"I Zimbra" is also the name of a 2006 song by Kool A.D.
"I Zimbra" | ||||
---|---|---|---|---|
![]() UK vinyl single | ||||
Single by Talking Heads | ||||
from the album Fear of Music | ||||
B-side | "Air" (3:33) | |||
Released | 1980 | |||
Recorded | 1979 | |||
Genre | ||||
Length | 3:06 | |||
Label | Sire | |||
Songwriter(s) | ||||
Producer(s) | Brian Eno | |||
Talking Heads singles chronology | ||||
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Official audio | ||||
"I Zimbra" (2005 Remaster) on YouTube |
"I Zimbra" is a song by American new wave band Talking Heads, released as the second single from their 1979 album Fear of Music .
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. [3]
The lyrics of "I Zimbra" are an adaptation of Dadaist Hugo Ball's poem Gadji beri bimba. [4]
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 production style.
"We also knew that our next album would be a further exploration of what we had begun with 'I Zimbra'."
The song is used in the opening scene of the movie Spider-Man: No Way Home . [6] It is also in Byrne's stage musical American Utopia , also filmed for theatrical release by Spike Lee. [7]
Chart (1980) | Peak position |
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US Billboard Hot Dance Club Play [8] | 28 |
Talking Heads
Additional musicians
The song was one of three songs (along with "Cities" and "Big Business") that were cut from the theatrical release of the 1984 concert film Stop Making Sense but were restored as a bonus feature for the 1999 DVD release. [9]
Talking Heads were an American rock band formed in New York City during 1975. The band was composed of David Byrne, Chris Frantz (drums), Tina Weymouth (bass), and Jerry Harrison. Described as "one of the most critically acclaimed groups of the '80s," Talking Heads helped to pioneer new wave music by combining elements of punk, art rock, funk, and world music with "an anxious yet clean-cut image"; they have been called "a properly postmodernist band."
David Byrne is a Scottish-American musician, writer, visual artist, and filmmaker. He was a founding member, principal songwriter, lead singer, and guitarist of the American new wave band Talking Heads.
Hugo Ball was a German author, poet, and essentially the founder of the Dada movement in European art in Zürich in 1916. Among other accomplishments, he was a pioneer in the development of sound poetry.
Remain in Light is the fourth studio album by the American rock band Talking Heads, released on October 8, 1980, by Sire Records. The band's third and final album to be produced by Brian Eno, Remain in Light was recorded at Compass Point Studios in the Bahamas and Sigma Sound Studios in New York in July and August 1980.
Fear of Music is the third studio album by the American new wave band Talking Heads, released on August 3, 1979, by Sire Records. It was recorded at locations in New York City during April and May 1979 and was produced by Brian Eno and Talking Heads. The album reached number 21 on the Billboard 200 and number 33 on the UK Albums Chart. It spawned the singles "Life During Wartime", "I Zimbra", and "Cities".
Stop Making Sense is an 1984 American concert film featuring a live performance by the American rock band Talking Heads. The film was directed by Jonathan Demme and executive produced by Gary Kurfirst, the band’s longtime manager. The film was shot over four nights in December 1983 at Hollywood’s Pantages Theatre while Talking Heads were on tour promoting their 1983 album, Speaking in Tongues. Stop Making Sense includes performances of the early Talking Heads single, "Psycho Killer" (1977), through to their most recent hit at the time, "Burning Down the House" (1983). It also includes songs from the solo career of frontman David Byrne and by Tom Tom Club, the side project of drummer Chris Frantz and bassist Tina Weymouth.
"Road to Nowhere" is a song by the American band Talking Heads, from their 1985 album Little Creatures. The song was written by David Byrne and released as a single in 1985. It reached No. 25 on the Billboard Mainstream Rock Tracks chart and No. 6 on the UK, German and South African singles charts. It also made No. 8 on the Dutch Top 40. It also appeared on Best of Talking Heads, Sand in the Vaseline: Popular Favorites, the Once in a Lifetime box set and the Brick box set.
"This Must Be the Place (Naive Melody)" is a song by new wave band Talking Heads. The closing track of their fifth studio album Speaking in Tongues, it was released in November 1983 as the second and final studio single from the album; a live version would be released as a single in 1986. The lyrics were written by frontman David Byrne, and the music was written by Byrne and the other members of the band, Chris Frantz, Tina Weymouth and Jerry Harrison.
The Name of This Band Is Talking Heads is a double live album by the American new wave band Talking Heads, released in 1982 by Sire Records. The first LP features the original quartet in concert and radio recordings in 1977 and 1979, and the second LP features the expanded ten-piece lineup that toured in 1980 and 1981.
No Talking, Just Head is the only studio album by the Heads, a band composed of Jerry Harrison, Tina Weymouth, and Chris Frantz of Talking Heads, joined by a variety of guest singers. Released in October 1996, the project was commercially and critically unsuccessful. The band members went on to pursue other musical interests.
"Psycho Killer" is a song by American rock band Talking Heads, released on their debut studio album Talking Heads: 77 (1977). The group first performed it as the Artistics in 1974.
"Wild Wild Life" is a song by American rock band Talking Heads, released as the lead single from their seventh studio album True Stories. It was the band's third and last top 40 hit on the US Billboard Hot 100.
"Burning Down the House" is a song by new wave band Talking Heads, released in July 1983 as the first single from their fifth studio album Speaking in Tongues.
Stop Making Sense is a live album by the American rock band Talking Heads, also serving as the soundtrack to the concert film of the same name. It was released in September 1984 and features nine tracks from the film, albeit with treatment and editing. The album spent over two years on the Billboard 200 chart. It was their first album to be distributed by EMI outside North America.
"Love → Building on Fire" is a song by rock band Talking Heads, released as a single in 1977. The single preceded the band's debut album by seven months, and was recorded before keyboardist and guitarist Jerry Harrison joined the band. As the single was the first piece of music released commercially by the band, its release was cited as a milestone in the band's history in its Rock and Roll Hall of Fame entry.
"Born Under Punches (The Heat Goes On)" is a song by American rock band Talking Heads. It is the first track on their 1980 album Remain in Light.
This article catalogs the ongoing discography of Scottish-American recording artist, composer, musician, and producer David Byrne, former singer for Talking Heads.
"Crosseyed and Painless" is a song by American new wave band Talking Heads. It was released in 1980 in the United States as a promotional single and in Germany in 1981 as a regular single from the band's fourth studio album, Remain in Light. Although the single failed to reach the US main chart, it reached No. 20 on the US Dance chart to become Talking Heads' highest-charting dance single. The band chose this song for their second music video, released in 1981.
"Cities" is a single, released in 1980, by the American new wave band Talking Heads. It is the fourth track on the 1979 album Fear of Music.
"Damage I've Done" is a song from American band The Heads, which was released in 1996 as the lead single from their only studio album No Talking, Just Head. A collaboration between the Heads and Johnette Napolitano, "Damage I've Done" was written by Napolitano (lyrics), and Chris Frantz, Jerry Harrison, T. "Blast" Murray and Tina Weymouth (music). It was produced by the Heads.