I would have said Ladysmith Black Mambazo from the first instant, but shortly the recording took me right back to a Pete Seeger concert I attended in my teens. He had the whole crowd taking the different parts in sections. It was a gas.
I had to do a search for "Mbube" to discover that it means "lion," that it originally referred to this song, and that it later came to refer to the entire African a cappella style that the song was in. Also, that the lyrics I'd always heard in my mind as "a-rimba-rat" were supposed to be "wimoweh." But wait -- Wiki goes further and explains that even "wimoweh" was "a mishearing of the original song's chorus of 'uyimbube' (meaning 'you're a lion')."
Fifteen seconds in. My daughter decided a few years ago that my ability to identify a song quickly (sometimes upon hearing the opening chord) is just one of those "dad quirks" that I use to embarrass her.
4 comments:
Almost immediately. I have a version of the song by Ladysmith Black Mombazo which is very similar in the beginning.
One of Pete Seeger's live versions also starts that way.
I would have said Ladysmith Black Mambazo from the first instant, but shortly the recording took me right back to a Pete Seeger concert I attended in my teens. He had the whole crowd taking the different parts in sections. It was a gas.
I had to do a search for "Mbube" to discover that it means "lion," that it originally referred to this song, and that it later came to refer to the entire African a cappella style that the song was in. Also, that the lyrics I'd always heard in my mind as "a-rimba-rat" were supposed to be "wimoweh." But wait -- Wiki goes further and explains that even "wimoweh" was "a mishearing of the original song's chorus of 'uyimbube' (meaning 'you're a lion')."
Great YouTube catch!
Fifteen seconds in. My daughter decided a few years ago that my ability to identify a song quickly (sometimes upon hearing the opening chord) is just one of those "dad quirks" that I use to embarrass her.
Interesting post, and I liked the linked article.
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