Song Lyrics By:Don Rypinski
To the tune of “Sloop John B”
By:The Kingston Trio
Oh, Wind Sails and Sand
A Sahara adventure so grand
In Desert Raiders we sail one thousand miles
From Algeria to Mauritania
With the Bedouins to guide us
From there to the sea
The advice the director does give
About how, on the desert to live
Will astound some of us and shock the rest of us too
Until we turn blue, like all Bedouins do
One thing there’s no doubt, the adventure is new
With Mohammed Zoum-Zoum as chief guide
Who is taking us all for a ride
To the left, to the right, and into the night we sail
And sometimes we tow
Over big rocks we go
Then repair the next day
The Raiders we sail
Mon General Duboucher
Troujours il dit “Advancer!”
Mais nous vellons nous reposer
Quand nous sommes fatigues
Car Zoum-Zoum viens nous tuer
Well this is a long trip, toujours fatigue
(translation)
My General Duboucher
He says “Advance!”
But we want to rest
When we are tired
Because Zoum-Zoum come and kill us.
Well this is a long trip, always tired
Refrain:
So Hoist up the Raider’s Sails
See how the mainsail sets
But wait for the General’s call to Mohammed Zoum-Zoum
We want to go home
Oh let us go home
We like the desert but
We want to go home
The British Pilot, Gary
A long time ago injured his knee
And one day, while pushing, he did it all over again
He walked so stiffly that the Docter quickly
Sent Gary right home
To heal normally
Popolski Pilot Raman
Turned over his yacht in the sand
The diDirector said,”Please Raman , do it again
But this time wait for me—the signal will be
‘Roll it Camera, Action,’ now make it lively”
The American pilot, Don
At first sailed right on and on
But each day his axles would bend a little more
Till one day at four, his yacht hit the floor
And Hans had to fix it , for there were no more
Hans Dekkers, the chief mechanic
A superb machine-fabrik technician
Everything in sight he fixes all day and all night
He can weld, cook and sail, and follow our trail
Well, I think without Hans, our expedition would fail
Refrain:
Hoist up the Raider’s sails
And sail as just fast as you can
Don’t wait for the General’s call, we want to go home
We want to go home
Please Let us go home
Kees is getting restless and
We want to go home.
The Docter says the water is polluted
And with pills should be diluted
For the well at Fort Ien Ben Tilt was unfit
Water with shit, just think of it
Well this is the worst drink
Since I have been born
The German pilot, Uwe
Showing off one stormy day
He lifted a wheel in a move other pilots won’t make
So two reef we did take, it was no mistake
We still went Zoum-Zouming from lake to dry lake
The Belgian pilot, Alain
Always sails as fast as he can
Till something breaks, or he overtakes al the rest
He really is the best, when put to the test
What a bloody Belgian
That Houtsaeger is
Big George is the First Cameraman
Taking pictures as fast as he can
From tripod, hand held or out of a car
He shouts for a Mag, says the whole trip’s a drag
Oh, big George can hardly wait
He wants to go home
Assistant Cameraman Andy
Thinks cous-cous is dandy
And finds eating camel to be a delight
EHe ate some last night, with his left hand and right
What a site was Andy, he ate every bite
Oh, Werner’s a Cameraman too
Who thinks we’re in Timbuktu
And who finds the food to be increasingly bland
Always with sand and don’t use your left hand
Werner, keep on shooting,
So we can go home
Bertran, the pilot Francais
Shot a gazelle yesterday
Today we ate it with some potatos and rice
It wasn’t nice it needed some spice
But it was the best lunch we’ve hadup to now
Cornelius, known as Kees
Is the Dutch pilot, if you please
He claims we are all sailing like fools
Kees, don’t break the rules
Or we’ll take your tools
And we’ll have to tow you
So we can go home
The Canadian Pilot Stanley
Jumped into his Raider with glee
From Mabes to Tindouf he sailed very quickly
Then ran into a tree and stan did decree
Land yachting is nice, but I prefer ice
From Las Palmas our cook does come
He’s known as “Rommel” by some
At night he serves us whiskey. Champagne and rum
The rum comes from a gas-oil drum
But let’s not trommel Rommel
So we can go home
The still photographer, Nick
Bought a djellaba real quick
Took on a disguise we could not recognize
Except for the eyes, all covered with flies
Now we just hear click, click
From photographer Nick
From Chicago, the sound man Bob
Is conscientiously doing his job
Although desert life he finds full of strife
So sometimes, for fun, he’ll make a pun
He says, “it’s pun to be here”
But I long for my wife.
Refrain:
So Hoist up the Raider’s Sails
See how the mainsail sets
But wait for the General’s call to Mohammed Zoum-Zoum
We want to go home
Oh let us go home
We like the desert but
We want to go home
Link to back Issue with the original Wind Raiders article Summer 2014