I saw this when it came on PBS I believe. I was watching with my Mother. She loved Ladysmith Black Mambazo. It's beautiful because it takes me back to that time when she was alive, happy, and healthy!
This song was written in 1939 in the Zulu language by a musician, Solomon Linda. The original title was Mbube, which was the Zulu word to call a lion (Lion = imbube). There is a good Zulu version recorded by The Mahotella Queens on a compilation, African Playground, on the Putamaya label.
look at this! no in ear monitors, just pure training and technique, no-one is over powering anyone, they're playing together in perfect harmony. Stunning.
@@mikeoaktree I just listened to one of theirs here on you tube, I think it's the one from 'coming to americs' and I love the acoustics on that one. It has an echo as if they are singing it from a large cave.
I agree with that other comment this version has no equal. It by far the best version ever and I don't believe that anyone will ever top this performance is phenomenal! I am 74 yrs. Old will somebody tell me why these phenomenal artists are making me cry every time I come back to listen. Great job bravo thank you for sharing your talents with the world. I love everyone of you.
Another old fella here (only 65 though). Only Ladysmith give this the emotion and depth, Despite what's happening in this so-called progressive age, it's only with people like these that barriers are truly broken down. I'm white and unashamed of loving tribal music of all kinds and I don't subscribe to 'cultural appropriation' because I like sounds like this so much.
Somebody at TH-cam removed my comment. I was only pointing out, that this song is Southafrican( called "Mbube", written by Solomon Linda). The family of Solomon Linda is dirt poor, while The Tokens get royalties from all over the world. It's not OK
this song is actually traditional South African and has been sung for centuries. Linda is credited ( correct me if I'm wrong) for the first recording with lyrics. Mbube was a song without lyrics for centuries...it was all vocal sounds. Acapela at it's best.
@@only-vans Where's the proof? There's not a single source I can find that says anyone other than Solomon Linda wrote that song as an original composition.
they just crushed this arrangement !!!!! Just wow!!! Ladysmith and the Julips !!! Harmonies are just incredible !!!! Peace be with Joseph Shabalala the world lost a great voice. :(
Beautiful vocals, and seamlessly flowing and graceful deft movements!!!!! Simply in a class of of its own!!!!! Thank you Ladysmith Black Mambazo/Mint Juleps in "The Lion Sleeps Tonight" and William Adams for sharing this timeless marvel
Thank goodness this historical information has come to light. As often happens profit and greed once again displaced the original talent and content of those who were powerless to claim what was due them....recognition and their just compensation. We all should be proud of the melodic and harmonic genius of Solomon Linda.
Warmth, longing, a gentle ecstasy carried by the richness of human voices raised together in that easy, e trancing rhythm. This performance went straight to my heart more than a decade ago, and though my attention shifts elsewhere, it is as though the cadence persists and the music has never stopped.
greatharv They all have great and unique voices, but that moment when Sandra Charles dances with Joseph from Ladysmith is special. Absolutely beautiful. I actually started a Mint Juleps tribute page on Facebook. They still get up and sing occasionally!
Ladysmith Black Mambazo are sublime, just by themselves, 'a cappella taking wings'. But with the wonderful addition of feminine voices, the experience for me was utterly celestial. Believe this?? There ARE actual people on Earth who have never heard LBM?? Pity the fools....
Perfect music when one need to connect his soul to a realm of great imagination A rare history of harmony that will ever be green. 31-12-2022. What a day to come across this on the final day of 2022.
Well it's been close to 50 years as I know it. I'm 62 years old, ... have it by the "Tokens", and "Pete Seeger", ... both from the early 60's. "Lady-Smith Black Mambazo" are simply fantastic. My first exposure to "Mint Juleps", ... and will certainly look into their work.
.....Absolutely uplifting, soulful and perfectly symbiotic performance of both Solomon Linda's original and the "Tokens'/Weiss'" versions of this song!! True harmony! Thank you for sharing! This performance truly carries the soul of Mr. Linda and strives to reconcile the economic injustice surrounding this most popular song.....
