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Lyr Req: Wee White Turban (parody Broad Black Brim

15 May 01 - 04:23 PM (#463034)
Subject: the snow white turban of the PLO
From: Fergie

I'm looking for the words to this song which is a comic parody of "The broad black brimmer of the IRA"


15 May 01 - 07:19 PM (#463194)
Subject: RE: the snow white turban of the PLO
From: Peter K (Fionn)

I'll just bring this up towards the top of the iist, ready for when the Murphys in Chicago, and our other Aamerican-Irish friends, start to log on.


15 May 01 - 07:25 PM (#463197)
Subject: RE: the snow white turban of the PLO
From: GUEST,Philippa

Maybe I'll ask Joe Mulheron, the parody's author. I sometimes go to his pub, Sandino's, in Derry. Joe's also a quantity surveyor.


15 May 01 - 08:04 PM (#463216)
Subject: RE: the snow white turban of the PLO
From: Mark Cohen

I'd be interested in hearing this...and wondering what kind of storm it might set off. There would certainly seem to be a lot of potential for getting folks, shall we say, a bit upset! But that's folk music. (As we often forget.)

Aloha,
Mark

PS, I don't know the original, so if whoever posts the parody could do us the courtesy of posting both, it would be appreciated.


16 May 01 - 02:34 PM (#464014)
Subject: RE: the snow white turban of the PLO
From: wysiwyg

Mark, Brimmer is here:

http://www.mudcat.org/thread.cfm?threadid=16460#153553

~S~


18 May 01 - 09:22 PM (#465993)
Subject: RE: the snow white turban of the PLO
From: Fergie

refresh its a good one, so willsomeone post the lyrics please


30 May 01 - 05:41 AM (#472885)
Subject: Lyr Add: WEE WHITE TURBAN (parody of BLACK BRIMMER
From: GUEST,Philippa

patience, Fergie, I said I'd [maybe] ask Joe for the lyrics


THE WEE WHITE TURBAN
(Joe Mulheron)

'Twas a bundle that was hanging in what's known as father's tent,
A bundle of striped material black and red,
And when I asked me mother, now, just what did it contain,
"It's your father's Bedouin uniform," she said.
And as I put the kaftan on, she was smiling through her veil,
As she wrapped the wee white turban round me head.

It's just a wee white turban he wrapped around his head,
Forty yards of good material there and more,
An old kaftan that he stole in Marrakesh,
A pair of boots belonging to the cattle corps.
An old curved sword in its sheath of camel hide,
A wavy dagger he used against the foe.
When it comes to blood and snatters, sure the man that really matters,
Must wear the wee white turban of the P.L.O.

'Twas the turban that me father wore, in the desert long ago,
When he left me mother's harem on the run.
'Twas the turban that he wore when he stood by Nasser's side,
When he put the British army on the run.
The Brits were sending aeroplanes and SAS men by the score,
The Suez Canal was theirs they said.
Your da' swam to the tanker
Lit the gelignite and sank her
And claimed the canal for Egypt then instead.

It was two miles from Damascus when he made the final stand,
Surrounded by his enemies ten to one
As he lay in the sun there baking,
He knew there'd be no prisoners taken
And the ammo for the AK almost done
From Knock Airport to refuel came in slow
Your da' hijacked the Boeing;
Says he, "To West Belfast we're going
To wear the wee white turban of the P.L.O."


Who said (in a thread on Irish political songs) that you can't have funny songs about serious matters?! This one is quite pan-Arab, from Damascus to Marakesh, and has its share of stereotypes. I think it's a send up of "The Broad Black Brimmer" as much as anything else.


31 May 01 - 05:06 PM (#473886)
Subject: RE: the snow white turban of the PLO
From: Fergie

Phillipa. Thank you so much I've been on the hunt for this song for a long time, thanks for coming up thrumps. Fergus.


31 May 01 - 08:32 PM (#474036)
Subject: RE: the snow white turban of the PLO
From: MartinRyan

Joe is also responsible for a parody of "The Rocks of Bawn" about redundant IRA men robbing a bank. It contains the immortal line, describing police interogation: ... They beat me with soft turnips.."!

Regards


24 May 11 - 12:08 PM (#3159788)
Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Wee White Turban (parody Broad Black Brim
From: MartinRyan

There's now a somewhat Stygian recording of Joe singing The Wee White Turban on Youtube:

Click here

Regards