"The Lion Sleeps Tonight" is such a great song that makes me think of the African jungle – the tribal chant sound transports us to the African plains: a perfect accompaniment for a musical jungle adventure! (I’m also reminded of an episode of Friends with Marcel the monkey which always makes me smile!).

 

The popular version that we know and love by The Tokens was recorded in 1960, but the origin of the song goes back even further.

 

Solomon Ntsele, a South African musician, wrote a song way back in the 1920s called “Mbube” (pronounced EEM-boo-beh). Mbube is Zulu for lion. He recorded it in 1939 – he actually worked for the record company as a cleaner and record packer and would spend his evenings and weekends performing with his musical ensemble The Evening Birds.

 

The song became a hit and by 1948 had sold over 100,000 copies across Africa and beyond. Since then many adaptations and covers have been recorded.

 

Extra Fun Fact

In 1949 The Weavers recorded a version of the song called “Wimoweh”, but here’s a cool fact – the original words were “Uyimbube” which in Zulu means You are a lion, but it was misheard and sung as “Wimoweh”.

 

George David Weiss wrote the English lyrics that were recorded on The Tokens’ version in 1961 and therefore is credited with:

 

"In the jungle, the mighty jungle, The lion sleeps tonight ..."

"Hush, my darling, don't fear, my darling ..."

 

The Lion Sleeps Tonight leaped to the number one spot in the Billboard Chart in 1961 and reached number one in the UK chart in 1982 - its popularity has continued through use in TV shows and films such as Disney’s The Lion King.  

 

Interestingly, The Tokens actually recorded The Lion Sleeps Tonight as a B-side track for their single “Tina”, so I expect they never could have imagined that their little B-side song would be such a ROARING success!