In the 1950s, the American folk revival was gathering steam. At its heart was The Weavers, a vocal quartet led by Pete Seeger whose songs blended traditional folk, protest music, and global influences. Among their repertoire was a powerful tune with roots thousands of miles away in South Africa: Mbube.
This Zulu choral song, composed by Solomon Linda in 1939, had already sold over 100,000 copies in South Africa and given its name to a whole musical genre (Dean, 2019). But when the recording made its way into American folk circles, it took on a new name and a new life: Wimoweh.
The story began when ethnomusicologist Alan Lomax brought a recording of Solomon Linda’s Mbube to the United States in the late 1940s. Lomax, known for collecting folk songs worldwide, shared the track with Pete Seeger, who was immediately captivated by its hypnotic harmonies (Verster, 2002). But Seeger and his fellow musicians could not understand the Zulu lyrics. What Linda had sung as “uyimbube” — “you are a lion” — was misheard and transcribed as “Wimoweh.” This misinterpretation became the basis for The Weavers’ adaptation (Wassel, 2009).
In 1952, The Weavers recorded Wimoweh. Their version stripped away the raw Zulu choral power of the original, instead arranging it in a Western folk style with simple rhythms and harmonies. The haunting falsetto remained at the heart of the piece, but the cultural meaning of the lyrics was erased. Despite this, Wimoweh struck a chord with American audiences. It introduced listeners to a new, exotic sound — albeit one filtered through a Western folk lens. For many in the United States, this was their first exposure to African-inspired music.
The record climbed the charts and quickly became a staple of The Weavers’ live performances (Shabalala, 2021). By the mid-1950s, Wimoweh was internationally recognized, cementing The Weavers’ fame and legacy. The group’s success with the song played a significant role in the folk revival movement, bridging global influences with American protest traditions. They went on to perform sold-out shows at Carnegie Hall and influence future artists like Bob Dylan and Joan Baez.
Yet their fame came with controversy. Pete Seeger and other members were blacklisted during the McCarthy era for alleged communist sympathies, which temporarily halted their career. Still, their adaptation of Mbube had already made its mark. What was missing, however, was Solomon Linda’s name. Nowhere in The Weavers’ recording or subsequent performances was he credited as the original composer. By copyrighting their arrangement of Wimoweh, The Weavers inadvertently contributed to Linda’s erasure from his own creation (WIPO, 2006).
The Weavers’ version was not the end of the story. In 1961, Wimoweh was further reworked by the doo-wop group The Tokens, who added English lyrics and turned it into The Lion Sleeps Tonight. Their recording went to number one on the Billboard charts and became a cultural phenomenon. But that success would never have been possible without The Weavers first popularizing Linda’s melody in the United States. In that sense, The Weavers acted as the bridge — taking Mbube from a South African recording to an international stage, even if the original composer went unrecognized.
The Weavers were pioneers of the American folk revival, and their interpretation of Mbube as Wimoweh remains a milestone in cross-cultural music history. But their success also highlights the dangers of cultural appropriation and the importance of crediting original creators. Solomon Linda’s falsetto cry in 1939 gave birth to a song that traveled the world. The Weavers made it their own and introduced it to millions, but in doing so, they also obscured its origins. Today, as Linda is finally acknowledged as the true composer, we can look back and recognize both the brilliance of The Weavers and the injustice of Linda’s erasure.
References
Dean, O. (2019). Awakening the lion in the jungle: The story of the Mbube / The Lion Sleeps Tonight case. Without Prejudice (South Africa). https://journals.co.za/doi/10.10520/EJC-174924d1e5
Shabalala, D. B. (2021). Do we need exit rules for traditional knowledge? Lessons from Solomon Linda, and the Mbube/‘The Lion Sleeps Tonight’ case. Queen Mary School of Law Research Paper. https://ssrn.com/abstract=3914377
Verster, F. (Director). (2002). A Lion’s Trail [Documentary film]. Independent Lens / PBS. https://www.pbs.org/independentlens/documentaries/lionstrail/
Wassel, D. (2009). From Mbube to Wimoweh: African folk music in dual systems of law. Fordham Intellectual Property, Media & Entertainment Law Journal, 20(1), 383–428. https://ir.lawnet.fordham.edu/iplj/vol20/iss1/11
World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO). (2006, April). Copyright in the courts: The return of the lion. WIPO Magazine. https://www.wipo.int/wipo_magazine/en/2006/02/article_0006.html
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