Abdul Abulbul Amir

"Abdul Abulbul Amir" is a poem written in 1877 (during the Russo-Turkish War (1877–1878)) by Percy French and later set to music. It tells the story of two valiant heroes — a Russian, Ivan Skavinsky Skavar, and one of the Shah's mamelukes, Abdul Abulbul Amir — who because of their pride end up in a fight and kill each other. The poem inspired an MGM cartoon in the 1940s and a series of beer ads by Whitbread in the 1980s.

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".

Contents

Lyrics

Lyrics as recorded in The New Harvard Songbook (1896)[3]

The sons of the Prophet were hardy and bold
And quite unaccustom'd to fear.
But the bravest of all, at least so I am told—
Was Abdullah Bul Bul Ameer.

If you wanted a man to encourage the van
Or to harass the foe from the rear
Or to storm a redoubt, you had but to shout
For Abdullah Bul Bul Ameer

There were heroes in plenty, good men known to fame
In the army then led by the Czar.
But none of more fame than a man by the name
Of Ivan Petrovski Skivar.

He could imitate Irving, tell fortunes with cards
He could play on the Spanish guitar
In fact quite the cream of the Muscovite team
Was Ivan Petrovski Skivar.

One day this bold Russian had shouldered his gun,
And with his most cynical sneer,
Was looking for fun when he happened to run
Upon Abdullah Bul Bul Ameer.

"Young man," said Bul Bul,"is existence so dull
That you're anxious to end your career?
For, infidel, know you have trod on the toe
Of Abdullah Bul Bul Ameer.

"So take your last look upon sunshine and brook.
Send your regrets to the Czar.
By which I imply you are going to die
Mr. Ivan Petrovski Skivar."

Then the brave Marmaduke drew his trusty skilbouk.
Crying, "Allah, il Allah! Allah!"
And on slaughter intent, he ferociously went
For Ivan Petrovski Skivar.

On a stone by the banks where the Danube doth roll,
Inscribed in characters clear,
Is "Stranger, remember to pray for the soul
Of Abdullah Bul Bul Ameer."

A Muscovite maiden her sad vigil keeps
In her home by the cold Northern Star
And the name that she murmurs in vain as she weeps,
Is Ivan Petrovski Skivar.

Cartoon

The song was adapted in 1941 into an MGM cartoon, Abdul the Bulbul-Ameer, with Fred Quimby producing and direction by Hugh Harman.[4] Voice acting for the nine minute cartoon was provided by Cliff Nazarro, Harry Stanton, Leon Belasco and Hans Conried, while Frank Crumit wrote new lyrics.[5] It features caricatures of Groucho Marx, Lou Costello and Al Ritz as news reporters. In this version, Abdul is depicted as a bully who picks on Ivan's dwarf friend, provoking Ivan into treading on the Turk's toe. He has many traits of 1930s and 1940s cartoon villains, such as Bluto, including thick lips, a beard and a big belly. There is a brief swordfight, which soon changes into a brawl, that ends with Ivan and Abdul literally "out cold". The more positive portrayal of the Russians could have been due to the newly formed alliance between Britain and the USSR following Hitler's invasion of the Soviet Union in the year of the cartoon's production and release.

Commercial

In the 1980s Whitbread adapted the song using their own lyrics for a series of commercials on British television, suggesting that the two protagonists were great fans of their beer who squabbled over trivialities, because they had forgotten that "the best best needs no etiquette".[2] The commercials starred Stephen Fry as Ivan, Tony Cosmo as Abdul, Tim McInnerny and Roy Castle, and were directed by Paul Weiland.[1]

Pop Culture

In the Star Trek The Next Generation Episode Brothers the Character Lore is heard singing two slightly altered verses of the song, saying afterwards "I've always loved that old ditty".

Author Steven Millhauser, winner of the 1997 Pulitzer Prize for Fiction, used a variation of the song in his first novel Edwin Mullhouse: The Life and Death of an American Writer 1943-1954 By Jeffrey Cartwright[6].

References

  1. ^ a b Fry, Stephen (2010). The Fry Chronicles. London: Penguin Books. pp. 234–238. ISBN 978-0-718-15483-7. 
  2. ^ a b Whitbread Best Beer commercial (1982). United Kingdom.
  3. ^ Whitehouse, Robert Treat; Frederick Bruegger (1896). The New Harvard Song Book: a collection of the latest college songs and glees sung by the Harvard University Glee Club. Cambridge, Massachusetts: Oliver Ditson. p. 139. http://books.google.com/books?id=mbEQAAAAYAAJ. Retrieved 29 November 2010. 
  4. ^ Barrier, Michael (25 September 2003). Hollywood Cartoons: American Animation in Its Golden Age. New York City, New York; Oxford: Oxford University Press US. p. 299. ISBN 978-0-19-516729-0. 
  5. ^ Webb, Graham (2000). The animated film encyclopedia: a complete guide to American shorts, features and sequences 1900-1979. Jefferson, North Carolina; London: McFarland. p. 7. ISBN 978-0-7864-0728-6. 
  6. ^ Millhauser, Steven (1996 (1972)). Edwin Mullhouse: The Life and Death of an American Writer 1943-1954 by Jeffrey Cartwright. New York: Random House. pp. 71–73. ISBN 0-679-76652-9. http://www.amazon.com/Edwin-Mullhouse-American-1943-1954-Cartwright/dp/0679766529. 

External links