[Verse 1: Klaus Eberhartinger]
Deep in the Sahara on a dromedara
A German explorer rode through the date grove
There the mummy peddler saw a girl named Laila
Magical excitement goes into his bones
He called: "Tell me, who are you, who inebriates me?
Come and heal my wounds!"
She said: "I am Laila, the queen of the night."
And hey presto she was gone
[Chorus: Klaus Eberhartinger & Thomas Spitzer]
Like a Fata Morgana
So close and yet so far
Like a Fata Morgana
Abaracadabara and she was thеre no more
Like a Fata Morgana
So closе and yet so far
Like a Fata Morgana
Abaracadabara and she was there no more
[Verse 2: Klaus Eberhartinger]
He follows the singing, there, where the dates hang
The mirage named Laila and didn't see the danger
An old bedouin sat on a dune
Bit into the sequin and said: "In šāʾa llāh"!
Oh, effendi, they call me Hadji Halef Ibrahim
Break free from her spell
Or else you are a dead man!", the muezzin called
And gone was the old date plucker
[Chorus: Klaus Eberhartinger & Thomas Spitzer]
Like a Fata Morgana
So close and yet so far
Like a Fata Morgana
Abaracadabara and she was there no more
Like a Fata Morgana
So close and yet so far
Like a Fata Morgana
[Verse 3: Klaus Eberhartinger]
More dead than alive the efendi crawled
Under the hot sun through the desert sand
"By the beard of the Prophet, now I have to make my last exit"
He said and once more raised his hand
And on the horizon he saw the Fata Morgana
Then he died in the land of the Arabs
The vultures above him croaked: "In šāʾa llāh!
At last another cadaver!"
[Chorus: Klaus Eberhartinger & Thomas Spitzer]
Like a Fata Morgana
So close and yet so far
Like a Fata Morgana
Abaracadabara and she was there no more
Like a Fata Morgana
So close and yet so far
Like a Fata Morgana
Abareecadabaree and gone was she
[Outro: Klaus Eberhartinger]
Like a Fata Morgana
So close and yet so far
Like a Fata Morgana
So close and yet so far
Like a Fata Morgana
So close and yet so far
Like a Fata Morgana
So close and yet so far
Like a Fata Morgana
So close and yet so far