Kumbaya
"Kumbaya" (also spelled Kum Ba Yah) is a spiritual song from the 1930s. It enjoyed newfound popularity during the folk revival of the 1960s and became a standard campfire song in Scouting and other nature-appreciative organizations.
The song was originally associated with human and spiritual unity, closeness and compassion, and it still is, but more recently it is also cited or alluded to in satirical, sarcastic or even cynical ways that suggest blind or false moralizing, hypocrisy, or naively optimistic views of the world and human nature.[1]
Origins
The origins of the song are disputed. Recent research has found that sometime between 1922 and 1931, members of an organization called the Society for the Preservation of Spirituals collected a song from the South Carolina coast.[1] Come By Yuh, as they called it, was sung in Gullah, the creole or pidgin dialect spoken by the former slaves living on the Sea Islands of South Carolina and Georgia. In Gullah, "Kumbaya" means "Come by here", so the lyric could be translated as "Come by here, my lord, come by here."[2] Another version of Kumbaya, which locals asserted was a traditional regional folk song, was preserved on a wax cylinder in May 1936 by Robert Winslow Gordon, founder of what became the American Folklife Center. Gordon discovered a woman named Ethel Best singing Come By Here with a group in Raiford, Florida.[1]
These facts contradict the longstanding copyright and authorship claim of Reverend Marvin V. Frey.[1] Rev. Frey (1918–1992) claimed to have written the song circa 1936 under the title "Come By Here," inspired, he claimed, by a prayer he heard delivered by "Mother Duffin," a storefront evangelist in Portland, Oregon. It first appeared in this version in "Revival Choruses of Marvin V. Frey", a lyric sheet printed in Portland, Oregon in 1939. Frey claimed the change of the title to "Kum Ba Yah" came about in 1946, when a missionary family returned from Africa where they had sung Frey's version and slightly changed the words. This family toured America singing the song with the text "Kum Ba Yah".[1] This account is contradicted by the fact that a nearly identical Gullah version of the song was recorded almost two decades earlier.
Further history
Joe Hickerson, one of the Folksmiths, recorded the song in 1957, as did Pete Seeger in 1958. Joe Hickerson later succeeded Gordon at the American Folklife Center.[3] The song enjoyed newfound popularity during the folk revival of the 1960s, largely due to Joan Baez's 1962 recording of the song, and became associated with the Civil Rights Movement of that decade. It is a standard campfire song in Scouting, YMCA, the Asian Guides, and others. It was also commonly used in Catholic and "folk" masses of the 1970s. [citation needed]
Lyrics
| Most common version: | Another version of the song: |
|---|---|
| Kumbaya, my Lord, kumbaya Kumbaya, the Lord, kumbaya |
Kum ba yah, my Lord, kum ba yah Kum ba yah, my Lord, kum ba yah |
| Someone’s laughing, Lord, kumbaya Someone’s laughing, Lord, kumbaya |
Hear me crying, Lord, kum ba yah Hear me crying, Lord, kum ba yah |
| Someone’s crying, Lord, kumbaya Someone’s crying, Lord, kumbaya |
Hear me singing, Lord, kum ba yah Hear me singing, Lord, kum ba yah |
| Someone’s praying, Lord, kumbaya Someone’s praying, Lord, kumbaya |
Hear me praying, Lord, kum ba yah Hear me praying, Lord, kum ba yah |
| Someone’s singing, Lord, kumbaya Someone’s singing, Lord, kumbaya |
Oh I need you, Lord, kum ba yah Oh I need you, Lord, kum ba yah |
Recordings
| "Kumbaya" | |
|---|---|
| Song |
The Folksmiths including Joe Hickerson recorded the first LNP version of the song in August 1957. As this group traveled from summer camp to summer camp teaching folk songs, they may be the origin of Kumbaya around the campfire.
It was recorded by Pete Seeger in 1958, and The Weavers released it on Traveling on With the Weavers in 1959.
Joan Baez's 1962 In Concert, Volume 1 included her version of the song. Rabbi Shlomo Carlebach also sang "Kumbaya" in a 1962 concert, a recording of which was subsequently released in 1963 on the album Shlomo Carlebach Sings.
The Seekers recorded it in 1963 for their first album, "Introducing the Seekers". They later re-recorded for their third album, "Hide & Seekers" (also known as "The Four & Only Seekers"); it was re-released on their 1989 album "The Very Best of the Seekers".
Ballad singer Tommy Leonetti gave the song chart status in 1969. His single reached #54 pop, #4 easy listening, released on Decca 32421.
Raffi recorded it for his Baby Beluga album.
In 1984, the proto-punk band, Guadalcanal Diary, recorded a version on their album Watusi Rodeo.