A friend told many years ago when he listened to an African song performed by native Africans that he really heard “timbre” in the voices. This reminds me of that unique and beautiful sound. This is gorgeous.
Ya know, it always makes me happy to see so many videos of A Cappella. Most people nowadays don't even know what that is anymore but I still believe that singing without any type of instrument can often be better than with instruments because there is so much more that the human voice can do than an instrument can ever hope to accomplish.
Yup! I sing in a few large choirs and when rehearsing it is pretty much a Capella but when we do the concerts we have musicians to help provide a fuller sound. Fuller being subjective, the choir is 130 person and the orchestra is 50pc. Goods times!
I was told when a King of an African Tribe dies; the tribe says "the lion sleeps". This is the meaning of this song. I could be wrong, but still a beautiful song.
MONIQUE PURCELL I believe the original spoke of Shaka King of the Zulus. His sleeping is like King Arthur's in that he will return when he is needed. There are some pure African versions on TH-cam.
You're correct. The song was meant to celebrate/mourn the death of the Zulu king. "In the jungle the might jungle the Lion sleeps tonight", that line traditionally is interpreted as "in the peaceful none-violent Zulu kingdom, the king sleeps(laid to rest) tonight". In Africa, we believe that the soul/spirit of the departed finds more peace and ease traveling to the spiritual land in the night or when the sun goes down.
The melody comes from the Zulu singer Solomon Linda, who recorded "Mbube" with his group, Evening Birds, in 1939. The lyrics mean, "Lion! Ha! You're a lion." Pete Seeger heard the record and mistook the repeating phrase as "Wimoweh," which he cut with The Weavers in 1951(The Kingston Trio also recorded it). In 1961, The Tokens recorded it with lyrics written by George Weiss based on a false translation of the Zulu from a staffer at the South African consulate in New York. Rian Malan wrote a great story about the song that appeared in the May 25, 2000 issue of Rolling Stone Magazine. The song has made millions, although very little of the wealth has gone to the Linda family in South Africa.
When I first heard LBM's music and saw them perform, the band members were not yet free (back in apartheid days). I have a feeling i am gonna bawl like a baby seeing them again in March. The side of freedom and dignity is ALWAYS the right side of history. This group did so much to get the West and US to stand up against apartheid, to get the great President Mandela released from prison, and helped create international pressure to free their countrymen and women from the inhumane rule of apartheid. Music can change the world.
dkmeller1 I beg to differ my good friend. the situation is less than perfect as is the case all over the world. we have made significant strides though.
Cuba is the country that made the more to free South Africa and it was the first country Mandela visited when he became the the first president of the free South Africa. Of course, music can change the world, but you need some other weapons too.Cuban soldiers won against South African mercenary and army. When Fidel Castro died, people could sign and write words to his memory in a book at the Cuban Embassy. I came there with my wife (she is from Madagascar, a country taht help ANC during Apartheid times), and we have been really impressed to see how many African people thanked Fidel Castro and Cuba for their freedom . There were a lot of pages in that book.
This is the authentic version. Many people have made entertaining versions of this song, but I have never heard one with the authentic rhythm and African sound that this has. Even those just in Zulu do not capture the spirit of the song like LBM- this is the real thing- 'ingoma imphele'
The blend of voices in this is magnificent. This is almost 20 years old, and I remember watching it on TV when it first came out. Instead of PBS, though, I recall it being on HBO. Regardless, this is some of the good stuff in life. Spike, as usual, was way ahead of his time... I really do believe this whole series launched the a'capella/Glee movement that is so strong today. And that is a good thing, a very good thing.
Well your local PBS probably did not receive the viewing it wanted. Here in Northeast Ohio I watched Spike Lee does Acapella on WVIZ PBS. A Truly awesome music film about acoustic vocal music
![Ladysmith Black Mambazo - Sadumela Intozabanye [Official Music Video]](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/tXlHHxhf_Rc/mqdefault.jpg)
![Ladysmith Black Mambazo - Sadumela Intozabanye [Official Music Video]](/img/tr.png)
![ตรงที่เดิม - ฝน พรสุดา [ต้นฉบับ :เบส ขวางหวัน]](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/c5YnbGEztI8/mqdefault.jpg)
No words can describe the beauty of this singing!!
