Omar And The Princess (Movie version)

Written for: Summer Holiday (1948)
Lyric: Ralph Blane
Music: Harry Warren
Year: 1946
Original publisher: Harry Warren Music, Inc.

Version 1:

Verse:

(Richard, spoken:) And you, you were a beautiful Persian princess, the fairest in the land.
(Sung:) I see you clad in chemisette of green,
With azure vest more ultra than marine;
Serenely dancing ev'ry moonlit night,
And only royal blood has seen the sight.
I see you robed in rays so wondrous bright,
I'm sure the sun from you has borrowed light;
And on a throne of pillows made of purest chintzes,
You're a princess fair;
Beyond compare,
Why do I stare?

[Muriel changes into the Persian princess of his imagination]
(Muriel, spoken:) But I'm not a princess.
(Richard, spoken:) Yes, you are, Muriel, and I'm a Persian prince.  Can't you see my golden sword?
(Muriel:) Yes, yes, Richard.
(Richard:) And my flask of wine.  Drink, Muriel.
(Muriel:) But, I'm afraid.
(Richard, sung:) Aw, can't you even dare and make believe?
(Richard, spoken:) After all, there is no wine in here; please drink, Muriel.
[Muriel, humoring Richard, pretends to drink from his imaginary flask]

Chorus 1:

(Richard, sung:) I see you standing in your slippers red,
The stars have left a halo 'round your head.
I see your face reflected in the skies,
Beneath your veil, my love reflected in your eyes.
I need no flask of wine, no loaf of bread,
When I recall that book of verse I read;
And if you think I'm gonna be
Another version of that Persian lamb,
Omar Khayyám,
Well, I am.

[Richard changes into a Persian prince, and recites, quoting lines from the Rubáiyát]
(Richard, spoken:) Oh, come with old Khayyám, and leave the wise to talk;
One thing is certain, that life flies;
One thing is certain, and the rest is lies.
[He tries to kiss Muriel, but she evades him]
(Muriel, spoken:) One thing is certain, the woman always pays for flirtin'.
(Richard:) You mean you, you'll let me kiss you, Muriel?
(Muriel:) I didn't say.
(Richard:) But you will, Muriel, say you will.
(Muriel:) Perhaps.
(Richard:) When?
(Muriel:) When you go away to Yale.
(Richard:) But that's next September!

Chorus 2:

(Richard, sung:) Ah, fill the cup, what boots it to repeat:
How time is slipping underneath our feet?
(Muriel, sung:) If not today, tomorrow's just as sweet,
I'd better hurry home, it's almost time to eat.
(Richard, spoken:) Tomorrow, why tomorrow I may be myself with yesterday's sev'n thousand years!
(Muriel, sung:) The kiss you wish is really not a crime,
But you should wait until the proper time.
(Richard:) Our yesterdays have flown away
And 'morrow's morn is yet unborn today.
(Muriel:) What can I say?
Well, I may.

[Richard tries to kiss Muriel, but she evades him as they dance, and as they dance, they speak their thoughts]
(Richard, spoken:) Tomorrow's the Fourth of July, and I've got a wonderful idea.  Let's go on a picnic, and we can be together.
(Muriel, spoken:) Oh, let's!  All the kids are going to the beach, if it's nice weather.
(Richard, sung:) I mean alone…
(Muriel, sung:) Just you and me alone?
(Richard, spoken:) I've got eleven dollars saved up anyway.
We can rent a canoe and go up the river for the whole day.
(Muriel:) What'll I tell my father and mother?
(Richard:) Oh, tell them one thing or another!
(Muriel:) But I'm afraid.
(Richard:) There you go again, always afraid, always do the conventional thing, never know life, never know the Divine passion, never really live…
(Muriel:) That isn't true!
(Richard:) Well, I'm different, I want to live life to the hilt, live so that if I should die tomorrow…
(Muriel:) Oh, Richard, don't say it!  I'll go with you.
(Richard:) You will?
(Muriel:) Yes.
(Richard:) Oh, boy!

Chorus 3:

(Richard, sung:) Here with a loaf of bread beneath the bough,
A flask of wine, a book of verse, and thou;
Beside me singing, singing in the wilderness
Is Paradise, enow.
[Richard holds Muriel in his arms]
My Persian lamb.
(Muriel [wilting for the kiss]:) My Khayyám!

[Mr. McComber (Muriel's father) stops the kiss as he breaks in on their scene, shouting like thunder:] Muriel!
[Richard and Muriel are jolted out of their Persian fantasy and are once more on earth]

Version 2:

Verse:

I see you clad in chemisette of green,
With azure vest more ultra than marine;
Serenely dancing ev'ry moonlit night,
And only royal blood has seen the sight.
I see you robed in rays so wondrous bright,
I'm sure the sun from you has borrowed light;
And on a throne of pillows made of purest chintzes,
You're a princess fair;
Beyond compare,
Why do I stare?

[Muriel changes into the Persian princess of his imagination]
(Muriel, spoken:) But I'm not a princess.
(Richard, spoken:) Yes, you are, Muriel, and I'm a Persian prince.  Can't you see my golden sword?
(Muriel:) Yes, yes, Richard.
(Richard:) And my flask of wine.  Drink, Muriel.
(Muriel:) But, I'm afraid.

Chorus 1:

(Richard, sung:) I see you standing in your slippers red,
The stars have left a halo 'round your head.
I see your face reflected in the skies,
Beneath your veil, my love reflected in your eyes.
I need no flask of wine, no loaf of bread,
When I recall that book of verse I read;
And if you think I'm gonna be
Another version of that Persian lamb,
Omar Khayyám,
Well, I am.

[Richard changes into a Persian prince, and recites, quoting lines from the Rubáiyát]
(Richard, spoken:) Oh, come with old Khayyám, and leave the wise to talk,
One thing is certain, that life flies;
One thing is certain, and the rest is lies.
[He tries to kiss Muriel, but she evades him]
(Muriel, spoken:) One thing is certain, the woman always pays for flirtin'.
(Richard:) You mean you, you'll let me kiss you, Muriel?
(Muriel:) I didn't say.
(Richard:) But you will, Muriel, say you will.
(Muriel:) Perhaps.
(Richard:) When?
(Muriel:) When you go away to Yale.
(Richard:) But that's next September!

Chorus 2:

(Richard, sung:) Ah, fill the cup, what boots it to repeat:
How time is slipping underneath our feet?
(Muriel, sung:) If not today, tomorrow's just as sweet,
I'd better hurry home, it's almost time to eat.
(Richard, spoken:) Tomorrow, why tomorrow I may be myself with yesterday's sev'n thousand years!
(Muriel, sung:) The kiss you wish is really not a crime,
But you should wait until the proper time.
(Richard:) Our yesterdays have flown away
And 'morrow's morn is yet unborn today.
(Muriel:) What can I say?
Well, I may.

[Dance]

Chorus 3:

(Richard:) And you are even graceful
When you're sleeping or leaping o'er the dell,
(Muriel:) Like a gazelle?

Interlude:

INSTRUMENTAL

(Richard:) Here with a loaf of bread beneath the bough,
A flask of wine, a book of verse, and thou;
Beside me singing, singing in the wilderness
Is Paradise, enow.
[Richard holds Muriel in his arms]
My Persian lamb.
(Muriel [wilting for the kiss]:) My Khayyám!

[Mr. McComber (Muriel's father) stops the kiss as he breaks in on their scene, shouting like thunder:] Muriel!
[Richard and Muriel are jolted out of their Persian fantasy and are once more on earth]