"I Zimbra" is a song by American new wave band

Talking Heads Talking Heads were an American rock band formed in 1975 in New York City and active until 1991.Talki ...

, released as the second single from their 1979 album '' Fear of Music''. According to Sytze Steenstra in ''Song and Circumstance: The Work of David Byrne from Talking Heads to the Present'', the music draws heavily on the

African popular music African popular music (also styled Afropop, Afro-pop or Afro pop), like African traditional music, is vast and varied. Most contemporary genres of African popular music build on cross-pollination with western popular music. Many genres of p ...

Byrne was listening to at the time.

Dada lyrics

The lyrics of "I Zimbra" are an adaptation of

Dadaist Dada () or Dadaism was an art movement of the European avant-garde in the early 20th century, with early centres in Zürich, Switzerland, at the Cabaret Voltaire (in 1916). New York Dada began c. 1915, and after 1920 Dada flourished in Paris ...

Hugo Ball's poem ''Gadji beri bimba''. *The lyrics contain these lines: :''Gadji beri bimba clandridi'' :''Lauli lonni cadori gadjam'' :''A bim beri glassala glandride'' :''E glassala tuffm I zimbra''

Influence

In an interview,

Jerry Harrison Jeremiah Griffin Harrison (born February 21, 1949) is an American songwriter, musician, producer, and entrepreneur. He began his professional music career as a member of the cult band the Modern Lovers before becoming keyboardist and guitarist ...

named "I Zimbra"" as his favorite Talking Heads song, and pointed out that the style of the group's next album, ''

Remain in Light ''Remain in Light'' is the fourth studio album by American rock band Talking Heads, released on October 8, 1980 by Sire Records. It was recorded at Compass Point Studios in the Bahamas and Sigma Sound Studios in Philadelphia during July and Augus ...

'', was indebted to the song's production style.

"We also knew that our next album would be a further exploration of what we had begun with 'I Zimbra'."

: – Jerry Harrison, Liquid Audio, 1997 The song is used in the opening scene of the movie '' Spider-Man: No Way Home''.

Charts

Personnel

Talking Heads * David Byrne –

guitar The guitar is a fretted musical instrument that typically has six strings. It is usually held flat against the player's body and played by strumming or plucking the strings with the dominant hand, while simultaneously pressing selected strin ...

s, lead vocals *

– keyboards,

backing vocals A backing vocalist is a singer who provides vocal harmony with the lead vocalist or other backing vocalists. A backing vocalist may also sing alone as a lead-in to the main vocalist's entry or to sing a counter-melody. Backing vocalists are ...

, guitars *

Tina Weymouth Martina Michèle Weymouth (born November 22, 1950) is an American musician, singer, songwriter, and a founding member and bassist of the new wave group Talking Heads and its side project Tom Tom Club, which she co-founded with her husband, Tal ...

–

bass guitar The bass guitar, electric bass or simply bass (), is the lowest-pitched member of the string family. It is a plucked string instrument similar in appearance and construction to an electric or an acoustic guitar, but with a longer neck and ...

, backing vocals *

Chris Frantz Charton Christopher Frantz (born May 8, 1951) is an American musician and record producer. He is the drummer for both Talking Heads and Tom Tom Club, both of which he co-founded with wife and Talking Heads bassist Tina Weymouth. In 2002, Frant ...

– drums Additional Personnel * Brian Eno – electronic treatments, backing vocals *

Robert Fripp Robert Fripp (born 16 May 1946) is a British musician, songwriter, record producer, and author, best known as the guitarist, founder and longest-lasting member of the progressive rock band King Crimson. He has worked extensively as a session ...

– guitar *Gene Wilder – congas *Ari – congas *Hassam Ramzy –

surdo The surdo is a large bass drum used in many kinds of Brazilian music, such as Axé/Samba-reggae and samba, where it plays the lower parts from a percussion section. It is also notable for its association with the cucumbi genre of the Ancient Near ...

*Abdou M'Boup – djembe,

talking drum The talking drum is an hourglass-shaped drum from West Africa, whose pitch can be regulated to mimic the tone and prosody of human speech. It has two drumheads connected by leather tension cords, which allow the player to change the pitc ...

*Assane Thiam – percussion *Julie Last – backing vocals

Deleted film footage

The song was one of three songs (along with "Cities" and "Big Business") that were cut from the theatrical release of the 1983 concert film ''

Stop Making Sense ''Stop Making Sense'' is a 1984 American concert film featuring a live performance by the American rock band Talking Heads. Directed by Jonathan Demme, it was shot over the course of three nights at Hollywood's Pantages Theater in December 198 ...

'' but were restored as a bonus feature for the 1999 DVD release.New York Times/Allmovie
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References

{{authority control 1979 songs Talking Heads songs Songs written by David Byrne Songs written by Brian Eno Sire Records singles 1980 singles Song recordings produced by Brian Eno Songs written by Hugo Ball Gibberish language