WHEN THE SUN GOES DOWN IN CAIRO TOWN
Subtitle
CAIRO TOWN
Type
Song
Composer
Johnny S. Black
Lyricist
Fred Fisher
Publisher
McCarthy and Fisher, Inc.
Cover Artist
Wohlman
Notes
A slave girl is to be sold from the Sultan's harem. She cries to Mohammed that her Arab lover might redeem her, but he does not or cannot. A Victorian tear-jerker about the "bird in the gilded cage" who prefers death in a "heathen" grave to life in the harem without her beloved. The basic assumption is that a Muslim would pray to Muhammad as a Christian prays to Jesus.
Lyrics

Mohammed hear me, Mohammed hear me,
So cried a Cairo maiden Whose heart was heavy laden,
Mohammed I say, Mohammed I say,
Bring back my Arab love today:
When the sun goes down tonight,
And my love is not in sight,
I'll be sold, so I'm told
For the Sultan's paltry gold:

CHORUS:
So the sun went down in Cairo town,
He never never returned,
She learned her sighing was all in vain,
And all her crying would never bring him back again,
Through the portals of a harem wall,
She looks with heart bowed down,
She's like a bird in a beautiful cage,
Waiting in Cairo town.

Mohammed tell him, Mohammed tell him,
No Sultan's sword shall scare him,
He'll take me from this harem,
Mohammed I sigh, Mohammed I sigh,
If he don't come, I'll surely die:
And the sun went down one night,
Still her love was not in sight,
For so brave a Sultan slave,
Ended in a heathen grave:

CHORUS:
So the sun went down in Cairo town,
Just as her lover returned,
He learned his sighing was all in vain,
And all his crying would never bring her back again,
Through the portals of a harem wall,
He looks with heart bowed down.
He'd found no bird in a beautiful cage,
Waiting in Cairo town.

Country
Egypt