It’s refreshing to hear female high notes rather than male falsetto as in the Tokens and the Nylons
I saw this when it came on PBS I believe. I was watching with my Mother. She loved Ladysmith Black Mambazo. It's beautiful because it takes me back to that time when she was alive, happy, and healthy!
It may have been on HBO. Either way, this is beautiful.
Just love Black Mambazo gospel n all songs WOW !
This song was written in 1939 in the Zulu language by a musician, Solomon Linda. The original title was Mbube, which was the Zulu word to call a lion (Lion = imbube). There is a good Zulu version recorded by The Mahotella Queens on a compilation, African Playground, on the Putamaya label.
I'd really love to listen to that.
I have whole body goose bumps right now
look at this! no in ear monitors, just pure training and technique, no-one is over powering anyone, they're playing together in perfect harmony. Stunning.
Facts💯💯💯
REAL MUSIC, GREAT GENTLEMEN ! REAL MUSIC ! Concert I will never Forget, Bless Them !
its called timing ...
Great concert at the Barbican centre last week. Someone must have captured it on video 🙏
I wish I was there in King Shaka's funeral to hear this song sung the first time.😢❤
The year is 2022 and this is still sending chills to my spine.
This is the best version, nothing comes close.
yes it is the best
Above and beyond!
It's been my favorite since the day I first heard it over 15 years ago.
Except for the blacksmith lady mambazo alone
@@mikeoaktree I just listened to one of theirs here on you tube, I think it's the one from 'coming to americs' and I love the acoustics on that one. It has an echo as if they are singing it from a large cave.
Does anyone else's soul just SOARRRR when they hear this? I am on air!!
Absolutely !!! totally awesome... totally divin
If you have a soul, it do.
SOARRRR indeed !
I'm floating on cloud nine too! This is the best ever version of this wonderful song!
Amazing, isn't it. 💖
Absolutely outstanding! Thank you!
Thee best version ever! Nothing even comes close. Not even the original Mbube.
The sound of AFRICA brings back great memories.
Never tire of this version. I come back when I need the flow, melody, harmony, soft African nights with respect for such peace.
Deep House
Same here, I needed to hear this today so I came to search ❤. So blessed
THE MAN WHO WROTE THIS SONG HIS LAST NAME IS LINDA
What a beautiful and perfectly-stated comment. 😊
Africa has a rythem all of its own
This is what makes me a proud African!!!
I love this song because of my female black South African best friend.
I agree with that other comment this version has no equal. It by far the best version ever and I don't believe that anyone will ever top this performance is phenomenal! I am 74 yrs. Old will somebody tell me why these phenomenal artists are making me cry every time I come back to listen. Great job bravo thank you for sharing your talents with the world. I love everyone of you.
Another old fella here (only 65 though). Only Ladysmith give this the emotion and depth, Despite what's happening in this so-called progressive age, it's only with people like these that barriers are truly broken down. I'm white and unashamed of loving tribal music of all kinds and I don't subscribe to 'cultural appropriation' because I like sounds like this so much.
Somebody at TH-cam removed my comment. I was only pointing out, that this song is Southafrican( called "Mbube", written by Solomon Linda). The family of Solomon Linda is dirt poor, while The Tokens get royalties from all over the world. It's not OK
HEAR HEAR!!!!
I read that as a child, could not believe it. Truly sad
this song is actually traditional South African and has been sung for centuries. Linda is credited ( correct me if I'm wrong) for the first recording with lyrics. Mbube was a song without lyrics for centuries...it was all vocal sounds. Acapela at it's best.
@@only-vans Where's the proof? There's not a single source I can find that says anyone other than Solomon Linda wrote that song as an original composition.
Ben Poupard maybe don’t just use google, because most of it is full of bullshit. Scroll down
they just crushed this arrangement !!!!! Just wow!!! Ladysmith and the Julips !!! Harmonies are just incredible !!!! Peace be with Joseph Shabalala the world lost a great voice. :(
Beautiful vocals, and seamlessly flowing and graceful deft movements!!!!!
