Iko Iko
Encyclopedia
"Iko Iko" is a much-covered
New Orleans song that tells of a parade collision between two "tribes" of Mardi Gras Indians
. The song, under the original title "Jock-A-Mo", was written in 1953 by James "Sugar Boy" Crawford
in New Orleans. The story tells of a "spy boy" or "spy dog" (i.e. a lookout for one band of Indians) encountering the "flag boy" or guidon
carrier for another band. He threatens to set the flag on fire.
Crawford set phrases chanted by Mardi Gras Indians to music for the song. Crawford himself states that he has no idea what the words mean, and that he originally sang the phrase "Chock-a-mo", but the title was misheard by Chess and Checkers Records president Leonard Chess, who misspelled it as "Jock-a-mo" for the record's release.
"Jock-a-mo" was the original version of the song "Iko Iko" recorded by the Dixie Cups
in 1965. Their version came about by accident. They were in a New York City studio for a recording session when they began an impromptu version of "Iko Iko", accompanied only by drumsticks on studio ashtrays.
"We were just clowning around with it during a session using drumsticks on ashtrays," said Dixie Cup member Barbara Hawkins. "We didn't realize that Jerry and Mike had the tapes running." Session producers
Leiber and Stoller added bass and drums and released it.
, who had learned "Iko, Iko" from hearing their grandmother sing it, also knew little about the origin of the song and so the original authorship credit went to the members, Barbara Ann Hawkins, her sister Rosa Lee Hawkins, and their cousin Joan Marie Johnson.
After the Dixie Cups version of the "Iko Iko" was released in 1965, they and their record label, Red Bird Records
, were sued by James Crawford, who claimed that "Iko Iko" was the same as his composition "Jock-a-mo." Although The Dixie Cups denied that the two compositions were similar, the lawsuit resulted in a settlement in 1967 with Crawford making no claim to authorship or ownership of "Iko Iko", but being credited 25% for public performances, such as on radio, of "Iko Iko" in the United States. Even though a back-to-back listening of the two recordings clearly demonstrates that "Iko Iko" was practically the same song as Crawford's "Jock-a-mo", Crawford's rationale for the settlement was motivated by years of legal battles with no royalties. In the end, he stated, "I don’t even know if I really am getting my just dues. I just figure 50 percent of something is better than 100 percent of nothing."
In the 1990s, the Dixie Cups became aware that another group of people were claiming authorship of "Iko Iko." Their ex-manager Joe Jones
and his family filed a copyright registration in 1991, alleging that they wrote the song in 1963. Joe Jones successfully licensed "Iko Iko" outside of North America, and it was used as the soundtrack of Mission Impossible 2 in 2000. The Dixie Cups filed a lawsuit against Joe Jones. The trial took place in New Orleans and the Dixie Cups were represented by well-known music attorney Oren Warshavsky before Senior Federal Judge Peter Beer.
The jury returned a unanimous verdict on March 6, 2002, affirming that the Dixie Cups were the only writers of "Iko Iko" and granting them more money than they were seeking. The Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals upheld the jury verdict and sanctioned Joe Jones.
The song is regularly performed by artists from New Orleans such as the Neville Brothers (who have recorded it in a medley with the melodically-related Mardi Gras song "Brother John" as "Brother John/Iko Iko"), Larry Williams
, Dr. John
, The Radiators
, Willy DeVille
, Buckwheat Zydeco
, and Zachary Richard
, and can often be heard on the streets and in the bars of New Orleans, especially during Mardi Gras.
It has been also been covered by Cyndi Lauper
, the Grateful Dead
(who made "Iko Iko" a staple in their live shows from 1977 onward), Cowboy Mouth
, Warren Zevon
, Long John Baldry
, Dave Matthews
& Friends, The Ordinary Boys
, Glass Candy
, and Sharon, Lois & Bram
, among others. Amy Holland
covered the song on the soundtrack of the film K-9
, Aaron Carter
covered the song for The Little Vampire
soundtrack and filmed a music video for it. the Dixie Cups
performed the song on the soundtrack of the film The Skeleton Key
and The Belle Stars
' cover was featured in the films Rain Man
, Knockin' on Heaven's Door
and The Hangover
. Justine Bateman
, Julia Roberts
, Britta Phillips
and Trini Alvarado
perform the song in the 1988 film Satisfaction
. A later version by Zap Mama
, with rewritten lyrics, was featured in the opening sequences of the film Mission: Impossible II
. Eurodance
act Captain Jack
re-popularized the tune in Germany
in 2001.
