Tom Paxton - I Thought You Were An Arab lyrics

I thought you just got off of the plane Desert sand still in your shoes And the sand was probably Virginia Beach And you were from Newport News I thought you were an Arab I saw the desert in your eyes I thought of asking for a job in Abu Dhabi 'Til you sprang a big surprise You handed me the money That's what a real Arab does So I thought you were an Arab And all the time you were the fuzz I thought you were an Arab Desert Caliph or a sheik I thought I'd be your friend in Congress You'd be grateful, what a terrible mistake You handed me the money And that was all I saw So I thought you were an Arab And all the time you were the law Abdul was kinda obvious Now that I kinda think it through The way you spoke American without an accent Sure reflected well on you When you handed me the briefcase filled of cash I accepted with a wink You can catch it on the evening news you rat Now I'm headed for the clink

I thought you were an Arab When you were really apple pie You had a little shopping list of Congressman And prominent upon the list was I I smiled for the camera I couldn't see it from my seat So I thought you were an Arab And all the time you were the heat You were Lawrence of the FBI You really played it to the hilt There'll be no mercy back in Jersey When you tell 'em how the fatal milk was spilt I thought you were Kings of the fabled East All you really were was bums I got caught with my hand in the cookie jar Now my hand is full of crumbs I thought you were an Arab I saw the desert in your eyes I thought of asking for a job in Abu Dhabi 'Til you sprang a big surprise You handed me the money That's what a real Arab does So I thought you were an Arab And all the time you were the fuzz I thought you were an Arab And all the time you were the fuzz