I Zimbra

"I Zimbra" is a song by American new wave band Talking Heads, released as the second single from their 1979 album Fear of Music.

"I Zimbra"
UK vinyl single
Single by Talking Heads
from the album Fear of Music
B-side"Air" (3:33)
Released1980
Recorded1979
GenreNew wave, funk, worldbeat
Length3:06
LabelSire
Songwriter(s)David Byrne, Brian Eno, Hugo Ball
Producer(s)Brian Eno
Talking Heads singles chronology
"Life During Wartime"
(1979)		 "I Zimbra"
(1980)		 "Cities"
(1980)

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 Byrne was listening to at the time.[1]

In the Talking Heads book What the Songs Look Like Contemporary Artists Interpret Talking Heads Songs, artist Joseph Nechvatal created a double page visual interpretation of the song.[2]

Dada lyrics

The lyrics of "I Zimbra" are an adaptation of Dadaist Hugo Ball's poem Gadji beri bimba.[3]

  • 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 named "I Zimbra"" as his favorite Talking Heads song, and pointed out that the style of the group's next album, Remain in Light, was indebted to the song's innovations.

"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[4]

Charts
Sales chart peaks for "I Zimbra"
Chart (1980) Peak position
US Billboard Hot Dance Club Play[5] 28

Personnel

Talking Heads

Additional Personnel

  • Brian Eno – electronic treatments, backing vocals
  • Robert Fripp – guitar
  • Gene Wilder – congas
  • Ari – congas
  • Hassam Ramzy – surdo
  • Abdou M'Boup – djembe, talking drum
  • 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 but were restored as a bonus feature for the 1999 DVD release.[6]

References
  1. Steenstra, Sytze (2010). Song and Circumstance: The Work of David Byrne from Talking Heads to the Present. New York: Continuum. p. 53. ISBN 978-0-8264-4559-9.
  2. What the Songs Look Like Contemporary Artists Interpret Talking Heads Songs, Harpercollins, New York, pp. 86-87
  3. Fear of Music by Talking Heads (1979), album cover credits
  4. "T A L K I N G – H E A D S . N E T". Archived from the original on 2007-09-21. Retrieved 2007-05-24.
  5. "Talking Heads > Charts & Awards > Billboard Singles". Allmusic. Retrieved 24 December 2010.
  6. New York Times/Allmovie
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