I Zimbra

"I Zimbra" is the opening track of the 1979 Talking Heads album Fear of Music. The lyrics are an adaptation of Dadaist Hugo Ball’s poem “Gadji beri bimba.”

Lyrics

The lyrics contain these lines:

Gadji beri bimba glandridi

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

- Jerry Harrison, Liquid Audio, 1997

Personnel

• David Byrne – vocals, guitars
• Chris Frantz – drums
• Jerry Harrison – keyboards, guitars, backing vocals
• Tina Weymouth – bass, backing vocals
• Gene Wilder, Ari – congas
• Brian Eno – treatments
• Robert Fripp – guitar
• Hassam Ramzy – surdo
• Abdou M'Boup – djembe, talking drum
• Assane Thiam – percussion
• Julie Last – backing vocals

Deleted film footage

This 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.

References

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