One of the few good -- all right faintly tolerable -- things about Trump is the parodies and mockery he attracts.
I like Zimmerman a lot.
But here’s a different one you may already know of:
zackozsays
Damn, that wasn’t meant to embed!
Mano Singhamsays
zackoz,
That was good, thanks! There sure are a lot of talented parodists out there.
Owlmirrorsays
“The Day Democracy Died” has Thomas Jefferson, of all people, calling out Trump’s racism. Ouch.
At least Benjamin Franklin eventually became an Abolitionist. They could have included Thomas Paine for those lyrics, as well.
Sam Nsays
The only monument in DC I actually enjoy traversing and observing is FDRs. Not saying the guy was a saint, far from it, but the rest are so damned imperialistic.
Mobiussays
I saw that a day or two ago. Both hilarious and a good message. YAY to Zimmerman.
Silentbobsays
There’s a sad story attached to this song. I don’t mean the parody -- the original. This will be off-topic and derailing, so if you don’t want to read off-topic comments, please read no further. 🙂
The song on which this was based, “The Lion Sleeps Tonight”, was made famous in a Disney movie, and before that was a big hit for folk revivalists in the 1950’s and ’60s. White people copied it from an obscure 1939 recording by a Zulu singer and menial labourer named Solomon Linda.
In the original, Linda is improvising the soprano vocals over the chant -- not “Wimoweh” as white people heard it, but “Mbube”, Zulu for “lion”.
The white version was a big hit for artists like The Tokens.
Do you know what Solomon Linda earned for his song? 10 shillings (less than US $2).
Here’s the original. Toward the very end of the song, just about the 2:20 mark you can hear Linda improvise the melody that white people took and turned into, “In the jungle, the mighty jungle…”.
After white people made millions from his song, Solomon Linda died in poverty in 1962. His family hadn’t enough money to afford a tombstone for his grave.
One of the few good -- all right faintly tolerable -- things about Trump is the parodies and mockery he attracts.
I like Zimmerman a lot.
But here’s a different one you may already know of:
Damn, that wasn’t meant to embed!
zackoz,
That was good, thanks! There sure are a lot of talented parodists out there.
“The Day Democracy Died” has Thomas Jefferson, of all people, calling out Trump’s racism. Ouch.
At least Benjamin Franklin eventually became an Abolitionist. They could have included Thomas Paine for those lyrics, as well.
The only monument in DC I actually enjoy traversing and observing is FDRs. Not saying the guy was a saint, far from it, but the rest are so damned imperialistic.
I saw that a day or two ago. Both hilarious and a good message. YAY to Zimmerman.
There’s a sad story attached to this song. I don’t mean the parody -- the original. This will be off-topic and derailing, so if you don’t want to read off-topic comments, please read no further. 🙂
The song on which this was based, “The Lion Sleeps Tonight”, was made famous in a Disney movie, and before that was a big hit for folk revivalists in the 1950’s and ’60s. White people copied it from an obscure 1939 recording by a Zulu singer and menial labourer named Solomon Linda.
In the original, Linda is improvising the soprano vocals over the chant -- not “Wimoweh” as white people heard it, but “Mbube”, Zulu for “lion”.
The white version was a big hit for artists like The Tokens.
Do you know what Solomon Linda earned for his song? 10 shillings (less than US $2).
Here’s the original. Toward the very end of the song, just about the 2:20 mark you can hear Linda improvise the melody that white people took and turned into, “In the jungle, the mighty jungle…”.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3HWUN-l1sdQ
After white people made millions from his song, Solomon Linda died in poverty in 1962. His family hadn’t enough money to afford a tombstone for his grave.
You can read more details here.
So I guess the moral of my story is just :-/ , when you hear this popular song, please think of Solomon Linda.