Rolf Harris
in 1965 recorded a cover version with slightly altered words, removing references to "flag boys" and other regionally specific lyrics, although much of the creole
patois
remained as a sort of nonsense scat
. This version made the song popular in England and Australia in the 1960s.
The song's most successful UK version was that of singer Natasha England, who took it into the top 10 in 1982. Her version, released the same week as The Belle Stars
's recording, charted higher and significantly outsold their rival version. The Belle Stars version would be released in the United States in 1988, where it would peak at 14 in March 1989. The UK recording was produced by Tom Newman
("Tubular Bells
").
in the liner notes to his 1972 album
, Dr. John's Gumbo
, in which he covers New Orleans R&B classics:
, gave a 2002 interview with "OffBeat Magazine"
discussing the song's meaning:
According to linguist Geoffrey D. Kimball, the lyrics of the song are derived in part from Mobilian Jargon
, an extinct Native American trade language consisting mostly of Choctaw
and Chickasaw
words and once used by Southeastern Indians, African Americans, and European settlers and their descendants in the Gulf Coast Region. In Mobilian Jargon, čokəma fehna (interpreted as "jockomo feeno") was a commonly used phrase, meaning "very good."
Louisiana creole lingua specialists believe now that the words originated as:
In English, this equates to:
In a 2009 Offbeat
article, however, the Ghanaian social linguist Dr. Evershed Amuzu said the chorus was "definitely West African," reflecting West African tonal patterns. The article also notes that the phrase ayeko—often doubled as ayeko, ayeko—is a popular chant meaning "well done, or congratulations" among the Akan
and Ewe
people in modern-day Togo, Ghana, and Benin. Both groups were heavily traded during the slave trade, often to Haiti, which served as a way station for Louisiana. (Ewes in particular are credited with bringing West African cultural influences like Voudou rites from West Africa to Haiti and on to New Orleans.)
Musicologist Ned Sublette
has backed the idea that the chorus might have roots in Haitian slave culture, considering that the rhythms of Mardi Gras Indians are nearly indistinguishable from the Haitian Kata rhythm. Yaquimo, he has also noted, was a common name among Taino
people, who inhabited Haiti in the early years of the slave trade.
In a 1991 lecture to the New Orleans Social Science History Association, Dr. Sybil Kein proposed the following translation from Yoruba and Creole:
In George Washington Cables 1889 novel "Strange True Stories of Louisiana" a New Orleans planters daughter is on a riverboat trip. Upon seeing a gathering of "natives" on the riverbank she "replied to their signs and called with all of the force in her lungs every indian word that ...she had learned: "Chacounam finnan! O Choctaw! Conno Poposso!" And the Indians clapped their hands, laughing with pleasure..."
Cover version
In popular music, a cover version or cover song, or simply cover, is a new performance or recording of a contemporary or previously recorded, commercially released song or popular song...
New Orleans song that tells of a parade collision between two "tribes" of Mardi Gras Indians
Mardi Gras Indians
Mardi Gras Indians are African-American Carnival revelers in New Orleans, Louisiana, who dress up for Mardi Gras in suits influenced by Native American ceremonial apparel.Collectively, their organizations are called "tribes"...
. The song, under the original title "Jock-A-Mo", was written in 1953 by James "Sugar Boy" Crawford
James "Sugar Boy" Crawford
James "Sugar Boy" Crawford is a New Orleans R&B artist. He is the author of the classic "Jock-A-Mo" in 1954, a hit that was later recreated as "Iko Iko", by The Dixie Cups and redone by many artists including Dr...
in New Orleans. The story tells of a "spy boy" or "spy dog" (i.e. a lookout for one band of Indians) encountering the "flag boy" or guidon
Heraldic flag
In heraldry and vexillology, an heraldic flag is any of several types of flags, containing coats of arms, heraldic badges, or other devices, used for personal identification....
carrier for another band. He threatens to set the flag on fire.
Crawford set phrases chanted by Mardi Gras Indians to music for the song. Crawford himself states that he has no idea what the words mean, and that he originally sang the phrase "Chock-a-mo", but the title was misheard by Chess and Checkers Records president Leonard Chess, who misspelled it as "Jock-a-mo" for the record's release.
"Jock-a-mo" was the original version of the song "Iko Iko" recorded by the Dixie Cups
The Dixie Cups
The Dixie Cups are an American pop music girl group of the 1960s. They are best known for their 1964 million selling disc, "Chapel of Love".-Career:...
in 1965. Their version came about by accident. They were in a New York City studio for a recording session when they began an impromptu version of "Iko Iko", accompanied only by drumsticks on studio ashtrays.
"We were just clowning around with it during a session using drumsticks on ashtrays," said Dixie Cup member Barbara Hawkins. "We didn't realize that Jerry and Mike had the tapes running." Session producers
Record producer
A record producer is an individual working within the music industry, whose job is to oversee and manage the recording of an artist's music...
Leiber and Stoller added bass and drums and released it.
Recording history
The Dixie CupsThe Dixie Cups
The Dixie Cups are an American pop music girl group of the 1960s. They are best known for their 1964 million selling disc, "Chapel of Love".-Career:...
, who had learned "Iko, Iko" from hearing their grandmother sing it, also knew little about the origin of the song and so the original authorship credit went to the members, Barbara Ann Hawkins, her sister Rosa Lee Hawkins, and their cousin Joan Marie Johnson.
After the Dixie Cups version of the "Iko Iko" was released in 1965, they and their record label, Red Bird Records
Red Bird Records
Red Bird Records was a record label started by American pop music songwriters Jerry Leiber and Mike Stoller in 1964. Though often thought of as a "girl-group" label, female-led acts made up only 40% of the artist roster on Red Bird and its associated labels...
, were sued by James Crawford, who claimed that "Iko Iko" was the same as his composition "Jock-a-mo." Although The Dixie Cups denied that the two compositions were similar, the lawsuit resulted in a settlement in 1967 with Crawford making no claim to authorship or ownership of "Iko Iko", but being credited 25% for public performances, such as on radio, of "Iko Iko" in the United States. Even though a back-to-back listening of the two recordings clearly demonstrates that "Iko Iko" was practically the same song as Crawford's "Jock-a-mo", Crawford's rationale for the settlement was motivated by years of legal battles with no royalties. In the end, he stated, "I don’t even know if I really am getting my just dues. I just figure 50 percent of something is better than 100 percent of nothing."
In the 1990s, the Dixie Cups became aware that another group of people were claiming authorship of "Iko Iko." Their ex-manager Joe Jones
Joe Jones (singer)
Joe Jones was an American R&B singer, songwriter and arranger...
and his family filed a copyright registration in 1991, alleging that they wrote the song in 1963. Joe Jones successfully licensed "Iko Iko" outside of North America, and it was used as the soundtrack of Mission Impossible 2 in 2000. The Dixie Cups filed a lawsuit against Joe Jones. The trial took place in New Orleans and the Dixie Cups were represented by well-known music attorney Oren Warshavsky before Senior Federal Judge Peter Beer.
The jury returned a unanimous verdict on March 6, 2002, affirming that the Dixie Cups were the only writers of "Iko Iko" and granting them more money than they were seeking. The Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals upheld the jury verdict and sanctioned Joe Jones.
The song is regularly performed by artists from New Orleans such as the Neville Brothers (who have recorded it in a medley with the melodically-related Mardi Gras song "Brother John" as "Brother John/Iko Iko"), Larry Williams
Larry Williams
Larry Williams was an American rhythm and blues and rock and roll singer, songwriter, producer, and pianist from New Orleans, Louisiana...
, Dr. John
Dr. John
Malcolm John "Mac" Rebennack, Jr. , better known by the stage name Dr. John , is an American singer-songwriter, pianist and guitarist, whose music combines blues, pop, jazz as well as Zydeco, boogie woogie and rock and roll.Active as a session musician since the late 1950s, he came to wider...
, The Radiators
The Radiators (US)
The Radiators, also known as The New Orleans Radiators, are a rock band from New Orleans, Louisiana, who have combined the traditional musical styles of their native city with more mainstream rock and R&B influences to form a bouncy, funky variety of swamp-rock they call fish-head music...
, Willy DeVille
Willy DeVille
Willy DeVille was an American singer and songwriter. During his thirty-five year career, first with his band Mink DeVille and later on his own, Deville created original songs rooted in traditional American musical styles. He worked with collaborators from across the spectrum of contemporary...
, Buckwheat Zydeco
Buckwheat Zydeco
Buckwheat Zydeco is the stage name of Stanley Dural, Jr. , an American accordionist and zydeco musician. He is one of the few zydeco artists to achieve mainstream success...
, and Zachary Richard
Zachary Richard
Zachary Richard is a Cajun singer/songwriter and poet. His music is an innovative combination of Cajun and Zydeco musical styles.-Biography:...
, and can often be heard on the streets and in the bars of New Orleans, especially during Mardi Gras.
It has been also been covered by Cyndi Lauper
Cyndi Lauper
Cynthia Ann Stephanie "Cyndi" Lauper is an American singer, songwriter, actress and LGBT rights activist. She achieved success in the mid-1980s with the release of the album She's So Unusual and became the first female singer to have four top-five singles released from one album...
