Hakuna matata

This article is about the Swahili saying in popular culture. For the song from The Lion King, see Hakuna Matata (song).

The saying displayed on a motorboat in Zanzibar, Tanzania

Hakuna matata is a Swahili phrase that is literally translated as "There are no worries." It is sometimes translated as "no worries", although is more commonly used similarly to the American English phrase "no problem".

In music

Jambo Bwana

In 1980, the music of Kenyan hotel band Them Mushrooms (now known as Uyoga) released the Swahili song "Jambo Bwana" ("Hello Mister"), which repeats the phrase "Hakuna matata" in its refrain. The song was written by band leader Teddy Kalanda Harrison.

Jambo - Hakuna Matata

A few years later, German group Boney M. released "Jambo - Hakuna Matata", an English-language song. Liz Mitchell provided the song's lead vocals, backed by Reggie Tsiboe, Frank Farian, Cathy Bartney, Madeleine Davis, and Judy Cheeks. The single was intended to be included in the group's untitled seventh album, to be released in the fall of 1983. Due to a poor chart performance (#48 in the German charts), the single ultimately was not included in the album (which was completely reworked and not released until May 1984 as Ten Thousand Lightyears).

In comics

In the mid-1980s, the saying appeared in the Swedish comic book Bamse by Rune Andréasson. Bamse the bear's baby daughter Brumma's first words are "Hakuna matata," which no one understands except the tortoise Skalman. He later made it his and Brumma's secret motto, and the phrase has reappeared several times in the cartoon, Skalman gave readers several clues as to what language the phrase came from but never said directly that it was Swahili.

In popular culture

Main article: Hakuna Matata (song)

In 1994 the Walt Disney Animation Studios animated movie The Lion King brought the phrase international recognition, featuring it prominently in the plot and devoting a song to it. A meerkat and a warthog, named Timon and Pumbaa respectively, teach the main character, a lion cub named Simba, that he should forget his troubled past and live in the present. The song, like the rest of the soundtrack, was written by Elton John (music) and Tim Rice (lyrics), who found the term in a Swahili phrase book. It was nominated for Best Original Song at the 1995 Academy Awards, and was later ranked the 99th best song in movie history by the American Film Institute on a list of 100.

Most references to the saying outside of Swahili-speaking areas, especially in the Western world, can be credited to the fame of the 1994 Disney film.

• In the 2006 South Korean comedy 200 Pounds Beauty, Kang Han-na (Kim Ah-jung) often draws a sign supposedly symbolizing hakuna matata for good luck in love.
• In the July 25, 2007 episode of Jeopardy!, "What is hakuna matata?" was the Final Jeopardy question."
• The PlayStation 3 game Afrika was renamed Hakuna Matata in its Asian release.
• In the first series of Benidorm (TV series) the quiz at the Solana featured the question: 'What is Swahili for no worries?'

See also

• Ubuntu (philosophy)
• Sans souci, an equivalent phrase in French