King Farouk and Queen Farida

DESCRIPTION: "King Farouk, King Farouk, hang your ballocks on a hook" if you see Farouk, the "king of the wogs." Many of the soldiers would "like to ride" Queen Farida, though she may be "in the family way." There may be lines in pidgin Arabic
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1947 (Henderson-BalladsOfWorldWarII)
KEYWORDS: soldier bawdy royalty Africa | Egypt
HISTORICAL REFERENCES:
1936-1952 - Reign of Farouk bin Fuadl (1920-1965) as King of Egypt
FOUND IN:
REFERENCES (3 citations):
Henderson-BalladsOfWorldWarII, VIII, "The Ballad of King Faruk and Queen Farida" (1 very long text, tune referenced)
Page-KissMeGoodnightSergeantMajor, p. 84, "King Farouk" (1 text, tune referenced); pp. 85-86, "Queen Farida" (1 short text, tune referenced)
Page-ForGawdsakeDontTakeMe, pp. 99-101, "You can't fuck Farida if you don't pay Farouk" (1 text, tune referenced)
Roud #10305
NOTES [230 words]: This is a rather invertebrate song, but it can be identified by its references to the Egyptian royal family during World War II and its use of the Egyptian national anthem as a tune.
It's worth noting that both King Farouk and his wife, Safinaz Zulficar (renamed "Farida" because the Egyptian royal family thought names starting with "F" were lucky) were both quite young at the time of the North African campaign -- he was born in 1920 and she in 1921; the photos I've seen of her look quite modern although she doesn't seem especially pretty; she was a commoner whose marriage to Farouk was arranged by his mother for somewhat odd reasons).
It will tell you something about Farouk's background that, when the British came to him in 1939 and told him that they simply had to stay in Egypt to defend the Suez Canal, Middle Eastern oil, and such, he supposedly replied, "Oh, all right. But when it's all over, for God's sake lay down the white man's burden, and Go!" (Barrie Pitt: The Crucible of War: Wavell's Command, 1980, 1986 (I use the 2001 Cassell paperback with a different volume division), p. xv).
Farouk was initially popular, but his father had brought him up in a very unnatural environment, so he didn't really have much ability to exploit his popularity; he was overthrown in 1952, first on behalf of his young son and then, of course, by Gamal Abdel Nasser. - RBW
Last updated in version 7.2
File: PKMG084

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