The lyrics to Abdul Abulbul Amir were originally written as a monologue by Percy French while he was a student at Trinity College Dublin.
Abdul Abulbul Amir
Videos
Abdul Abulbul Amir Sequels
French added the music later when started performing concerts professionally.
He sold the song outright to a publisher for just £5 and never received any further royalties.
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Abdul Abulbul Amir lyrics and chords
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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, quote 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.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
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.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
There’s a tomb rises up where the Blue Danube rolls,
And ‘graved 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 verses:
The sons of the Prophet are brave men and bold
And quite unaccustomed to fear,
They could jockey a stallion, ambush a battalion,
And blow the froth off a beer.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
But needing a man to encourage the van,
Or harass the enemy’s rear,
Or storm a redoubt, they would always send out
For Abdul Abulbul Amir.
[/chordsandlyrics]
Abdul Abulbul Amir
Videos
Abdul Abulbul Amir Sequels
Lyrics and chords
Links to other songs by Percy French
Mountains of Mourne
Abdul Abulbul Amir
Come Back Paddy Reilly
McBrean’s Heifer
Phil the Fluther’s Ball
Sequels of Abdul Abulbul Amir
Abdul Abulbul Amir – original
Return of Abdul Abulbul Amir
Grandson of Abdul Abulbul Amir
Minnie Skavinsky Skavar
