A 1931 popular song.
Words and music by Walter Doyle.
Sheet music provided by Caleb Cetina:
Accompaniment by James Pitt-Payne:
Lyrics
- Ella was a dancing girl who started getting fat
Ev’ry day brought two more pounds to Ella
Till one day she found she’d lost her job because of that
Then, to make it worse, she lost her “fella”
And so she sailed to Egypt to forget
But she made such a hit that she’s there yet
Chorus
If you hear of a gal who can shake and quake
Till it makes you think of a nervous snake
They’re speakin’ of Egyptian-Ella
She weighs two twenty but they don’t care
They like ’em plenty that way out there
She has the love of ev’ry fella
She does a dance and when she starts
By the River Nile
The boys all take their old sweethearts
And throw ’em to the crocodiles
And ev’ry sheik in the audience jumps up
And yells that she’s immense
How they love Egyptian-Ella
- All the other dancers from the desert to the Nile
One by one admit that they are jealous
For altho’ they dance each night and wear their sweetest smile
Ella’s tent’s the one that draws the fellas
And yet her dance is something they can’t steal
For nothing else could do it but an eel
Chorus
When the first sweet notes of the music sound
The boys all gather from miles around
Just to see Egyptian-Ella
And folks all know when those caravans
Start pouring in from the desert sands
That it must be Egyptian-Ella
Then Mister Sphinx sits up and blinks
There’s so much to see
She squirms and shakes so the worms and snakes
All bite themselves from jealousy
She’s a great big gal in a great big land
And the boys all give her a great big hand
How they love Egyptian-Ella
Chorus
The boys hang around but she plainly states
She doesn’t care a fig about dates
And they can’t make Egyptian-Ella
A sheik tried to kidnap her once I’m told
But she shook so much that he lost his hold
He couldn’t take Egyptian-Ella
So the Pasha wrote her a royal note
With his royal fist
It said because of the dance she does
She’s on his royal waiting list
And that’s how fame of a diff’rent sort
Has come at last from an indoor sport
To our own Egyptian-Ella
Sung here by Vancha March: