What is the meaning behind the song, The Lion Sleeps Tonight?

n the liner notes to one of his recordings, Seeger explained his interpretation of the song, which he believed to be traditional, as an instance of a "sleeping-king" folk motif about Shaka, Warrior King of the Zulus, along the lines of the mythical European sleeping king in the mountain: Shaka the Lion, who heroically resisted the armies of the European colonizers, is supposed not to be dead but only sleeping and will one day awaken and return to lead his oppressed people to freedom. University of Texas folklorist, Veit Erlmann, however, argues that the song's meaning is more literal and refers to an incident in Linda's own youth when he actually killed a lion cub.[

The Lion Sleeps Tonight Lyrics

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What is the meaning behind the song, The Lion Sleeps Tonight?

I love this song but have never figured out what it is saying, who or what is the Lion? Poppy

One of the all time greatest songs of the Rock and Roll era. And the Tokens didn't even want to record it. I would love to hear the original versions from the 1930s. From what I understand it was an African folk song about lion hunting. When this came out by the Tokens we 9th graders used to play it at lunch time, along with the Twist and Duke of Earl and other great hits of 1961. That old high school has been torn down now, but the memories live on.

It is traditional, as an instance of a "sleeping-king" folk motif about Shaka, Warrior King of the Zulus, along the lines of the mythical European sleeping king in the mountain: Shaka the Lion, who heroically resisted the armies of the European colonizers, is supposed not to be dead but only sleeping and will one day awaken and return to lead his oppressed people to freedom. University of Texas folklorist, Veit Erlmann, however, argues that the song's meaning is more literal and refers to an incident in Linda's own youth when he actually killed a lion cub

Dear Ms. Poppy - I have been fascinated & have love the song since when it first came out. I can not imagine a Lion sleeping through that racket but it is a lot of fun for all of us to sing... A wimma a waaaaay..

The lion sleeps tonight / Near the village, / the peace-full village if the lion sleeps tonight, the village will also sleep and feel safe.

It is so important that we remember Solomon Linda as the composer of this wonderful song. I'm sure Peter Seegar would agree. I believe Mr. Linda's family finally won a lawsuit. I think it is so important to honor Solomon Linda when we discuss this song that brings happiness to so many people!

Paul Simon did his version of "The Lion Sleeps" based on Pete Seeger's Americanized verison of "Mbube". Seeger heard "Mbube" on an imported 78 rpm record brought into the U.S. in 1949 by his friend Alan Lomax. Seeger's group The Weavers performed the song in live concerts, then recorded a version in 1951. They both thought it was a public domain African Folksong. Pete Seeger misheard the words "Mbube Zimbe" (Lion Stop! in the Zulu Language) and wrote "Weemoway". The lyrics were later redone in the 1960's by George David Weiss, a writer who was said to take "public domain" folk songs, rewrite them and copywrite the result. His lyrics are the basis for most modern versions including Paul Simon's. The lyrics are fairly innocuous, written for the "pop music" audience of the day with no great hidden meaning. Seager's thoiughts are well explained by Jody's answer.

However -

The original song, "Mbube" is actually an original acapella song written and performed by Solomon Linda aka Solomon Ntsele and his group "The Evening Birds" and recorded in 1939 at the Gallo Record Company , Johanesburg, South Africa. He earned a paltry amount said to be ~ $2 .

This song is a-capella and nearly wordless except for the introduction chant ( which is common to many Zulu songs) and the chorus "Mbube Zimbe" which means "Lion Stop!" and which was misheard by Seeger as "Oweemaway" . It has been suggested that this came from Solomon's childhood when he did in fact kill a young lion that tried to raid his families herd. The song "took off" and sold a record breaking 100,000 records (few of which ever made it to the U.S.)

This groundbreaking recording set the stage for the 20th century style of Zulu music called "isicathamiya a cappella" which has been popularized later by the group Ladysmith Black Mambazo.

Paul Simon was instrumental in popularizing this style and Ladysmith Black Mambazo, bringing them to worldwide attention via his African Tour in Harare, Zimbabwe, filmed in 1987 as "The African Concert".Simon played extensively with Ladysmith Black Mambazo and was heavily influenced by them and their continuance of the traditional Zulu music.

The female Lion the dominant creation of the sand represents Christ the Church and peace above all others that were before. Then there is peace, only night sky looms above.