Hollywood put it in Ace Ventura: Pet Detective. England’s 1986 World Cup soccer squad turned it into a joke. The New Zealand army band turned it into a march. and Glen Campbell, Brian Eno and Chet Atkins, the Nylons and Muzak schlockmeister Bert Kaempfert. It has been recorded by artists as diverse as R.E.M. The French have a version sung in Congolese. Later, the song took flight and landed in America, where it mutated into a truly immortal pop epiphany that soared to the top of the charts here and then everywhere, again and again, returning every decade or so under different names and guises. He just opened his mouth and out it came, a haunting skein of fifteen notes that flowed down the wires and into a trembling stylus that cut tiny grooves into a spinning block of beeswax, which was taken to England and turned into a record that became a very big hit in that part of Africa. He hadn’t composed the melody or written it down or anything. It was 1939, and he was standing in front of a microphone in the only recording studio in black Africa when it happened. Once upon a time, a long time ago, a small miracle took place in the brain of a man named Solomon Linda. Karol Bennett, soprano Leone Buyse, flute Hannah Holman, cello Susan Oltsman Koozin, narrator Tricia Park, violin Rod Waters, piano Michael Webster, clarinet Blake Wilkins, percussion.īill Klemm, videographer and editor Kate Dawson, director.This story was originally published in the issue of Rolling Stone. The Lion King soundtrack is released on Disney B0000CABJ2. The Tokens’ version is available on the album “The Lion Sleeps Tonight,” RCA 66510. Pete Seeger’s version is available on “Pete Seeger’s Greatest Hits,” Sony 65711. Solomon Linda’s original recording is available on “ Mbube Roots (Zulu Choral Music from South Africa), released on the Rounder Select label (#5025). Meanwhile, the other instruments play echoes of the melody and accompaniment, weaving them into intricate textures. In Brandt’s adaptation, the singer performs Seeger’s vocalise and the piano takes on the role of the banjo. Instead of lyrics, Seeger sings a “ vocalise “-a wordless melody-over the chanted refrain, accompanying himself on the banjo. ” The arrangement by Musiqa’s Anthony Brandt, created especially for this program, is adapted from Pete Seeger’s recorded performance. In the original recording, Solomon Linda’s voice soars over a chorus of men chanting “ imbube, mbube. To her, the lyrics implore the lion to leave the flock alone.

Scholar David Düsing translates it as “wake up.” According to Düsing, the last king of the Zulus, Chaka, was known as “the Lion.” Düsing explains: “Following his death, a legend arose that ‘the Lion’ was only sleeping and would one day awaken.” However, Linda’s youngest daughter translates “ mbube ” as “stay away.” She reported that the song was inspired by Linda’s childhood job as a herder, guarding his cattle against marauding lions. ” The Zulu word “ mbube ” has been translated in contradictory ways. A lawsuit, on behalf of Linda’s heirs, was finally resolved in February 2006: The Linda family was awarded a share of royalties from 1987 to the present.Īs is often the case in indigenous song, the meaning of the song is open to interpretation. He lived in poverty, working as a floor sweeper, and died penniless in 1962. Meanwhile, Solomon Linda had signed away the rights to his song in 1952 for less than a dollar. The song gained renewed popularity when it was included in the soundtrack for the 1994 animated film The Lion King. The Tokens’ version topped the charts worldwide and was recorded by over 170 artists, earning millions of dollars in royalties for Peretti, Creatore and Weiss. The Tokens’ song-writers Hugo Peretti, Luigi Creatore and George Weiss were credited as the lyricists and composers. In 1961, a rock band, the Tokens made an adaptation of Seeger’s version, added English lyrics, and retitled the song The Lion Sleeps Tonight. Wimoweh was released with great success by Seeger’s band, The Weavers. The famous American folk singer and songwriter Pete Seeger heard the Evening Birds’ recording, created his own version of the song, and changed the title to Wimoweh -a mispronunciation of the original title. Mbube is an example of the tortured path often followed by folk songs as they gain popularity and become part of mass market culture. It was recorded in South Africa by Solomon Linda and his group The Original Evening Birds in 1939.

Solomon linda wimoweh