Song #63: "The Lion Sleeps Tonight" by The Tokens

Date: Dec 18, 1961
Weeks: 3

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I'm not sure it's even possible to dislike this song. Even if you can't appreciate it on its own merits, you can appreciate it as a funny novelty song. It works either way, depending on your mood.

The falsetto lead vocals are probably the thing that grab the attention first. This is an era when falsetto vocals worked pretty well, and this song demonstrates why. The singer really goes for it with bravado during his featured vocal solo, and I appreciate that. I'm not sure the vocals in the verses needed to be the same falsetto, but it adds to the consistency of presentation. The backing vocal harmony is also great fun, and the soprano wailing over the top is absurdly crazy, in a great way. I think this song gets a bad reputation because it's fun to sing no matter how good you are at it, and that probably leads to a lot of bad singers leaving people with a bad impression of the song. But this performance is really quite good.

The music is well-chosen to enhance the vocals just enough without overpowering them, and keeps within the jungle theme. Most of the music is basic drums and light strummy guitars, but then there's also a fun sax solo in the bridge. It's just enough to be interesting without conflicting with the vocals or becoming too much.

The lyrics seem like kind of a sweet lullaby for kids. "In the jungle... the lion sleeps tonight." It's telling you not to worry about the dangers of the world outside, represented by the lion, because they're currently at rest and not going to bother you just now. There's not much more too it than that, and there doesn't need to be.

For what it's worth, I found the history of this song to be an interesting story. The original recording of the song on which it's based is also an interesting listen.

My verdict: Like it. It's charmingly corny, and you can't help but sing along. "Wimoweh, A-Wimoweh."