Simply in a class of of its own!!!!!
Thank you Ladysmith Black Mambazo/Mint Juleps in "The Lion Sleeps Tonight" and William Adams for sharing this timeless marvel
RIP Joseph :'( Thank YOU for the beautiful music you gave us
Sometimes on the internet you see some truly inspiring things. This is one of them.
My African family have been through so much all over this planet.
Moves me to tears every time; not just the performance but the symbolism, the two parts of the Diaspora connecting again.
Who said you would? Besides, Africa ranges from Algeria to Zambia; whereabouts were U?
This pretty... song beautiful🎶.. love it... soul
Am never tired of this song
Africa is where life started. It is the land where music started. Appreciate Africa. It is the mother of all things.
Goose bumps instantly every time.
This was @ the Brooklyn Academy of Music, NYC. I was there. The show was taped live and produced by Spike Lee. The show was called, "Do It Accapella
THANKS! I do remember watching this on TV and having chills during this song.
You lucky, lucky duck!!
My wife had taped it back in the day on VHS and it got a lot of syringe in our house. Any more of this on TH-cam?
This is sublime, a beauty of voice and movement and fellowship that makes my tears flow.
I remember this. But, I was a child. I loved it, but didn't know how to appreciate it.
Best version ever. Phenomenal harmonies.
Thank goodness this historical information has come to light. As often happens profit and greed once again displaced the original talent and content of those who were powerless to claim what was due them....recognition and their just compensation. We all should be proud of the melodic and harmonic genius of Solomon Linda.
I like this soon. Damm it makes me wana cry every tym a listen to it...
2019 October who is still here 💖👌💟 this is so amazing I am so in love I can't get enough of this 😍😋😘
I'm still here! These two groups are phenomenal together!!
Just the best .🤩
July 2021, feeling bad that I thought it was a Tight Fit song...
Warmth, longing, a gentle ecstasy carried by the richness of human voices raised together in that easy, e trancing rhythm. This performance went straight to my heart more than a decade ago, and though my attention shifts elsewhere, it is as though the cadence persists and the music has never stopped.
September 2021
Love this song, So glad I got to see them in concert before Joseph left us 😢 I love 2:11 his voice sends shivers down my spine when he hits that note
Me, too.
still listening in 2018 still dope
Coming to America rings a bell here especially the intro song
The purity is euphoric.
Ladysmith Black Mambazo brilliant as always. i have watched this a hundred times. The lady who comes out and dances has the most beautiful voice.
I agree!
greatharv They all have great and unique voices, but that moment when Sandra Charles dances with Joseph from Ladysmith is special. Absolutely beautiful. I actually started a Mint Juleps tribute page on Facebook. They still get up and sing occasionally!
It´s so refreshing the memories from Zimbabwe, South Africa, Mozambique and Zambia!!!
Ladysmith Black Mambazo are sublime, just by themselves, 'a cappella taking wings'. But with the wonderful addition of feminine voices, the experience for me was utterly celestial. Believe this?? There ARE actual people on Earth who have never heard LBM?? Pity the fools....
Agreed!! Had the joy of seeing them live at the Edinburgh Playhouse many years ago......sublime!!
Don't pity them, envy them for the feeling of awakening which will happen to them when they hear LBM for the first time.
Joseph Tshabalala one of RSA's greatest musical prodigies.
The harmony is out of this world. I have listened to this collaboration many a time.
we are actually two.
I got hooked after watching their performance at World Expo held in Brisbane Australia in 1988.
I got hooked after watching their performance at World Expo held in Brisbane Australia in 1988.
This version is truly a masterpiece.
At any given time in my life, the urge to sing "The Lion Sleeps Tonight" is just a whim away.........a whim away a whim away a whim away
😂😂😂
😂😅😅
🤣🤣🤣
Haha!
I always play this song whenever am driving , it gives me strength to go on .
This is by far my most favorite Acapella version of Mbube (The Lion Sleeps Tonight). Greetings from the Philippines.
Loved this years ago and it is still one of the best!
