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I don’t know much about Nina Simone, but I seem to love everything I hear. She has a distinctly beautiful voice. Simone was introduced to me by my wife and/or the Thomas Crown Affair soundtrack (featuring her song Sinnerman). I can’t say that I remember hearing Zungo before now. This version comes from disc two of Nina Simone: The Tomato Collection. It is a short, spiritual chant that seems to have heavy African influences. Simone’s voice is accompanied only by piano and drums and provides verse in an indiscernible (to me) language.
While Zungo sounds more African than Polynesian, the steady chant and drums reminded me of an early music class (3rd or 4th grade). For whatever reason, we were taught a Polynesian song entitled Tongo. It is sung in rounds with a leader’s chant followed by a group’s repetition of his or her words…
Tongo
Jimnee bye bye oh
Tongo
Oom ba de kim bye oh
Ooh a lay
Mah le ka ah lo way
Being eight or nine, we naturally changed the line “Jimnee bye bye oh” to “Jimmy buy-a French fry” when not under the watchful eye of our teacher.
Other random memories from that class include (1) learning to play an autoharp and (2) consistently being on the losing end of our class vote for favorite song of the day. Our teacher would end class by playing the song selected by the majority of our class. My regular defense of Steve Miller Band’s Abracadabra rarely (if ever) beat out Eye of the Tiger by Survivor. I suppose Rocky and the home state Clemson Tigers weren’t helping my cause.
Ps. Nina was born "Eunice Kathleen Waymon" in Tryon, NC. In 2000, it was a town of only 1760 people. The town is named for an early governor of the state, William Tryon. He’s also the namesake for the Tryon Palace in New Bern, NC. It was recently named by Time as one of the top ten spots in the US to visit during Christmas. My family did in December 2009. It was cold.
PPs. New Bern is the birthplace of Pepsi Cola.
I don’t know much about Nina Simone, but I seem to love everything I hear. She has a distinctly beautiful voice. Simone was introduced to me by my wife and/or the Thomas Crown Affair soundtrack (featuring her song Sinnerman). I can’t say that I remember hearing Zungo before now. This version comes from disc two of Nina Simone: The Tomato Collection. It is a short, spiritual chant that seems to have heavy African influences. Simone’s voice is accompanied only by piano and drums and provides verse in an indiscernible (to me) language.
While Zungo sounds more African than Polynesian, the steady chant and drums reminded me of an early music class (3rd or 4th grade). For whatever reason, we were taught a Polynesian song entitled Tongo. It is sung in rounds with a leader’s chant followed by a group’s repetition of his or her words…
Tongo
Jimnee bye bye oh
Tongo
Oom ba de kim bye oh
Ooh a lay
Mah le ka ah lo way
Being eight or nine, we naturally changed the line “Jimnee bye bye oh” to “Jimmy buy-a French fry” when not under the watchful eye of our teacher.
Other random memories from that class include (1) learning to play an autoharp and (2) consistently being on the losing end of our class vote for favorite song of the day. Our teacher would end class by playing the song selected by the majority of our class. My regular defense of Steve Miller Band’s Abracadabra rarely (if ever) beat out Eye of the Tiger by Survivor. I suppose Rocky and the home state Clemson Tigers weren’t helping my cause.
Ps. Nina was born "Eunice Kathleen Waymon" in Tryon, NC. In 2000, it was a town of only 1760 people. The town is named for an early governor of the state, William Tryon. He’s also the namesake for the Tryon Palace in New Bern, NC. It was recently named by Time as one of the top ten spots in the US to visit during Christmas. My family did in December 2009. It was cold.
PPs. New Bern is the birthplace of Pepsi Cola.
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