Zulu Warrior, The

DESCRIPTION: "I-kama zimba zimba zayo I-kama zimba zimba zee (x2). See him there, the Zulu warrior, See him there, the Zulu chief, chief, chief."
AUTHOR: Words adapted by Josef Marais
EARLIEST DATE: 1946 (copyright on the Marais version)
KEYWORDS: nonballad nonsense campsong
FOUND IN:
REFERENCES (2 citations):
Averill-CampSongsFolkSongs, pp. 61, 146, 175, 315, "Zulu Warrior" (notes only)
ADDITIONAL: Josef Marais and Miranda, _Folk Song Jamboree_, Ballantine, pp. 62-64, "The Zulu Warrior" (1 text, 1 tune)
NOTES [159 words]: This song is, to say the least, of dubious origin. Josef Marais appears to say that the tune is Afrikaans, but the British used it -- and gave it the awful text "Hold him down, the Swazi warrior." Marais took that out, made the warrior a Zulu because Zulus were more familiar, and changed the nonsense syllables to something that sounds better to English listeners. Marais and Miranda recorded it a couple of times.
Not something that you would think would be a folk song. Yet Averill-CampSongsFolkSongs records almost two dozen camp mentions, and when it came up in the mudcat.org thread "Zulu Warrior," many people recalled textual variations. The overall impression I get is that this has become traditional in a small way, despite its dreadful history -- but because of Marais, not because American versions have any connection to the African song.
Incidentally, it is not in the first Marais book, Songs from the Veld/Songs from South Africa. - RBW
Last updated in version 6.3
File: ACFF061A

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