Yesterday, I was riding home on my scooter through a downpour of biblical proportions and, soaked like a sponge, I inadvertently found myself singing this song that my subconscious had buried under layers and layers of cultured, challenging, and "serious" music accumulated over years of listening and various purchases.

It was my first 45 RPM record purchased back in 1975, I was 9 years old, and it was the first hit song to capture me: I was thrilled by the nonsense, the danceable rhythm, the incomprehensible language, and the euphoria radiated by the character (very "eager" to emphasize his "blackness," then seen as a "charming diversion" from a quasi-television character more than anything else).
I remember listening to it all summer, and it was my first experience of world music avant la lettre, which made me realize that music was also something else—it was travel, knowledge, experience, and understanding.
What can I say: I don't know why in certain situations these choruses come back to mind, which, listened to today, can only induce tenderness (if you don't believe it, find the film "TOUCHING THE VOID" where a climber fallen into the abyss starts "hearing" the Boney M's catchy tune!!).
It's a vote for the tenderness of memory, more than for the intrinsic quality of the track (a kind of "Don't Worry Be Happy") that in its simplicity delivers at least one riff that is unforgettable to me.

Tracklist Lyrics and Videos

01   Ramaya (03:13)

a dingi dingi dingi ha ha ha
a dingu dingu brr Ramaya

Ramaya Bokuko Ramaya abantu Ramaya
Miranda Tumbala Ho Ho Ho
Ramaya Bokuko Ramaya abantu
Ramaya Mitumbala

Aricki brr Mutuana Gipelile la la la la la la
Aricki brr Kewana Gipelile la la la la la la
Tumbala Tumbala Maronga la la la la la la
Aricki brr Tatana Bitonga la la la la la la

Hey Jamboji Bara Bara
Hey Jamboji Bara Bara
Mulangati Chilungati
Hey chira ba ba

02   Sahara (03:10)

03   Salome (03:37)

04   Wakididi (02:41)

05   Piranha (02:45)

06   Todo Pasara Maria (03:12)

07   Hafanana (02:44)

Trrrrr acia, trrrrr ha ha
trrrrr voom bam, trrrrr ha ha.

La la la la la la...

Dulunga lu menadzi hafanana
Hanana kukanela shalalala
Dulunga lu menadzi hafanana
Hanana kukanela shalalala
Whenna naumija hafanana
Hanana kukanela shalalala
Whenna naumija hafanana
Hanana kukanela shalalala

Hey! Whake you dayuda
Clungu hafanana
Whake you di whake you dayuda
Oola oola nawhena
Hey! Whake you dayuda
Clungu hafanana
Whake you di whake you dayuda
Oola oola nawhena

Dulunga lu menadzi hafanana
Hanana kukanela shalalala
Dulunga lu menadzi hafanana
Hanana kukanela shalalala
Whenna naumija hafanana
Hanana kukanela shalalala
Whenna naumija hafanana
Hanana kukanela shalalala

Hey! Whake you dayuda
Clungu hafanana
Whake you di whake you dayuda
Oola oola nawhena
Hey! Whake you dayuda
Clungu hafanana
Whake you di whake you dayuda
Oola oola nawhena

(Instrumentalteil)

La la la la la la...

Dulunga lu menadzi hafanana
Hanana kukanela shalalala
Dulunga lu menadzi hafanana
Hanana kukanela shalalala
Whenna naumija hafanana
Hanana kukanela shalalala
Whenna naumija hafanana
Hanana kukanela shalalala

La la la la la la...
Hanana kukanela shalala... yeah!

08   Jumbo Jet (02:57)

09   Vagabundo (03:37)

10   Mira El Toro (03:06)

11   Curare (04:44)

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