, the Grateful Dead
Grateful Dead
The Grateful Dead was an American rock band formed in 1965 in the San Francisco Bay Area. The band was known for its unique and eclectic style, which fused elements of rock, folk, bluegrass, blues, reggae, country, improvisational jazz, psychedelia, and space rock, and for live performances of long...
(who made "Iko Iko" a staple in their live shows from 1977 onward), Cowboy Mouth
Cowboy Mouth
Cowboy Mouth is a rock band based in New Orleans, Louisiana. Their name usually means "One with a loud and raucous voice". The nucleus of the band formed in the 1990s, and they have become a powerhouse live act whose performances have been likened to "a religious experience."Some of their most...
, Warren Zevon
Warren Zevon
Warren William Zevon was an American rock singer-songwriter and musician noted for including his sometimes sardonic opinions of life in his musical lyrics, composing songs that were sometimes humorous and often had political or historical themes.Zevon's work has often been praised by well-known...
, Long John Baldry
Long John Baldry
John William "Long John" Baldry was an English and Canadian blues singer and a voice actor. He sang with many British musicians, with Rod Stewart and Elton John appearing in bands led by Baldry in the 1960s. He enjoyed pop success in the UK where Let the Heartaches Begin reached No...
, Dave Matthews
Dave Matthews
David John "Dave" Matthews is a South African–born American musician and occasional actor, best known as the lead vocalist, songwriter, and guitarist for the Dave Matthews Band...
& Friends, The Ordinary Boys
The Ordinary Boys
The Ordinary Boys are an English indie rock band from Worthing, in West Sussex, England. Originally named Next in Line, they were influenced by mod revival and Britpop music, as well as the bands Madness, The Specials, The Kinks and The Smiths...
, Glass Candy
Glass Candy
Glass Candy is an American indie electronic band from Portland, Oregon that formed in 1996. The band consists of vocalist Ida No and guitarist/synthesist/general producer Johnny Jewel. While the band's early work blends elements of no wave and glam rock, their later work incorporates Italo disco...
, and Sharon, Lois & Bram
Sharon, Lois & Bram
Sharon, Lois & Bram is the name of a Canadian children's musical trio composed of Sharon Hampson , Lois Ada Lilienstein , and Bramwell "Bram" Morrison .-Group formation:Sharon Hampson, Lois Lillenstein, and Bram Morrison began their singing...
, among others. Amy Holland
Amy Holland
Amy Holland is a pop rock singer. She is of Dutch descent and changed her name from Boersma to Holland , because she thought it would make a better stage name. Her mother was country star Esmereldy and her father was opera singer Harry Boersma...
covered the song on the soundtrack of the film K-9
K-9 (film)
K-9 is a 1989 American action comedy film starring James Belushi and Mel Harris. Directed by Rod Daniel and written by Steven Siegel and Scott Myers, it was produced by Lawrence Gordon and Charles Gordon, and released by Universal City Studios...
, Aaron Carter
Aaron Carter
Aaron Charles Carter is an American singer. He came to fame as a pop and hip hop singer in the late 1990s, establishing himself as a star among pre-teen and teenage audiences during the early-first decade of the 21st century....
covered the song for The Little Vampire
The Little Vampire
The film version of the story was released in 2000 and stars Jonathan Lipnicki, Richard E. Grant, Jim Carter, and Alice Krige.-Plot:Tony Thompson is an only child whose family has moved to Scotland from California. In the new country, he has no friends, and he is picked on and beaten up by bullies...
soundtrack and filmed a music video for it. the Dixie Cups
The Dixie Cups
The Dixie Cups are an American pop music girl group of the 1960s. They are best known for their 1964 million selling disc, "Chapel of Love".-Career:...
performed the song on the soundtrack of the film The Skeleton Key
The Skeleton Key
The Skeleton Key is a 2005 American supernatural horror film starring Kate Hudson, Gena Rowlands, John Hurt, Peter Sarsgaard, and Joy Bryant. The film focuses on a young hospice nurse who acquires a job at a Terrebonne Parish plantation home, and becomes entangled in a mystery involving the house,...
and The Belle Stars
The Belle Stars
The Belle Stars were an all female British rock band, founded in London in 1980 by former members of the 2 Tone ska revival band, The Bodysnatchers.-Career:...
' cover was featured in the films Rain Man
Rain Man
Rain Man is a 1988 drama film written by Barry Morrow and Ronald Bass and directed by Barry Levinson. It tells the story of an abrasive and selfish yuppie, Charlie Babbitt, who discovers that his estranged father has died and bequeathed all of his multimillion-dollar estate to his other son,...
