavar A Muscovite maiden her lone vigil keeps Neath the light of the cold northern star And the name that she murmurs in vain as she weeps Is Ivan Skavinsky Skavar ************************ ALTERNATE VERSION: THE BALLAD OF IVAN PETROFSKY SKEVAR The sons of the Prophet are valiant and bold And wholly impervious to fear But the bravest of all was a man by the name Of Abdulla Bulbul Ameer If you wanted a man to encourage the van Or harass the foe from the rear Or to storm a redoubt, you had only to shout For Abdulla Bulbul Ameer This son of the desert in batle aroused Could spit twenty men on his spear A terrible creature, sober or soused Was Abdulla Bulbul Ameer There are brave men in plenty, and well known to fame In the army that's run by the Czar But the bravest of all was a man by the name Of Ivan Petrofsky Skevar He cuold imitate Irving, tell fortunes by cards And play on the Spanish guitar In fact quite the cream of the Muscovite team Was Ivan Petrofsky Skevar The ladies all loved him, his rivals were few He could drink them all under the bar As gallant or tank there was no one to rank With Ivan Petrofsky Skevar One day that bold Russian, he shouldered his gun And with his most cynical sneer Was going down town, when he came right upon Brave Abdulla Bulbul Ameer "Young man," said Bulbul, "Is existence so dull That you hanker to end your career? For infidel know, you have trod on the toe Of Abdulla Bulbul Ameer" "So take your last look upon sky, sea, brook And send your regrets to the Czar For by this I imply, you are going to die Oh, you Ivan Petrofsky Skevar" "But your murderous threats are to me but a joke For my pleasure and pastime is war And I'll tread on your toes whene'er I may choose" Quoth Ivan Petrofsky Skevar Then that brave Mameluke drew his trusty chabook Singing, "Allah! Il Allah! Akhbar!" And with murder intent he ferociously went At Ivan Petrofsky Skevar But the Russian gave back not a step at the attack For Ivan had never known fear And with quickly aimed gun, put a stop to the fun Of Abdulla Bulbul Ameer Yet the whistling chabook did like lightning descend And caught Ivan right over the ear But the bayonet of Ivan pressed right through the heart Of Abdulla Bulbul Ameer The Russian commander spurred thither in haste To seek for his favourite Hussar Lo, pierced through the snoot from the fatal chabook Lay Ivan Petrofsky Skevar The Sultan rode up the disturbance to quell Or to give to the victor a cheer But he arrived just in time to take hasty farewell Of Abdulla Bulbul Ameer Then Gotchikoff, Skabeloff, Menchikoff too Drove up in the Emperor's car But only in time to bid rapid adieu To Ivan Petrofsky Skevar There lieth a stone where the Danube doth roll And on it in characters clear Is, "Stranger, remember to pray for the soul Of Abdulla Bulbul Ameer" A Muscovite maiden, her sad vigil keeps In her home by the cold northern star And the name that she murmurs so oft in her sleep Is Ivan Petrofsky Skevar ************************ TRIVIA: "Abdul Abulbul Amir" was a musical monologue written in 1877 by Percy French for a concert at Trinity College, Dublin. Frank Crumit, who was famous for his renditions of it, wrote three sequels: "The Return of Abdul Abulbul Amir", "The Grandson Of Abdul Abulbul Amir", and "Minnie Skavinsky Skavar".

    





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