I Zimbra

"I Zimbra" is a song by American new wave band Talking Heads, released as the second single from their 1979 album Fear of Music.

According to Sytze Steenstra in Song and Circumstance: The Work of David Byrne from Talking Heads to the Present, the music draws heavily on the African popular music Byrne was listening to at the time.

Dada lyrics

The lyrics of "I Zimbra" are an adaptation of Dadaist Hugo Ball's poem Gadji beri bimba.

• The lyrics contain these lines:

Gadji beri bimba clandridi

Lauli lonni cadori gadjam

A bim beri glassala glandride

E glassala tuffm I zimbra

Influence

In an interview, Jerry Harrison named "I Zimbra" as his favorite Talking Heads song, and pointed out that the style of the group's next album, Remain in Light, was indebted to the song's production style.

"We also knew that our next album would be a further exploration of what we had begun with 'I Zimbra'."

– Jerry Harrison, Liquid Audio, 1997

The song is used in the opening scene of the movie Spider-Man: No Way Home. It is also in Byrne's stage musical American Utopia, also filmed for theatrical release by Spike Lee.

Charts

Sales chart peaks for "I Zimbra"

Chart (1980)	Peak position
US Billboard Hot Dance Club Play	28

Personnel

Talking Heads

• David Byrne – guitars, lead vocals
• Jerry Harrison – keyboards, backing vocals, guitars
• Tina Weymouth – bass guitar, backing vocals
• Chris Frantz – drums

Additional musicians

• Brian Eno – electronic treatments, backing vocals
• Robert Fripp – guitar
• Gene Wilder – congas
• Ari – congas
• Hassam Ramzy – surdo
• Abdou M'Boup – djembe, talking drum
• Assane Thiam – percussion
• Julie Last – backing vocals

Deleted film footage

The song was one of three songs (along with "Cities" and "Big Business") that were cut from the theatrical release of the 1984 concert film Stop Making Sense but were restored as a bonus feature for the 1999 DVD release.