, Knockin' on Heaven's Door
Knockin' on Heaven's Door (film)
Knockin' on Heaven's Door is a 1997 German criminal comedy, by Thomas Jahn, starring Til Schweiger, Moritz Bleibtreu and Rutger Hauer. Its name derives from the Bob Dylan song which is also on the film's soundtrack.- Story :...
and The Hangover
The Hangover
The Hangover is the second solo album by former Guns N' Roses guitarist Gilby Clarke, released in 1997.-Track listing:All tracks by Clarke unless otherwise stated.# "Wasn't Yesterday Great" – 2:45# "It's Good Enough for Rock N' Roll" – 3:12...
. Justine Bateman
Justine Bateman
Justine Tanya Bateman is an American actress, writer, and producer. She is best known for her regular role as Mallory Keaton on the sitcom Family Ties...
, Julia Roberts
Julia Roberts
Julia Fiona Roberts is an American actress. She became a Hollywood star after headlining the romantic comedy Pretty Woman , which grossed $464 million worldwide...
, Britta Phillips
Britta Phillips
Britta Phillips is an American musician, songwriter, actress and voice actor. She is best known as the singing voice of the title character of Jem and as one half of the duo Dean and Britta, with her husband Dean Wareham...
and Trini Alvarado
Trini Alvarado
Trinidad "Trini" Alvarado is an American actress best known for her performances as Margaret "Meg" March in the 1994 film adaptation of Louisa May Alcott's novel Little Women and Lucy Lynskey in the comedy/horror film The Frighteners...
perform the song in the 1988 film Satisfaction
Satisfaction (film)
Satisfaction is a 1988 drama starring Justine Bateman and Liam Neeson. It is one of the few theatrical productions by both Aaron Spelling and NBC.-Plot:...
. A later version by Zap Mama
Zap Mama
Zap Mama is a Belgian musical group founded and led by Marie Daulne. Daulne says her mission is to be a bridge between the European and the African and bring the two cultures together with her music...
, with rewritten lyrics, was featured in the opening sequences of the film Mission: Impossible II
Mission: Impossible II
Mission: Impossible II is a 2000 action film directed by John Woo, and starring Tom Cruise, who also served as the film's producer...
. Eurodance
Eurodance
Eurodance is a genre of electronic dance music that originated in the late 1980s or early 1990s primarily in Europe. It combines many elements from House, Techno, Hi-NRG and especially Italo-Disco...
act Captain Jack
Captain Jack (band)
Captain Jack is a musical duo, specializing in Eurodance music, originating from Germany.- History :Its members were Francisco Alejandro Gutierrez , and Sunny...
re-popularized the tune in Germany
Germany
Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...
in 2001.
Rolf Harris
Rolf Harris
Rolf Harris, CBE, AM is an Australian musician, singer-songwriter, composer, painter and television personality.Born in Perth, Western Australia, Harris was a champion swimmer before studying art. He moved to England in 1952, where he started to appear on television programmes on which he drew the...
in 1965 recorded a cover version with slightly altered words, removing references to "flag boys" and other regionally specific lyrics, although much of the creole
Louisiana Creole French
Louisiana Creole is a French Creole language spoken by the Louisiana Creole people of the state of Louisiana. The language consists of elements of French, Spanish, African, and Native American roots.-Geography:...
patois
Patois
Patois is any language that is considered nonstandard, although the term is not formally defined in linguistics. It can refer to pidgins, creoles, dialects, and other forms of native or local speech, but not commonly to jargon or slang, which are vocabulary-based forms of cant...
remained as a sort of nonsense scat
Scat singing
In vocal jazz, scat singing is vocal improvisation with wordless vocables, nonsense syllables or without words at all. Scat singing gives singers the ability to sing improvised melodies and rhythms, to create the equivalent of an instrumental solo using their voice.- Structure and syllable choice...
. This version made the song popular in England and Australia in the 1960s.
The song's most successful UK version was that of singer Natasha England, who took it into the top 10 in 1982. Her version, released the same week as The Belle Stars
The Belle Stars
The Belle Stars were an all female British rock band, founded in London in 1980 by former members of the 2 Tone ska revival band, The Bodysnatchers.-Career:...
's recording, charted higher and significantly outsold their rival version. The Belle Stars version would be released in the United States in 1988, where it would peak at 14 in March 1989. The UK recording was produced by Tom Newman
Tom Newman (musician)
Not to be confused with Thomas Newman.Tom Newman is an English record producer and musician...