Perfect music when one need to connect his soul to a realm of great imagination
A rare history of harmony that will ever be green. 31-12-2022.
What a day to come across this on the final day of 2022.
bloody marvellous-------------------------may you keep singing for Africa!
1:22 that haunting harmony...it's been what, 25 years since this was released, and I've never, ever heard a better rendition.
I agree. My heart fluttered hearing that.
25 plus 25
Well it's been close to 50 years as I know it. I'm 62 years old, ... have it by the "Tokens", and "Pete Seeger", ... both from the early 60's. "Lady-Smith Black Mambazo" are simply fantastic. My first exposure to "Mint Juleps", ... and will certainly look into their work.
The original song was released in 1939 by solomon linda. it was titled mbube. So i guess it has been 77 years.
ok
I had never heard this version. I truly love this
brings tears... so brings tears, long live Solomon and Miriam and good life to all...
One word describes this, Beautiful!
After all my years working in Africa, listening to this beautiful piece brings tears to my eyes as I so miss the people and sights of that continent.
Talent from South-Africa! The real Makoya!! Amandla!!
Awethu!!!
100%
Beautiful. Brings tears to my eyes.
.....Absolutely uplifting, soulful and perfectly symbiotic performance of both Solomon Linda's original and the "Tokens'/Weiss'" versions of this song!! True harmony! Thank you for sharing! This performance truly carries the soul of Mr. Linda and strives to reconcile the economic injustice surrounding this most popular song.....
Some sounds you will never forget.
O Boyyyy seeee voices, Chinekemeee... This voices can resurrect the dead...
Good music keeps all race in harmony. ✌
Amazingly beautiful!
Love it, half the guys are singing wimoweh and the other half are singing mbube. Ladysmith Black Mambazo are always fantastic.
The Mint Juleps are awesome!
This still bring tears to me and I haven't heard this in almost 30 yrs
I love it. That's the real sound.
My old time favourite song by Ladysmith Black Mambazo❤❤❤❤
can't get enough of this, music that gives ecstasy!!!
A friend told many years ago when he listened to an African song performed by native Africans that he really heard “timbre” in the voices. This reminds me of that unique and beautiful sound. This is gorgeous.
Now that is what we call fantastic musing....
This is a timeless song . It’s like the Diamond of songs it will last forever and it will shine brighter over time.
The most magnificent blending of voices this side of heaven! Thank you Spike Lee!
I have been listening to this music for the last 20 years. VERY NICE.
From Kisumu - Kenya.
WWWWOOOOWWWW!!! Never heard better. I agree....gotta be on Heaven's juke box.
I first saw this group at 6 yrs old; love the harmony I learned how to sing from them and mint juleps
Ya know, it always makes me happy to see so many videos of A Cappella. Most people nowadays don't even know what that is anymore but I still believe that singing without any type of instrument can often be better than with instruments because there is so much more that the human voice can do than an instrument can ever hope to accomplish.
Yup! I sing in a few large choirs and when rehearsing it is pretty much a Capella but when we do the concerts we have musicians to help provide a fuller sound. Fuller being subjective, the choir is 130 person and the orchestra is 50pc. Goods times!
The human voice is the only one that Our Creator ever made.
I don't hear people, I hear ANGELS!
I like this song so much.
Awesome version of a great song
I saw this when it first came out and I listen to this constantly. Their arrangement & harmony is so beautiful & is on point so outstanding. 🎼🎤🎶🎵
Nobody can beat this song when sung by the people from Africa. Sabona, Hamba gatlha.
BEST VERSION EVER !!!!
What a great version! Always a fan of LBM, but the girls voices are a perfect addtion.
At any given time in my life, the urge to sing "The Lion Sleeps Tonight" is just a whim away.........a whim away a whim away a whim away....
Wanderful African music! I love it very much
This song moved me to tears
I love south African musis
I think this is the best arrangement of this song I've heard yet.
I remember my dad recording this when it was on tv and watching it a lot. One of my favorite childhood memories
This is just beautiful
Goosebumps! Still listening in 2018
All Glory to Solomon Linda, composer (in Zulu) of "The Lion Sleeps Tonight - Wimowe - Mbube" (1939).
