Arabian Nights

"Arabian Nights" is the opening song from Aladdin, with music by Alan Menken and lyrics by Howard Ashman. It was performed by The Peddler (singing voice by the late Bruce Adler). Howard Ashman and Alan Menken had written several reprises, but they were ultimately cut from the final film.

An alternate version of the song utilizing lyrics from the original demo was later featured in The Return of Jafar, performed by Brian Hannan. This version was also used as the main titles theme for the Aladdin television series.

Aladdin and the King of Thieves features a reprise performed by Bruce Adler, which was originally recorded for the first film.

Arabian Nights pops up in the movie's score quite often, primarily used as a theme for Jafar.

Lyrics
Aladdin version= Oh, I come from a land, from a faraway place Where the caravan camels roam Where it's flat and immense and the heat is intense. (Where they cut off your ear if they don't like your face) It's barbaric, but hey, it's home When the wind's from the east And the sun's from the west And the sand in the glass is right Come on down Stop on by Hop a carpet and fly To another Arabian night

Arabian Nights like Arabian days More often than not Are hotter than hot In a lot of good ways

Arabian Nights 'neath Arabian moons A fool off his guard Could fall and fall hard Out there on the dunes Follow me to a place where incredible feats are routine every hour or so Where enchantment runs rampant Yes wild in the streets Open Sesame, here we go!
 * -|The Return of Jafar and TV series version=

Arabian Nights Like Arabian Days They tease and excite Take off and take flight They shock and amaze

Arabian Nights Like Arabian Days More often than not Are hotter than hot In a lot of good ways

Pack your shield, Pack your sword You won't ever get bored Though get beaten or gored, you might Come on down Stop on by Hop a carpet and fly To another Arabian Night Arabian Night! Genie (spoken) Salam and good evening to you all dear friends, Welcome to the fabled city of Agrabah, City of flying carpets, soaring heroes, famous love ballads, and more glitz and glamour than any other fictional city in the world!
 * -|Broadway version=

(sung) Oh, I come from a land, from a faraway place, Where the caravan camels roam, Where it's flat and immense, and the heat is intense, It's barbaric, but hey, it's home,

When the wind's from the east, And the sun's from the west, And the sand in the glass is right, Come on down, Stop on by, Hop a carpet and fly, To another Arabian night,

(spoken) And of course you know what Agrabah is famous for, This magical lamp, Don't be fooled by it's common place appearance, Like so many things it's not what on the outside, but what's on the inside that counts, This lamp put Agrabah on the map, You've never been? We can fix that!

(sung) Follow me to a place, Where incredible feats, are routine every hour or so,

Where enchantment runs rampant, Runs wild in the streets, Open Sesame, here we go!

See the dervishes dance, In ridiculous pants, And romance to your hearts delight,

Genie and Company Come on down, (Come on in) Let the magic begin, It's another Arabian Nights

Arabian Nights, like Arabian days, More often than not, Are hotter than hot, In a lot of good ways,

Arabian Nights, 'neath Arabian moons, A fool off his guard, Could fall and fall hard, Out there on the dunes,

Soloist In that magical land, That mystical place, There's a genie inside of every door,

Men He'll do all of your bidding, Your wishes command,

Genie It's demeaning but hey, There you are!

Ladies Unbelievable, yes, And an ethical mess,

Ensemble None the less, No ones very contrite,

You come here and you, Come to a land where any mountain can move, A land of high intrigue, With tricky logistics, By prophets and mystics,

Genie And I've got statistics that prove,

All Arabian nights, Arabian nights,

(dance break)

Genie (spoken) Agrabah, Come for the hummus, stay for the floor show, Even the poor people look fabulous, And everyone here has a minor in dance,

And now for the softer side of Agrabah!

(harem dance)

And of course you must watch your step here in Agrabah, For danger lurks around every corner,

It's a city where a penniless nobody, Can turn out to be a noble somebody,

Where a Princess would give up her crown for true love, But her father is a stickler for the old ways

And our heroes pals are as thick as thieves, Adorable... But thieves

And oh did I mention, Everybody sings!

Full Company Arabian Nights like Arabian days More often than not Are hotter than hot In a lot of good ways

Arabian Nights 'neath Arabian moons A fool off his guard Could fall and fall hard Out there on the dunes

Arabian Nights, Arabian Nights, Arabian Nights, Arabian Nights!

Deleted Reprises
Initially a longer composition, Howard Ashman and Alan Menken 1990 score treatment incorporated several reprises sung by The Genie of the Ring, who served as the story's narrator in the original treatment (although under the guise of the Peddler). The first reprise introduces The Wicked Wazir (later to be named Jafar) as the story's main antagonist. The second is sung as Wazir takes Aladdin to The Cave of Wonders posing as his uncle. The third plays as someone - presumably Aladdin - is locked in the dungeon, awaiting death. For the fourth and final reprise, The Genie of the Ring bids the audience farewell; this reprise was sung by The Peddler at the end of King of Thieves.

Reprise One= In the palace, right here Lived a wicked vizier The adviser to Sultan Hamed

And this part-time magician This amateur seer Wished his boss, the good sultan, dead

He was charming and slick But unspeakably sick This despicable parasite

What a villain, boo hiss Further proof, dears, that this Is another Arabian night A contemptible skunk Was this counterfeit "Unc" But Aladdin he led, alas
 * -|Reprise Two=

On a journey insane Through forbidden terrain To a desolate mountain pass

And the trip that they had Was so bad for our lad That he gradually got uptight

And suspected, guess what This was possibly not Just another Arabian night What a room, what a stink This is doom, don't you think? As the hours of the night crawl past
 * -|Reprise Three=

You've got rats in your cell But you'll live with the smell Till the dawn, when you'll breathe your last

Every tick of the clock Says get set for the block And the shock of your awful plight

You should sleep, but you don't 'cause you know that you won't See another Arabian night So it goes, short and sweet Now they live down the street Doing just what they all do best
 * -|Reprise Four=

Happy end to the tale And tomorrow's a sale So I'd better go home and rest

Here's a kiss and a hug Sure you don't need a rug? I assure you the price is right

Well, salaam, worthy friend Come back soon, that's the end Till another Arabian night

Aladdin and the King of Thieves reprise
This last reprise is sung by the Peddler at the end of Aladdin and the King of Thieves. It is a slightly different version of the fourth deleted reprise; the lyrics were altered to reflect changes made to the stories (mostly Aladdin living in the palace after his wedding, contrary to an early version where Jasmine would give up her status as a princess and come live with Aladdin in the end, reflected by the original version's lyric "Now they live down the street").

So it goes, short and sweet They were wed down the street May their marriage be truly blessed

Happy end to the tale And tomorrow's a sale So I'd better go home and rest

Here's a kiss and a hug Sure you don't need a rug? I assure the price is right

Well, salaam, worthy friend Come back soon, that's the end Till another Arabian night

Trivia

 * When the film was first released to cinemas, the line, "Where it's flat and immense and the heat is intense" was originally, "Where they cut off your ear if they don't like your face". Due to the line being offensive, it was changed shortly after being released. It's unknown whether Menken or lyricist Tim Rice wrote that extra lyric, seeing how it was never heard in the original demo.  The original lyric is only heard on the first soundtrack, while the Special Edition soundtrack retains the intended lyric.
 * In the Broadway musical, the song is sung by Genie instead of the Peddler, (Even though it's hinted they're both the same character).
 * A parody of the song is seen on the playlist of Judy Hopps' music player under the name Ara-bunny Nights in Zootopia

Videos
علاء الدين (أغنية) Nuits d'Arabie