("Tubular Bells
Tubular Bells
Tubular Bells is the debut record album of English musician Mike Oldfield, released in 1973. It was the first album released by Virgin Records and an early cornerstone of the company's success...
").
Dr. John's story
Following is the "Iko Iko" story, as told by Dr. JohnDr. John
Malcolm John "Mac" Rebennack, Jr. , better known by the stage name Dr. John , is an American singer-songwriter, pianist and guitarist, whose music combines blues, pop, jazz as well as Zydeco, boogie woogie and rock and roll.Active as a session musician since the late 1950s, he came to wider...
in the liner notes to his 1972 album
Album
An album is a collection of recordings, released as a single package on gramophone record, cassette, compact disc, or via digital distribution. The word derives from the Latin word for list .Vinyl LP records have two sides, each comprising one half of the album...
, Dr. John's Gumbo
Dr. John's Gumbo
Dr. John's Gumbo is the fifth album by New Orleans singer and pianist Dr. John, a tribute to the music of his native city. The album is a collection of covers of New Orleans classics, played by a major figure in the city's music. In 2003, the album was ranked number 402 on Rolling Stone magazine's...
, in which he covers New Orleans R&B classics:
"Sugar Boy" Crawford's story
James "Sugar Boy" CrawfordJames "Sugar Boy" Crawford
James "Sugar Boy" Crawford is a New Orleans R&B artist. He is the author of the classic "Jock-A-Mo" in 1954, a hit that was later recreated as "Iko Iko", by The Dixie Cups and redone by many artists including Dr...
, gave a 2002 interview with "OffBeat Magazine"
OffBeat (magazine)
OffBeat is a monthly music magazine in New Orleans, Louisiana first published in 1988. It mainly focuses on the music scene of New Orleans and Louisiana. It covers wide range of local music including R&B, blues, brass bands, jazz, cajun music, zydeco, to rock....
discussing the song's meaning:
Linguistic origins
Linguists and historians have proposed a variety of origins for the seemingly nonsensical chorus, suggesting that the words may come from a melange of cultures.According to linguist Geoffrey D. Kimball, the lyrics of the song are derived in part from Mobilian Jargon
Mobilian Jargon
Mobilian Jargon was a pidgin used as a lingua franca among Native American groups living along the Gulf of Mexico around the time of European settlement of the region...
, an extinct Native American trade language consisting mostly of Choctaw
Choctaw language
The Choctaw language, traditionally spoken by the Native American Choctaw people of the southeastern United States, is a member of the Muskogean family...
and Chickasaw
Chickasaw language
The Chickasaw language is a Native American language of the Muskogean family. It is agglutinative and follows the pattern of subject–object–verb. The language is closely related to, though perhaps not entirely mutually intelligible with, Choctaw...
words and once used by Southeastern Indians, African Americans, and European settlers and their descendants in the Gulf Coast Region. In Mobilian Jargon, čokəma fehna (interpreted as "jockomo feeno") was a commonly used phrase, meaning "very good."
Louisiana creole lingua specialists believe now that the words originated as:
Ena! Ena!
Akout, Akout an deye
Chaque amoor fi nou wa na né
Chaque amoor fi na né
In English, this equates to:
Hey now! Hey now!
Listen, listen at the back
All the love made our king be born
All the love made it happen.
In a 2009 Offbeat
OffBeat (magazine)
OffBeat is a monthly music magazine in New Orleans, Louisiana first published in 1988. It mainly focuses on the music scene of New Orleans and Louisiana. It covers wide range of local music including R&B, blues, brass bands, jazz, cajun music, zydeco, to rock....
article, however, the Ghanaian social linguist Dr. Evershed Amuzu said the chorus was "definitely West African," reflecting West African tonal patterns. The article also notes that the phrase ayeko—often doubled as ayeko, ayeko—is a popular chant meaning "well done, or congratulations" among the Akan
Akan people
The Akan people are an ethnic group found predominately in Ghana and The Ivory Coast. Akans are the majority in both of these countries and overall have a population of over 20 million people.The Akan speak Kwa languages-Origin and ethnogenesis:...
and Ewe
Ewe people
The Ewe are a people located in the southeast corner of Ghana, east of the Volta River, in an area now described as the Volta Region, in southern Togo and western Benin...
people in modern-day Togo, Ghana, and Benin. Both groups were heavily traded during the slave trade, often to Haiti, which served as a way station for Louisiana. (Ewes in particular are credited with bringing West African cultural influences like Voudou rites from West Africa to Haiti and on to New Orleans.)
