(The Hit Hammer is where I'm reviewing each #1 song on the Billboard Hot 100. Starting from when the chart started in 1958 and eventually working my way to the present. To see my inspiration and more information about this blog, please refer to the "Poor Little Fool" post.)
The Tokens - "The Lion Sleeps Tonight"
Hit Number 1: December 18, 1961
Stay at Number 1: 3 Weeks
When the calendar flipped from 1961 to 1962, the #1 song in the country was a silly, sort of novelty song about a lion sleeping in a jungle at night. The song was done a lot of times, with original versions of it dating all the way back to 1939, when the song had been sung in Zulu. Eventually, songwriter George David Weiss had written English lyrics for the song, and when a doo-wop group called the Tokens got a hold of it, it absolutely blew up. It not only hit the top spot on the charts, but it remains the most notable version of the song today. Robert John (who will appear in this blog down the line) had his own version of the song too, and that was also a pretty big hit. It reached #3, and it's an 8.
Though the Tokens had sung the song in English, they still wanted to keep some of those African origins that the song had had when it was in Zulu. That's why there's those iconic "Wimoweh" chants in the song. I'm really not sure which is more notable today, the extreme tenor voice of the singer, or those freaking "Wimoweh" chants. But it's those two things that make "The Lion Sleeps Tonight" very unique in its own right. There's also a high soprano sung by Anita Darian, who was brought in by Weiss to capture even more of those African vibes. You can hear the high soprano voice all throughout the song, but especially during the saxophone solo. It really is a very odd, and weird piece of music work, but damn, it is one of the most fun pieces of music ever in the history of music.
"The Lion Sleeps Tonight" is a song that belongs on any playlist of songs you want to listen to, to make yourself feel better. It's really hard to not like it, and smile, and chant along with it as it plays. There are no sorrowful, or somber vibes from the song. Not even close! All the way from the Wimoweh chants, the gleeful sax solo, and the way all of the Tokens feed off of each other in this not to be taken seriously piece of crazy music. You can make the argument that "The Lion Sleeps Tonight" is a very shameless and in your face sort of song that invades your brain cells whether you want it to or not. And it will stay there for the rest of the day. If you made that remark, you'd be 100% correct. And I love this song because of that.
GRADE: 10/10
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