I’m the Sheik of Araby,
Your love belongs to me.
At night when you’re asleep
Into your tent I’ll creep.
The Sheik of Araby, lyrics by Harry B. Smith and Francis Wheeler, music by Ted Snyder, written in 1921 in response to the popularity of Rudolph Valentino and the movie The Sheik.
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DREAMING OF THE SHEIK
by
Jamie Dedes
·
Oh yes, I’d say she’s about seven in that picture
Blue-black hair, curls bursting and tied with string
Hands folded neatly, one little foot turned in
·
With dark doe eyes staring at the waiting world
Long lashed and bright with hope and longing
What future did those clear sparkling eyes behold
·
What music played the strings of that young heart
She must have dreamt of men and marriage,
Well, she would assume love as young people do
·
Some standard dreams maybe, the house with
A white porch and rocker, a picket fence and
A back yard of rich dark earth, flowers and fruit
·
Sweet children would be a part of this fairy-dream
Roses for birthdays, lilies at Easter, and garland in May
Christmas trees and mistletoe and other such …
·
As she watered rubby beets and greens on the fire escape
And helped her mother with chores and siblings
No doubt she dreamed dreams gifted by movies, magazines
·
As she tied her worn boots, getting ready for school,
Smoothing her hand-me-down dress, then running
Down the steps and on through the slums …
·
She must have dreamed then of ocean mists and
Fresh air, streets with trees and well-groomed homes
And well-polished horseless-carriages for transit
·
When she grew old enough did she wait hopeful
On well-worn curbs under jaundiced street lights
A ghetto-bound Diana waiting for her handsome Sheik
·
And he, the Sheik looking for his Sheba, did he find her
Did he take her hand as she stood lovely, innocent
And did he soon leave her only to be followed by another
·
Did each Sheik stay long enough to steal her heart
And riding off take another piece of her, a souvenir
Of yearning and promise, love and gullibility …
·
Is that why she lies here now, eyes grown pale, heart empty
And a silent wail rising from the sacred depths of her being
“The movies and the magazines”, she says, “they lied …”
Then whispered softly: “When Valentino died, women
lined the streets for his funeral cortége and cried … “
·
Rudolf Valentino as the Sheik and Agnes Ayers as Lady Diana.
“Women are not in love with me but with the picture of me on the screen. I am merely the canvas on which women paint their dreams. ”
—Rudolph Valentino – 1923
Video posted to YouTube by tengirlsag
© 2009, 2010, 2011 Jamie Dedes, All rights reserved
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