Wimoweh

E455486

"Wimoweh" is a popular folk adaptation of the South African song "Mbube," best known in the United States through its recording by the folk group The Weavers.

All labels observed (1)

Label Occurrences
Wimoweh canonical 3

How this entity was disambiguated

Statements (39)

Predicate Object
instanceOf folk song
song
adaptedFromWorkCountryOfOrigin South Africa
alsoKnownAs The Lion Sleeps Tonight (early folk adaptation title context)
Wimoway
basedOn Mbube
countryOfOrigin United States
derivesMelodyFrom Mbube
genre folk
world music
hasApproximateTempo moderate
hasChantLyric "wimoweh"
hasCulturalImpact introduced many American listeners to African-derived melodies
hasCulturalOrigin Zulu music tradition
hasInfluenceOn Western popular music representations of African music
hasLegalHistoryAspect copyright and royalties disputes related to Mbube
hasMusicalFeature call and response
repetitive chant
vocal harmonies
hasNotablePerformer Miriam Makeba
Pete Seeger
The Kingston Trio
The Weavers
hasNotableRecordingBy The Weavers
hasOriginalTitle Mbube
hasRecordingType live performance
studio recording
hasRightsControversyRelatedTo Solomon Linda
hasSubject sleeping lion
hasTheme African wilderness
lion
influencedWork The Lion Sleeps Tonight
isAdaptationOf Mbube
isArrangementOf Mbube
isPartOf American folk revival repertoire
language English
popularizedInDecade 1950s
usesVocalTechnique falsetto
group chorus

How these facts were elicited

Referenced by (3)

Full triples — surface form annotated when it differs from this entity's canonical label.