\"The Desert Song\" was originally a Broadway musical operetta starring Richard Halliday and Vivienne Segal.
Over the ground there comes a sound
It is the drum, drum, drum of hoofbeats in the sand
Quiver with fear if you are near
It is the thunder of The Shadow and his Band
(And all who plunder learn to understand)
(To understand the cry of.....)
Ho!
So we sing as we are riding
Ho!
It's a time you'd best be hiding
Low
It means the Riffs are abroad
Go
Before you've bitten the sword
Ho!
That's the sound that comes to warn you
So!
In the night or early morn, you know
If you're The Red Shadow's foe
The Riffs will strike with a blow
That brings you woe!
No darkest night can bring respite
For still the drum, drum, drum of hoofbearts in the air
No flying steed could match in speed
The swiftness of The Shadow's vengeance drawing near
Fear grips the heart, when they the message hear
As clarion clear the challenge
Ho!
So we sing as we are riding
Ho!
It's a time you'd best be hiding
Low
It means the Riffs are abroad
Go
Before you've bitten the sword
Ho!
That's the sound that comes to warn you
So!
In the night or early morn, you know
If you're The Red Shadow's foe
The Riffs will strike with a blow
That brings you woe!
Nat Shilkret & The Victor Orchestra play \"The Riff Song\" from Romberg's The Desert Song.
Recorded on November 29, 1926, and issued on Victor 20373. Vocal by The Revelers though they are not credited on the label.
The 1925 uprising of the Riffs in Morocco against French colonial rule was the inspiration for The Desert Song, an operetta by Sigmund Romberg. Lyrics are by Otto Harbach and Oscar Hammerstein II.
Romberg’s show had a successful Broadway production in 1926. A film was made in 1929.
The show was successfully revived in 1953.
\"Riff Song\" from Romberg's The Desert Song (1926) Nat Shilkret & The Victor Orchestra
