Lyr Req: Iko Iko

Subject: Does Anyone know this song??????
From:
Date: 06 Nov 00 - 03:55 PM

If anyone can help me with this earworm I love to play.... The song (I believe) is a cajun-french song... The words are something like "Eika-weika-wann-ee" A simple 1-4-5 progression (E,A7,B7) - and the chorus goes,.. "Tell me nah, HEY-NA! ,.....HEY-NA,.....IKE-A, IKE-A wann-ee If you can help I'd be most appreciative... -MAtthew -BAton Rouge, LA

Subject: RE: Does Anyone know this song??????
From: Kim C
Date: 06 Nov 00 - 04:23 PM

Sounds like Iko Iko to me. I apologize for not being familiar enough with it to really help you. Anyone else?

Subject: Lyr Add: IKO IKO (from Aaron Carter)
From: Quincy
Date: 06 Nov 00 - 04:57 PM

Think you're right Kim...
Gueast...does this ring any bells?

Aaron Carter - Iko Iko

My grandma and your grandma
Were sittin' by the fire.
My grandma told your grandma
"I'm gonna set your flag on fire"

Hey now! Hey now!
Iko, Iko, unday
Jockamo feeno ai nan?
Jockamo fee nan?

Look at my king all dressed in red Iko, Iko, unday.
I betcha five dollars he'll kill you dead
Jockamo fee nan?

Hey now! Hey now!
Iko, Iko, unday
Jockamo feeno ai nan?
Jockamo fee nan?

My flag boy and your flag boy
Were sittin' by the fire.
My flag boy told your flag boy
"I'm gonna set your flag on fire"

Hey now! Hey now!
Iko, Iko, unday
Jockamo feeno ai nan?
Jockamo fee nan?

See that guy all dressed in green ?
Iko Iko unday
He's not a man He's a lovin' machine.
Jockamo fee nan?


best wishes, Yvonne

Subject: RE: Does Anyone know this song??????
From: Quincy
Date: 06 Nov 00 - 05:09 PM

This is a better translation as the end of the lines in the chorus have the "a" written and punctuated.

Talkin' 'bout: Hey now! Hey now!
: Iko, Iko, unday
: Jockamo feeno ai nanÃ
: Jockamo fee nanÃ
: Look at my king all dressed in red.
: Iko, Iko, unday.
: I betcha five dollars he'll kill you dead.
: Jockamo fee nanÃ
: Chorus:
: My flag boy and your flag boy
: Were sittin' by the fire.
: My flag boy told your flag boy:
: "I'm gonna set your flag on fire."


Yvonne

Subject: RE: Does Anyone know this song??????
From: GUEST,khandu
Date: 06 Nov 00 - 05:36 PM

A few hunnert covers have been done of "Iko-iko". Dr. John stands out in my mind.

khandu

Subject: RE: Does Anyone know this song??????
From: annamill
Date: 07 Nov 00 - 02:07 PM

Those aren't the words I heard... ;-)

Love, annamill

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Iko Iko
From: GUEST,Eric
Date: 02 Sep 07 - 03:15 AM

I've searching for this song forever, thanks!

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Iko Iko
From: michaelr
Date: 02 Sep 07 - 06:06 PM

Lots of info in this thread. Mudcat at its best.

Cheers,
Michael

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Iko Iko
From: Jim Dixon
Date: 03 Sep 07 - 07:52 PM

Wikipedia has some information about IKO IKO:

The song, under the original title "Jock-A-Mo", was written in 1954 by James "Sugar Boy" Crawford in New Orleans, but has spread so widely that many people take it to be a much older folk song.

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Iko Iko
From: Azizi
Date: 03 Sep 07 - 09:06 PM

See this excerpt from that link:
"This article or section includes a list of references or a list of external links, but its sources remain unclear because it lacks in-text citations."

-snip-

This quote from that article sounds familiar to me "The phrase Iko Iko may have been derived from one or more of the languages of Gambia, possibly from the phrase Ago!, meaning "listen!" or "attention!".

-snip-

I had written something like that somewhere online-either on Mudcat or on my website page about Mardi Gras Indians songs {or both}, though I definitely can't remember ascribing that word "Ago!" to "the languages of Gambia" [I'm not sure which language that word comes from. I wonder if this article that gives no references based this statement on my speculations or found other references for this theory.

And, since the word "Ago" is mentioned as a possible source for the word "Iko", here's some more information about that word:

Since about the 1990s, Afro-centric Black folks in Pittsburgh, PA and elsewhere {I suppose} have been using the words "Ago!" {pronounced ah-GO! and meaning "Attention!"} and "Ame!" {pronounced ah-MAY! and meaning something like "You have our attention} as call & response commands used to bring noisy children's groups to order. These words came from somewhere. I certainly don't remember them from my days in an African cultural group in Newark, New Jersey in the late 1960s. Nor do I remember them from my involvement with Afrocentric Black cultural groups in the 1970s-1980s. But somebody said that "Ago" and "Ame" were call to attention commands from some traditional African language. And maybe they are.

Personally, I don't use these commands. If it comes across that I find them somewhat pretentious and that I'm doubtful about their authenticity...well you got that right.

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Iko Iko
From: GUEST,sonner
Date: 24 Nov 07 - 03:31 PM

what does

Iko, Iko, unday Jockamo feeno ai nan Jockamo fee nan?

mean?!??!?!

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Iko Iko
From: michaelr
Date: 24 Nov 07 - 05:20 PM

Bother to read the thread, Guest, whydontcha.

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Iko Iko
From: Mysha
Date: 24 Nov 07 - 08:03 PM

Hi GUEST,sonner,

If you go to the top of this thread, you'll find that there are several related threads mentioned there. If you check those, you'll find more information than in this short tread. In fact, you'll find much more information, though I doubt that a definite answer can be found anywhere.

                                                                   Mysha