Job Discussion Forums

[johnslat]

Dear scot47,

Here I am:

"Abdullah Bulbul Amir

The sons of the Prophet are valiant and bold;

And quite unaccustomed to fear;

And the bravest of all was a man, so I'm told,

Called Abdullah Bulbul Amir.

When they wanted a man to encourage the van,

Or harass the foe from the rear,

Storm fort or redoubt, they were sure to call out

For Abdullah Bulbul Amir.

There are heroes in plenty, and well known to fame,

In the legions that fight for the Czar;

But none of such fame as the man by the name

Of Ivan Petrofsky Skovar.

He could imitate Irving, tell fortunes by cards,

And play on the Spanish guitar;

In fact, quite the cream of the Muskovite guards

Was Ivan Petrofsky Skovar.

One day this bold Muskovite shouldered his gun,

Put on his most cynical sneer,

And was walking downtown when he happened to run

Into Abdullah Bulbul Amir.

"Young man,' said Bulbul, "is existence so dull

That you're quite anxious to end your career?

Then infidel, know you have trod on the toe

Of Abdullah Bulbul Amir.

"So take your last look at the sea, sky and brook,

Make your last report on the war;

For I mean to imply you are going to die,

O Ivan Petrofsky Skovar."

So this fierce man he took his trusty chibouk,

And murmuring, "Allah Akbar!"

With murder intent he most savagely went

For Ivan Petrovsky Skovar.

The Sultan rose up, the disturbance to quell,

Likewise, give the victor a cheer.

He arrived just in time to bid hasty farewell

To Abdullah Bulvul Amir.

A loud-sounding splash from the Danube was heard

Resounding o'er meadows afar;

It same from the sack fitting close to the back

Of Ivan Petrofsky Skovar.

There lieth a stone where the Danube doth roll,

And on it in characters q u e e r,

Are "Stranger, when passing by, pray for the soul

Of Abdullah Bulbul Amir.

A Muskovite maiden her vigil doth keep

By the light of the pale northern star,

And the name she repeats every night in her sleep

Is Ivan Petrofsky Skovar. "

By - of course, the great Tom Lehrer.

Regards,
John

[SueH]

That is indeed the song...

The version I heard was based on that, the same metre and so forth, but seemed to have been subtly (?!) modified by the oral tradition within the Royal Navy!

[scot47]

I think it predates Tom Lehrer. I saw it in "The Scottish Students' Songbook" first published long before Tom Lehrer, who of course was one of the greats. Is he still alive ? (Lehrer not Abdul Albulbul Emir or his Russian foe, who in my version was Ivan Skavinsky Skavar.)

[FGT]

And did you know that bulbul means nightingale?

[dmb]

And did you know that Al(in Arabic) means 'the'

The nightingale

[johnslat]

There seem to be other versions, as well:

http://www.mcabee.org/~lcm/lyrics/STmusic.txt

Here are a couple of good source pages for Tom Lehrer:

http://hometown.aol.com/sillysongbook/LEHRER.htm

http://www.wiw.org/~drz/tom.lehrer/

Is he still alive?

Well, as of March, 2003, he was:

http://www.smh.com.au/articles/2003/02/28/1046407753895.html

Regards,
John

[scot47]

A while back while tecahing in Bulgaria I passed on the lyrics of some Tom Lehrer songs to my 20-year-old kids who were heavily into Heavy Metal music and Gothic Punk fashion.

All a sham !

They were SO shocked by the lyrics of
"I hold your hand in mine dear
I put it to my lips

The night you died I cut it off
I really don't know why

Now every time I kiss it
I get bloodstains on my tie"

[ghost]

To answer the question about life in Lanka.

No, one would not want to live here all year......around 2-3 months a year would be good, with the rest of the time spent in Europe, Canada, U.S.A. and/or Latin America.

The rainy season here is hot and miserable, and there are things from the first world that one misses, so the ideal would be to divide one's time between several countries, if one had the finances and resources.

The National Party (Singhalese) swept the National elections, as expected, and it was a peaceful election, with no need for major law enforcement. There were a couple of incidents in the days leading to the election, with several stabbings and beatings of opposition candidates, but this is normal at election time (unfortunately).

Today in the Sri Lankan "Daily News" an article mentioned the general poor standard (and declining) of English language among Sri Lankans. In part because of poor teaching methods, with antiquated books, and teachers who themselves do not master the language. The lack of resources and materials and adequate man power encourage lack of student motivation.

In a country where most Tamils and Singalese themselves cannot communicate together (different languages) it is not surprising that English creates a triple "whammy" effect. A pity, as communication is the key to understanding between people.