Brown Girl in the Ring (song)

"Brown Girl in the Ring"
Single by Boney M.
from the album Nightflight to Venus
Released	3 April 1978
Format	7" single, 12" single
Recorded	1978
Genre	Reggae, Euro Disco, R&B
Length	4:03
Label	Hansa Records (FRG) Sire Records (USA) Atlantic Records (AUS)
Writer(s)	Frank Farian
Producer	Frank Farian
Boney M. singles chronology
"Rivers of Babylon" (1978) "Rivers of Babylon" / "Brown Girl in the Ring" (1978) "Rasputin" (1978)

"Brown Girl in the Ring (Remix '93)"
Single by Boney M.
from the album Gold - 20 Super Hits
Released	1 April 1993
Format	7" single, 12" single, CD single
Genre	Reggae, Euro Disco, R&B
Label	BMG Records (FRG)
Writer(s)	Franz Reuter (Frank Farian)
Producer	Frank Farian
Boney M. singles chronology
"Megamix" (1992) "Brown Girl in the Ring (Remix)" (1993) "Ma Baker (Remix)" (1993)

"Brown Girl in the Ring" is a traditional children's song in the West Indies. It was originally featured in the game of the same name. Brown Girl in the Ring is a children's ring game thought to have originated in Jamaica.

Boys and girls play ring games in many parts of the world, especially during their pre-teen years. In There's a Brown Girl in the Ring, an anthology of Eastern Caribbean song games by Alan Lomax, J.D. Elder and Bess Lomax Hawe, it is suggested that ring games are a children's precursor to adult courtship.

Players form a ring by holding hands, then one girl or boy goes into the middle of the ring and starts skipping or walking around to the song. The girl or boy is then asked, "Show me your motion." At this point the child in the center does his or her favorite dance. If asked "Show me your partner," he or she picks a friend to join him or her in the circle. It has been played for many centuries in all of Jamaica.

Boney M. recording

Arguably the most popular version of the song, Boney M.'s version was originally a single B-side to the group's #1 hit single "Rivers of Babylon" (1978). When "Rivers of Babylon" had slipped to #20 in the UK charts, radio stations suddenly flipped the single, seeing "Brown Girl in the Ring" going all the way to #2 and becoming a hit in its own right. Liz Mitchell had previously recorded the song in 1975 with the group Malcolm's Locks her ex-boy friend Malcolm Magaron as the lead singer, and arranger Peter Herbolzheimer accused Frank Farian of stealing his arrangement for the song [1]. The court case ran for more than 20 years in Germany. The early single pressing features the full-length 4:18 version with a chorus bit being edited out. The single mix is also slightly different from the album version which features steel drums on the outro riff of the song, the single mix doesn't.

1993 Remix

Following the successful sales of the compilation album Gold - 20 Super Hits, Frank Farian remixed "Brown Girl in the Ring" for a single release, April 1993. The remix featured new lead vocals by Liz Mitchell and reached #6 in Denmark, #38 in the UK charts while failing to chart in Germany. The single also included a new remix of "The Calendar Song".

Releases

12" Single

• "Brown Girl In The Ring (Remix '93)" (MCI/BMG 74321 13705 1, 1993)

Side A

1. "Brown Girl in the Ring" (Funny Girl Club Mix) - 5:35
2. "The Calendar Song (January, February, March...)" (Remix '93) - 3:14

Side B

1. "Brown Girl in the Ring" (Club Mix - Rap Version) - 5:35
2. "Brown Girl in the Ring" (Radio Version) - 3:58

CD
"Brown Girl In The Ring (Remix '93)" (MCI/BMG 74321 13705 2, 1993)

• 1. "Brown Girl in the Ring" (Radio Version) - 3:58
  2. "Brown Girl in the Ring" (Funny Girl Club Mix) - 5:35
  3. "Brown Girl in the Ring" (Club Mix - Rap Version) - 5:35
  4. "The Calendar Song (January, February, March...)" (Remix '93) - 3:14

Other recordings

Austrian Waterloo & Robinson covered the song in German, using Boney M.'s original backing track and backing vocals.

Other versions have been done by Brotherhood of Man, Raffi, Dan Zanes and the Minipops.

Jurassic 5, a Southern California based hip-hop group, has a song titled "Brown Girl" which refers to the original song in its chorus.

The song is featured in the film Touching the Void when mountaineer Joe Simpson worries he is succumbing to madness or death. He recalls: "I remember thinking, bloody hell, I'm going to die to Boney M".

The Australian children's group, The Wiggles, sing and dance to "Brown Girl" during a segment of their syndicated show. In true Wiggles fashion, where the main characters are often identified by the color of their shirt, the "brown girl" is in fact Caucasian, but clad in brown.

Lord Invader, a calypsonian from Trinidad, recorded a version circa 1946-1947 in New York. The recording is now part of the Smithsonian Folkways collection and was only released in 2000 on Lord Invader Calypso in New York CD.

Exuma recorded "Brown Girl" on his second album "Reincarnation" in 1972. Exuma claims to be the original artist to have recorded Brown Girl in the Ring. He claims that his version of Brown Girl in the Ring was re-recorded by Boney M without the permission of Exuma. The lawsuit has gone on for over 20 years.^{[citation needed]}

Eric Monty Morris' 'Cinderella' incorporates the tune and rhyme.

Taj Mahal recorded "brown girl in the ring" on his audio cd "Shake Sugaree: Taj Mahal sings and plays for children" 1992

Bibliography

There's a Brown Girl in the Ring - Alan Lomax, J.D. Elder and Bess Lomax Hawe, Random House, New York, 1997

Charts (1978)

Chart	Peak Position
Eurochart Hot 100	1