Musicologist Ned Sublette
Ned Sublette
Ned Sublette is an American composer, musician, record producer and musicologist. Sublette studied Spanish Classical Guitar with Hector Garcia at the University of New Mexico and with Emilio Pujol in Spain. He studied composition with Kenneth Gaburo at the University of California, San Diego...
has backed the idea that the chorus might have roots in Haitian slave culture, considering that the rhythms of Mardi Gras Indians are nearly indistinguishable from the Haitian Kata rhythm. Yaquimo, he has also noted, was a common name among Taino
Taíno people
The Taínos were pre-Columbian inhabitants of the Bahamas, Greater Antilles, and the northern Lesser Antilles. It is thought that the seafaring Taínos are relatives of the Arawak people of South America...
people, who inhabited Haiti in the early years of the slave trade.
In a 1991 lecture to the New Orleans Social Science History Association, Dr. Sybil Kein proposed the following translation from Yoruba and Creole:
Code language!
God is watching
Jacouman causes it; we will be emancipated
Jacouman urges it; we will wait.
In George Washington Cables 1889 novel "Strange True Stories of Louisiana" a New Orleans planters daughter is on a riverboat trip. Upon seeing a gathering of "natives" on the riverbank she "replied to their signs and called with all of the force in her lungs every indian word that ...she had learned: "Chacounam finnan! O Choctaw! Conno Poposso!" And the Indians clapped their hands, laughing with pleasure..."
Films
- The Dixie CupsThe Dixie CupsThe Dixie Cups are an American pop music girl group of the 1960s. They are best known for their 1964 million selling disc, "Chapel of Love".-Career:...
version was included on the soundtrack to the 1987 film The Big Easy. This version was also used on the soundtrack of the 2005 movie The Skeleton KeyThe Skeleton KeyThe Skeleton Key is a 2005 American supernatural horror film starring Kate Hudson, Gena Rowlands, John Hurt, Peter Sarsgaard, and Joy Bryant. The film focuses on a young hospice nurse who acquires a job at a Terrebonne Parish plantation home, and becomes entangled in a mystery involving the house,...
.
- The Belle StarsThe Belle StarsThe Belle Stars were an all female British rock band, founded in London in 1980 by former members of the 2 Tone ska revival band, The Bodysnatchers.-Career:...
' version of "Iko Iko" is used in the opening scene of the 1988 film Rain ManRain ManRain Man is a 1988 drama film written by Barry Morrow and Ronald Bass and directed by Barry Levinson. It tells the story of an abrasive and selfish yuppie, Charlie Babbitt, who discovers that his estranged father has died and bequeathed all of his multimillion-dollar estate to his other son,...
. The Todd Phillips movie The HangoverThe HangoverThe Hangover is the second solo album by former Guns N' Roses guitarist Gilby Clarke, released in 1997.-Track listing:All tracks by Clarke unless otherwise stated.# "Wasn't Yesterday Great" – 2:45# "It's Good Enough for Rock N' Roll" – 3:12...
pays homage to this with a scene in which the men attempt to win money at blackjackBlackjackBlackjack, also known as Twenty-one or Vingt-et-un , is the most widely played casino banking game in the world...
by counting cards.
- An a cappellaA cappellaA cappella music is specifically solo or group singing without instrumental sound, or a piece intended to be performed in this way. It is the opposite of cantata, which is accompanied singing. A cappella was originally intended to differentiate between Renaissance polyphony and Baroque concertato...
version of the song was performed by Britta PhillipsBritta PhillipsBritta Phillips is an American musician, songwriter, actress and voice actor. She is best known as the singing voice of the title character of Jem and as one half of the duo Dean and Britta, with her husband Dean Wareham...
, Julia RobertsJulia RobertsJulia Fiona Roberts is an American actress. She became a Hollywood star after headlining the romantic comedy Pretty Woman , which grossed $464 million worldwide...
, Justine BatemanJustine BatemanJustine Tanya Bateman is an American actress, writer, and producer. She is best known for her regular role as Mallory Keaton on the sitcom Family Ties...
, and Trini AlvaradoTrini AlvaradoTrinidad "Trini" Alvarado is an American actress best known for her performances as Margaret "Meg" March in the 1994 film adaptation of Louisa May Alcott's novel Little Women and Lucy Lynskey in the comedy/horror film The Frighteners...
in the 1988 film SatisfactionSatisfaction (film)Satisfaction is a 1988 drama starring Justine Bateman and Liam Neeson. It is one of the few theatrical productions by both Aaron Spelling and NBC.-Plot:...
.