It was never once called wimoweh only "Mbube " (uyimbube- a lion) "the lion sleeps tonight" is the American version
AMEN MR GALLO! GOD BLESS Solomon Linda!!!!
This song never made me cry before. Fantastic
Instrumental Voices! Splendid.
I was told when a King of an African Tribe dies; the tribe says "the lion sleeps". This is the meaning of this song. I could be wrong, but still a beautiful song.
MONIQUE PURCELL I believe the original spoke of Shaka King of the Zulus. His sleeping is like King Arthur's in that he will return when he is needed. There are some pure African versions on TH-cam.
Uyimbube actually means "you are a lion"
You're correct. The song was meant to celebrate/mourn the death of the Zulu king. "In the jungle the might jungle the Lion sleeps tonight", that line traditionally is interpreted as "in the peaceful none-violent Zulu kingdom, the king sleeps(laid to rest) tonight". In Africa, we believe that the soul/spirit of the departed finds more peace and ease traveling to the spiritual land in the night or when the sun goes down.
The melody comes from the Zulu singer Solomon Linda, who recorded "Mbube" with his group, Evening Birds, in 1939. The lyrics mean, "Lion! Ha! You're a lion." Pete Seeger heard the record and mistook the repeating phrase as "Wimoweh," which he cut with The Weavers in 1951(The Kingston Trio also recorded it). In 1961, The Tokens recorded it with lyrics written by George Weiss based on a false translation of the Zulu from a staffer at the South African consulate in New York. Rian Malan wrote a great story about the song that appeared in the May 25, 2000 issue of Rolling Stone Magazine. The song has made millions, although very little of the wealth has gone to the Linda family in South Africa.
Only people from royal families in south africa are earn that honor as to not scared the kids and also welcoming the dead to his/her ancestors
When I first heard LBM's music and saw them perform, the band members were not yet free (back in apartheid days). I have a feeling i am gonna bawl like a baby seeing them again in March. The side of freedom and dignity is ALWAYS the right side of history. This group did so much to get the West and US to stand up against apartheid, to get the great President Mandela released from prison, and helped create international pressure to free their countrymen and women from the inhumane rule of apartheid. Music can change the world.
dkmeller1
Unfortunately, that's true. :(
dkmeller1 I beg to differ my good friend. the situation is less than perfect as is the case all over the world. we have made significant strides though.
Cuba is the country that made the more to free South Africa and it was the first country Mandela visited when he became the the first president of the free South Africa.
Of course, music can change the world, but you need some other weapons too.Cuban soldiers won against South African mercenary and army.
When Fidel Castro died, people could sign and write words to his memory in a book at the Cuban Embassy. I came there with my wife (she is from Madagascar, a country taht help ANC during Apartheid times), and we have been really impressed to see how many African people thanked Fidel Castro and Cuba for their freedom .
There were a lot of pages in that book.
I don't why but I get emotional everytime I listen to this song
It's 2020 February 22 it's still a great song ❤
This is the authentic version. Many people have made entertaining versions of this song, but I have never heard one with the authentic rhythm and African sound that this has. Even those just in Zulu do not capture the spirit of the song like LBM- this is the real thing- 'ingoma imphele'
The original 1 is from solomon linda
Mushengu tshabalala RIP African blood
The blend of voices in this is magnificent. This is almost 20 years old, and I remember watching it on TV when it first came out. Instead of PBS, though, I recall it being on HBO. Regardless, this is some of the good stuff in life. Spike, as usual, was way ahead of his time... I really do believe this whole series launched the a'capella/Glee movement that is so strong today. And that is a good thing, a very good thing.
Well your local PBS probably did not receive the viewing it wanted. Here in Northeast Ohio I watched Spike Lee does Acapella on WVIZ PBS. A
Truly awesome music film about acoustic vocal music
Love the song very much,it brings back great memories of my childhood 💞
Too perfect. I never heard the Solomon Linda until 10 minutes ago. Brings it full circle. Crying now.