Vaudeville loved Orientalism. By the time Valentino played The Sheik, images of Middle Eastern scenes were well represented on stage and in music. Some of the lyrics from this time period are very clever. My personal favorite is a prohibition song from 1920 called “Sahara, We’ll Soon Be Dry Like You,” sung by the great comic singer Billy Murray. To hear this original 1920 recording in a digital format, click here.

Here are the words. Why not click above and sing along…

Sahara (We’ll Soon Be Dry Like You)
Words by Alfred Bryan, Music by Jean Schwartz

Verse 1: King Rameses went to pieces seven thousand years ago,
And pass’d a law that Egypt must go dry.
He took the liquors from the “shickers” all the way to Jericho,
But kept his little toddy on the sly.
The desert of Sahara flow’d with honey so they say,
Till prohibition came along and dried it up one day.

Chorus 1: Sahara, we sympathize with you
Sahara, we’ll soon by dry like you.
They gave poor Cleo water and she nearly went insane,
I think that Cleopatra died from water on the brain.
Omar Khayyam took a leap into his caravan,
Grabb’d his jug of wine and then flew.
And ever since all those Egyptians move their funny arms so queer,
They got that way from reaching for imaginary steins of beer.
Sahara, Oh Sahara, we’ll soon be dry like you.

Verse 2: All the fakirs turn’d milk shakers when they heard the awful news,
No more the Arabs sang Mohammed’s praise.
The camels halted and revolted when they took away the booze,
And travell’d without water seven days.
They brought the news to Cairo and the folks were all surpris’d,
The shock was so intense they say they all got paralyz’d.

Chorus 2: Sahara, we sympathize with you
Sahara, we’ll soon by dry like you.
I know why Cleopatra put that snake against her skin,
She lost her mind completely when she lost her Gordon Gin.
Omar Khayyam took a leap into his caravan,
Grabb’d his jug of wine and then flew.
Now I’ve found out the reason for the silence of the mighty Sphinx,
Her throat got dry, she couldn’t talk when they came and took away her drinks,
Sahara, Oh Sahara, we’ll soon be dry like you.
(I’ve got the old Sahara prohibition blues)

Alternate Chorus Ending 3:
I know just why Rebecca took her little pitcher to the well,
That old well just was camouflaging for a lager beer hotel.
Sahara, Oh Sahara, we’ll soon be dry like you.

Alternate Chorus Ending 4:
They laid poor Cleo on a table underneath a chandelier,
Mark Antony got thirsty when he stood and gaz’d upon her bier.
Sahara, Oh Sahara, we’ll soon be dry like you.

If you enjoyed this, listen to “Sarah from Sahara” by the Eubie Blake Trio (1917)

Daniel Martin Varisco

[Tabsir Redux is a reposting of earlier posts on the blog, since memories are fickle and some things deserve a second viewing. This post was originally made on September 5, 2007]