Abdul The Bulbul Amir chords by Traditional

Tuning: Standard (E A D G B E)

Difficulty: Novice

Verse 1:
  G7            C
The sons of the prophet were brave men and bold
  F           C
And quite unaccustomed to fear,
    G7                 C
But the bravest by far in the ranks of the Shah
  G7        C
Was Abdul, the Bulbul Amir.


Verse 2:
     G7        C
When they needed a man to encourage the van,
   F           C
Or to harass a foe from the rear,
   G7                C
Storm fort or redoubt, they had only to shout
  G7        C
For Abdul, the Bulbul Amir.

Verse 3:
   G7          C
This son of the desert in battle aroused,
    F           C
Could split twenty men on his spear.
  G7             C
A terrible creature, sober or soused,
  G7        C
Was Abdul, the Bulbul Amir.


Verse 4:
    G7           C
Now the heroes were plenty and well known to fame
  F             C
Who fought in the ranks of the Czar;
    G7                C
But the bravest of these was a man by the name
  G7       C
Of Ivan Skavinsky Skivar.


Verse 5:
     G7          C
He could imitate Irving, play poker and pool,
  F            C
And strum on the Spanish guitar;
  G7                   C
In fact, quite the cream of the Muscovite team
  G7       C
Was Ivan Skavinsky Skivar.


Verse 6:
  G7            C
The ladies all loved him, his rivals were few;
     F            C
He could drink them all under the bar.
  G7                 C
As gallant or tank, there was no one to rank
   G7        C
With Ivan Skavinsky Skivar.


Verse 7:
  G7            C
One day this bold Russian had shouldered his gun,
  F             C
And donned his most truculent sneer;
  G7                 C
Downtown he did go, where he trod on the toe
  G7        C
Of Abdul, the Bulbul Amir.


Verse 8:
    G7              C
"Young man," said Bulbul, "has your life grown so dull
      F           C
That you're anxious to end your career ?
    G7                C
Vile infidel, know you have trod on the toe
  G7        C
Of Abdul, the Bulbul Amir."


Verse 9:
  G7           C
"So take your last look at sunshine and brook,
  F            C
And send your regrets to the Czar,
  G7               C
By which I imply, you are going to die,
  G7       C
Mr. Ivan Skavinsky Skivar."


Verse 10:
   G7           C
Said Ivan, "My friend, your remarks in the end
    F           C
Will avail you but little, I fear;
    G7                C
For you ne'er will survive to repeat them alive,
  G7        C
Mr. Abdul, the Bulbul Amir."


Verse 11:
   G7             C
Then that bold Mameluke drew his trusty skibouk,
    F        C
With a cry of "Allah Akbar."
     G7                C
And with murderous intent, he ferociously went
  G7        C
For Ivan Skavinsky Skivar.


Verse 12:
   G7                    C
They parried and thrust, they sidestepped and cussed,
  F             C
Of blood they spilled a great part;
  G7                  C
The philologist blokes, who seldom crack jokes,
     G7        C
Say that hash was first made on that spot.


Verse 13:
   G7                C
They fought all that night, 'neath the pale yellow moon
  F            C
The din, it was heard from afar,
  G7                   C
And huge multitudes came, so great was the fame,
  G7        C
Of Abdul and Ivan Skivar.


Verse 14:
  G7           C
As Abdul's long knife was extracting the life,
  F           C
In fact he had shouted "Huzzah"
    G7               C
He felt himself struck by that wily Calmuck
   G7        C
Count Ivan Skavinsky Skivar.


Verse 15:
  G7           C
The sultan drove by in his red-breasted fly,
 F           C
Expecting the victor to cheer,
    G7                  C
But he only drew nigh just to hear the last sigh
  G7        C
Of Abdul, the Bulbul Amir.


Verse 16:
   G7           C
Czar Petrovich, too, in his spectacles blue,
   F           C
Rode up in his new crested car;
  G7                   C
He arrived just in time to exchange a last line
   G7        C
With Ivan Skavinsky Skivar.


Verse 17:
     G7           C
There's a tomb rises up where the Blue Danube rolls,
   F             C
And 'graved there in characters clear
    G7                  C
Are, "Stranger, when passing, oh pray for the soul
  G7        C
Of Abdul, the Bulbul Amir."


Verse 18:
 G7               C
A Muscovite maiden her lone vigil keeps
      F            C
'Neath the light of the pale polar star,
    G7                  C
And the name that she murmurs so oft as she weeps,
  G7        C
Is Ivan Skavinsky Skivar.