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.