A 1923 Egypt song
words by Roger Lewis
music by Lucien Denni
The sheet music:
Accompaniment by James Pitt-Payne:
Lyrics
Along the valley of the Nile
Tonight a torch is flamin’
Because two excavators found
The tomb of Tut Ankh Hamen
They searched and searched for years and years
At last they found the king
And when they Jesse Jamesed his tomb
These royal ghouls would sing
Chorus
Old King Tut was a wise old nut
To sleep three thousand years
He never gave a checkroom Jane
Sixbits to check a two-bit cane
Within a room they called a tomb
He went away to sleep
He took along his wealth and jewels
Egyptian cows ad sheep
Old King Tut was a wise old nut
To snooze away in peace
No landlord ever chased him there
He had a good long lease
They stored his tomb with beef and wine
To help his journey on
Today we find the beef it there
But all the wine is gone
Old King Tut was a wise old nut
So, let the King sleep on
Chorus
Old King Tut was a wise old nut
To sleep three thousand years
He never had to pawn his throne
To buy a meal for some salome
Within a room next to his tomb
He gamboled for a lark
Invited all the ladies there
Because the tomb was dark
Old King Tut was a wise old nut
There’s not the slightest doubt
The tomb was not to keep him in
But keep the pikers out
They buried him and all the men
Were jealous of the King
They left him twenty dancing girls
And they had everything
Old King Tut was a wise old nut
Oh, death! Where is thy sting?
Chorus
Old King Tut was a wise old nut
To sleep three thousand years
He never had an ache or pain
Or had to ride an Erie train
He drank some Egyptian wine
It was his private brew
It had some kick and only now
The King is coming to
Old King Tut was a wise old nut
He had a great old time
Three thousand years upon the Nile
And never spent a dime
He got into his royal bed
Three thousand years B. C.
And left a call for three o’clock
In nineteen twenty-three
Old King Tut was a wise old nut
Oh, wouldst the King were me
Chorus
Old King Tut was a wise old nut
To sleep three thousand years
He never had the chills or croup
Or gargle Kosher noodle soup
Within a room next to his tomb
One night he gave a ball
The Pharaohs all played Faro
But it wasn’t fair at all
Old King Tut was a wise old nut
With the pryramids on top
He had a show there every night
No Klu Klux Klan could stop
The day he died they stored
A thousand jugs of wine away
With moonshine twenty bucks a quart
What’s his stuff worth today?
Old King Tut was a wise old nut
Come where the Yits Yoks play