Peter, Paul & Mary recorded Kumbaya on their 1998 Around the Campfire album
German rock band Guano Apes and German comedian Michael Mittermeier did a cover of "Kumbaya" called "Kumba yo!" and made a music video. The "Kumba yo!" single was released in 2001.
References in politics/popular culture
After a private farewell dinner on December 5, 2006 at the White House for outgoing United Nations Secretary-General Kofi Annan (Secretary-General 1996 to 2006), soon-to-resign U.S. Ambassador John Bolton joked that "nobody sang 'Kumbaya.'" When told of Bolton's comment, Annan laughed and asked: "Does he know how to sing it?"[4]
In a satirical campaign ad by David Zucker that ran before the 2006 Congressional elections, an actress playing Madeleine Albright serves cookies and milk to a group of terrorists; when she notices gunmen and suicide bombers emerging from the basement, her guests distract her and allay her suspicions by picking up a guitar and breaking into a chorus of "Kumbaya".
In October 2007, Democratic presidential hopeful, Sen. Barack Obama (D-Ill.), announced his new offensive strategy to distinguish policy difference between himself and his opponent and Democratic frontrunner, Sen. Hillary Clinton (D-NY). In his announcement he stated that the notion that Clinton and himself were "holding hands and singing `Kumbaya'" on every issue was completely false.
In October 2007 the US president George W. Bush phoned Turkish President Abdullah Gul to tell him that the United States was willing to bomb PKK strongholds. “It's not 'Kumbaya' time any more,” said an official familiar with the conversation.
Supporters of Aston Villa Football Club sing 'Kumbaya' during matches, often replacing the word 'Kumbaya' with phrases relating to their side. It is mostly commonly used to remember the performances of one of Villa's greatest ever players, Paul McGrath ("Paul McGrath, my lord, Paul McGrath").
In November 2007, Sol Trujillo, the Chief Executive of the Australian telecommunications company Telstra, mocked the proposed $4.7 billion tax payer funded public private partnership for a new national broadband network. He labeled it as some sort of "kumbaya, holding hands" theory.[5]
On the Fox Kids animated show, Eek! The Cat, the title character, Eek exclaims "Kumbaya!" whenever seeing something that amazes him.
The 2008 Latin America Tour of the Finnish Symphonic Metal Nightwish was called Kumbayah Tour
Evan Shamar who coordinated the Oakland Protest March for BART Police shooting of Oscar Grant is quoted as saying: "The mayor was forced to come out and acknowledge that the citizens of Oakland are angry and that we want Justice," Shamar said. "I'm not condoning violence, but sometimes to get justice, you can't just sit around holding hands singing 'Kumbaya.'"
In an episode of Family Guy, Brian sings Kumbaya while he is trying to calm everyone down.
In an episode of South Park, Town sings Kumbaya while Wall-Mart burns.
In the movie Role Models, a guy at the camp was singing Kumbaya with his acoustic guitar where he had very little knowledge about playing guitar.
In "Once More, with Feeling," the November 6, 2001 musical episode of Joss Whedon's Buffy the Vampire Slayer TV series, Spike says derisively to Buffy, "You should go back inside. Finish the big group sing. Get your kumbaya-yas out."
In an episode of Brothers & Sisters (Season 3 episode 24), the Walker family sing Kumbaya in the bus on their way back to California.
In an episode of Gary Unmarried, Gary's father was singing Kumbaya to Dennis.
Notes
- ^ a b c d e Jeffery, Weiss (November 12, 2006). "'Kumbaya': How did a sweet simple song become a mocking metaphor?". The Dallas Morning News. Retrieved 2008-07-17.
- ^ "Mama Lisa'a World-Kumbaya". Retrieved 2008-01-11.
- ^ Zorn, Eric. "Someone's dissin', Lord, kumbaya". Chicago Tribune. Retrieved 2008-01-11.
- ^ Goldenberg, Suzanne (2006). "Annan bows out of UN with attack on Bush". December 12, 2006 : The Guardian. Retrieved 2006-12-12.
- ^ "Telstra rejects Labor net plan". Australian IT. December 6, 2007.
References
- Roud Folk Song Index 11924
External links
- The history and meaning of Kumbaya, the tune and French Translation
- Origins: Kumbaya
- What does 'Kumbaya' in the song 'Kumbaya, My Lord' Mean?
- What does 'Kumbaya' Mean? at Straight Dope
- Michael E. Ross: Oh, Lord, Kumbaya. How an innocent campfire song got warped by the cynicism of our times The Root, October 2008
- Advanced piano duet
- Listen to its Short version
- Full version, with chords and mp3