I Zimbra

"I Zimbra"
UK vinyl single
Single by Talking Heads
from the album Fear of Music
B-side	"Air" (3:33)
Released	1980
Format	7"
Recorded	1979
Genre	Post-punk, new wave, worldbeat, art punk
Length	3:06
Label	Sire
Writer(s)	David Byrne, Brian Eno, Hugo Ball
Producer(s)	Brian Eno
Talking Heads singles chronology
"Life During Wartime" (1979) "I Zimbra" (1980) "Cities" (1980)

"I Zimbra" is a song by American new wave band Talking Heads, released as the second single from their 1979 album Fear of Music.

The song's lyrics are an adaptation of Dadaist Hugo Ball's poem "Gadji beri bimba." The song is inspired by African cultural music.

Lyrics

The lyrics contain these lines:

Gadji beri bimba clandridi

Lauli lonni cadori gadjam

A bim beri glassala glandride

E glassala tuffm I zimbra

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 innovations.

We also knew that our next album would be a further exploration of what we had begun with "I Zimbra".

- Jerry Harrison, Liquid Audio, 1997

Charts

Chart (1980)	Peak position
US Billboard Hot Dance Club Play	28

Personnel

Talking Heads

• David Byrne – guitars, lead vocals
• Jerry Harrison – keyboards, backing vocals, guitars
• Tina Weymouth – bass guitar, backing vocals
• Chris Frantz – drums

Additional Personnel

• Brian Eno – electronic treatments, backing vocals
• Robert Fripp – guitar
• Gene Wilder – congas
• Ari – congas
• Hassam Ramzy – surdo
• Abdou M'Boup – djembe, talking drum
• Assane Thiam – percussion
• Julie Last – backing vocals

Deleted film footage

The song was one of three songs (along with "Cities" and "Big Business") that were cut from the theatrical release of the 1983 concert film Stop Making Sense but were restored as a bonus feature for the 1999 DVD release.

External links

• Lyrics of this song at MetroLyrics