A popular song from 1919.
Words by Ballard MacDonald.
Music by Nat Osborne.
The sheet music:
Accompaniment by James Pitt-Payne:
Lyrics
1. If of life you find you’re growing weary
And things are dreary, come join my caravan
For I know a spot on earth that’s cheery
I’ll take you for a visit to Soudan
CHORUS
In Soudan, In Soudan
Maidens wearing lucky charms
Lie around beneath the palms
And your troubles fly away
The minute they start to sway
In Soudan, they have fifteen wives to every man
When they come around for the rent
All you do is move your tent
That’s the way they do it in Soudan
2. They’ve a dance that baffles all description
It’s not Egyption
You’re going to have a treat
You can best describe it as coniptian
They dance with everything except their feet
CHORUS
In Soudan, in Soudan
Every Sultan on his throne
Has a Harem all his own
When they see him wave his hand
They wiggle to beat the band
In Soudan
They’ve been dancers since the world began
Shimmy artists they’d not make
But there’re other things they shake
That’s the way they do it in Soudan
CHORUS
In Soudan, in Soudan
they have native B. V. D’s
Made of leaves from bamboo trees
They look like a burlesque show
Whenever the breezes blow
In Soudan
They believe in saving when they can
When they want to put on style
They just wear a bigger smile
That’s the way they do it in Soudan