- The song was performed by Amy HollandAmy HollandAmy Holland is a pop rock singer. She is of Dutch descent and changed her name from Boersma to Holland , because she thought it would make a better stage name. Her mother was country star Esmereldy and her father was opera singer Harry Boersma...
for the 1989 film K-9K-9 (film)K-9 is a 1989 American action comedy film starring James Belushi and Mel Harris. Directed by Rod Daniel and written by Steven Siegel and Scott Myers, it was produced by Lawrence Gordon and Charles Gordon, and released by Universal City Studios...
.
- A version by Zap MamaZap MamaZap Mama is a Belgian musical group founded and led by Marie Daulne. Daulne says her mission is to be a bridge between the European and the African and bring the two cultures together with her music...
appears in the opening scene of the 2000 film Mission: Impossible IIMission: Impossible IIMission: Impossible II is a 2000 action film directed by John Woo, and starring Tom Cruise, who also served as the film's producer...
.
Television
- A modified version was created for a "NickelodeonNickelodeon (TV channel)Nickelodeon, often simply called Nick and originally named Pinwheel, is an American children's channel owned by MTV Networks, a subsidiary of Viacom International. The channel is primarily aimed at children ages 7–17, with the exception of their weekday morning program block aimed at preschoolers...
Nation" campaign.
- The song was performed by Dr. JohnDr. JohnMalcolm John "Mac" Rebennack, Jr. , better known by the stage name Dr. John , is an American singer-songwriter, pianist and guitarist, whose music combines blues, pop, jazz as well as Zydeco, boogie woogie and rock and roll.Active as a session musician since the late 1950s, he came to wider...
during halftime of the 2008 NBA All-Star Game in New Orleans.
- In 2009, a version based on The Dixie Cups' was used in an ad for LiptonLiptonLipton is a brand of tea currently owned by Unilever.-History of Lipton Tea:Lipton was created at the end of the 19th century by a grocer, Sir Thomas Lipton, in Glasgow, Scotland. In 1893, he established the Thomas J. Lipton Co., a tea packing company with its headquarters and factory in Hobo ken,...
Rainforest AllianceRainforest AllianceThe Rainforest Alliance is a non-governmental organization with the published aims of working to conserve biodiversity and ensure sustainable livelihoods by transforming land-use practices, business practices and consumer behavior. It is based in New York City, and has offices throughout the...
Ice Tea.
Other
- The Grateful DeadGrateful DeadThe Grateful Dead was an American rock band formed in 1965 in the San Francisco Bay Area. The band was known for its unique and eclectic style, which fused elements of rock, folk, bluegrass, blues, reggae, country, improvisational jazz, psychedelia, and space rock, and for live performances of long...
covered this song as early as May 1977.
- Abita Brewing CompanyAbita Brewing CompanyThe Abita Brewing Company is a craft brewery located in Abita Springs, Louisiana, 30 miles north of New Orleans. They first began brewing beer in 1986. That year, the company produced 1,500 barrels of beer. Today, they brew over 130,000 barrels of beer annually and 5,000 barrels of root beer...
produces a beer called Jockamo IPAIndia Pale AleIndia Pale Ale or IPA is a style of beer within the broader category of pale ale. It was first brewed in England in the 19th century.The first known use of the expression "India pale ale" comes from an advertisement in the Liverpool Mercury newspaper published January 30, 1835...
.
- The band Schtärneföifi released a Swiss GermanSwiss GermanSwiss German is any of the Alemannic dialects spoken in Switzerland and in some Alpine communities in Northern Italy. Occasionally, the Alemannic dialects spoken in other countries are grouped together with Swiss German as well, especially the dialects of Liechtenstein and Austrian Vorarlberg...
version, "Heicho – Ohni Znacht is Bett," which has become a popular children's song in SwitzerlandSwitzerlandSwitzerland name of one of the Swiss cantons. ; ; ; or ), in its full name the Swiss Confederation , is a federal republic consisting of 26 cantons, with Bern as the seat of the federal authorities. The country is situated in Western Europe,Or Central Europe depending on the definition....
. In 2009, the band rerecorded their version with The Dixie Cups and the Hot 8 Brass BandHot 8 Brass BandThe Hot 8 Brass Band is a New Orleans based brass band that blends hip-hop, jazz and funk styles with traditional New Orleans brass sounds. It was formed by Bennie Pete, Jerome Jones, and Harry Cook in 1995, the merging of two earlier bands, the Looney Tunes Brass Band and the High Steppers Brass...
in New Orleans.
External links
- [ Origins of the song "Iko Iko" - AMG website]