Iko Iko

"Iko Iko" (/ˈaɪkoʊ ˈaɪkoʊ/) is a much-covered New Orleans song that tells of a parade collision between two "tribes" of Mardi Gras Indians and the traditional confrontation. The song, under the original title "Jock-A-Mo", was written and released as a single in 1953 by Sugar Boy and his Cane Cutters that failed to make the charts. The song first became popular in 1965 by the female pop group The Dixie Cups, who scored an international hit with "Iko Iko". In 1967 as part of a lawsuit settlement between "Sugar Boy" James Crawford and the Dixie Cups, the trio were given part songwriting credit to the song. In 1972, Dr. John had a minor hit with his version of "Iko Iko". The most successful charting version in the UK was recorded by Scottish singer Natasha England who took her 1982 version into the top 10. "Iko Iko" became an international hit again twice more, the first being the Belle Stars in June 1982 and again with Captain Jack in 2001.

Sugar Boy and his Cane Cutters version

Background

The song was originally recorded by and released as a single in November 1953 by James Crawford as "Sugar Boy and his Cane Cutters", on Checker Records (Checker 787). The single features Dave Lastie on tenor saxophone.^[1] Crawford's version of the song did not make the charts. The story tells of a "spy boy" (i.e. a lookout for one band of Indians) encountering the "flag boy" or guidon carrier for another "tribe". He threatens to "set the flag on fire". Crawford set phrases chanted by Mardi Gras Indians to music for the song. Crawford himself states that he has no idea what the words mean, and that he originally sang the phrase "Chock-a-mo", but the title was misheard by Chess Records and Checker Records president Leonard Chess, who misspelled it as "Jock-a-mo" for the record's release.^[2]

"Sugar Boy" Crawford's story

James "Sugar Boy" Crawford, gave a 2002 interview with OffBeat Magazine discussing the song's meaning:^[2]

Interviewer: How did you construct 'Jock-A-Mo?'

Crawford: It came from two Indian chants that I put music to. “Iko Iko” was like a victory chant that the Indians would shout. “Jock-A-Mo” was a chant that was called when the Indians went into battle. I just put them together and made a song out of them. Really it was just like "Lawdy Miss Clawdy". That was a phrase everybody in New Orleans used. Lloyd Price just added music to it and it became a hit. I was just trying to write a catchy song....

Interviewer: Listeners wonder what 'Jock-A-Mo' means. Some music scholars say it translates in Mardi Gras Indian lingo as 'Kiss my ass,' and I’ve read where some think 'Jock-A-Mo' was a court jester. What does it mean?

Crawford: I really don't know. (laughs)

The Dixie Cups version

Background

The Dixie Cups version was the result of an unplanned jam in a New York City recording studio where they began an impromptu version of "Iko Iko", accompanying themselves with drumsticks on an aluminum chair, a studio ashtray and a Coke bottle.^[3] After their producers cleaned up the track and added the backup vocals, bass and drums to the song, the single was then released in March 1965.^[4] The Dixie Cups scored an international hit single with "Iko Iko" in May 1965 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart where their version peaked at number 20 and spent 10 weeks on the Top 100.^[5] The song also charted at number 23 on the UK Singles Chart and peaked at number 20 on the R&B Chart.^[6] In Canada "Iko Iko" reached number 26 on the RPM Chart.^[7] It was the third single taken from their debut studio album Chapel of Love issued on Red Bird Records in August 1964.^[8]

The Dixie Cups had learned "Iko, Iko" from hearing the Hawkins sisters' grandmother sing it,^[3] but they knew little about the origin of the song and so the original authorship credit went to the members, Barbara Ann Hawkins, her sister Rosa Lee Hawkins, and their cousin Joan Marie Johnson.

The Dixie Cups' version was later included on the soundtrack to the 1987 film The Big Easy. This same version was also used on the soundtrack of the 2005 movie The Skeleton Key. In 2009, a version based on The Dixie Cups' was used in an ad for Lipton Rainforest Alliance Ice Tea.

Legal battles

After the Dixie Cups version of "Iko Iko" was a hit in 1965, they and their record label, Red Bird Records, were sued by James Crawford, who claimed that "Iko Iko" was the same as his composition "Jock-a-mo".^[9] Although The Dixie Cups denied that the two compositions were similar, the lawsuit resulted in a settlement in 1967 with Crawford making no claim to authorship or ownership of "Iko Iko",^[10] but being credited 25% for public performances, such as on radio, of "Iko Iko" in the United States. Even though a back-to-back listening of the two recordings clearly demonstrates that "Iko Iko" was practically the same song as Crawford's "Jock-a-mo", Crawford's rationale for the settlement was motivated by years of legal battles with no royalties. In the end, he stated, "I don’t even know if I really am getting my just dues. I just figure 50 percent of something is better than 100 percent of nothing."^[2]

In the 1990s, the Dixie Cups became aware that another group of people were claiming authorship of "Iko Iko". Their ex-manager Joe Jones and his family filed a copyright registration in 1991, alleging that they wrote the song in 1963.^[11] Joe Jones successfully licensed "Iko Iko" outside of North America. The Dixie Cups filed a lawsuit against Joe Jones. The trial took place in New Orleans and the Dixie Cups were represented by well-known music attorney Oren Warshavsky before Senior Federal Judge Peter Beer.^[12] The jury returned a unanimous verdict on March 6, 2002, affirming that the Dixie Cups were the only writers of "Iko Iko" and granting them more money than they were seeking.^[12] The Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals upheld the jury verdict and sanctioned Joe Jones.^[13]

Chart performance

Dr. John version

Background

New Orleans singer and pianist Dr. John covered "Iko Iko" in 1972 for his fifth studio album Dr. John's Gumbo. Released as a single in March 1972 on Atco Records, his version of the song charted at number 71 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart. It was produced by Jerry Wexler and Harold Battiste. The following is the "Iko Iko" story, as told by Dr. John in the liner notes to his 1972 album, Dr. John's Gumbo, in which he covers New Orleans R&B classics:

The song was written and recorded back in the early 1950s by a New Orleans singer named James Crawford who worked under the name of Sugar Boy & the Cane Cutters. It was recorded in the 1960s by the Dixie Cups for Jerry Leiber & Mike Stoller's Red Bird Records, but the format we're following here is Sugar Boy's original. Also in the group were Professor Longhair on piano, Jake Myles, Big Boy Myles, Irv Bannister on guitar, and Eugene 'Bones' Jones on drums. The group was also known as the Chipaka Shaweez. The song was originally called 'Jockamo,' and it has a lot of Creole patois in it. Jockamo means 'jester' in the old myth. It is Mardi Gras music, and the Shaweez was one of many Mardi Gras groups who dressed up in far out Indian costumes and came on as Indian tribes. The tribes used to hang out on Claiborne Avenue and used to get juiced up there getting ready to perform and 'second line' in their own special style during Mardi Gras. That's dead and gone because there's a freeway where those grounds used to be. The tribes were like social clubs who lived all year for Mardi Gras, getting their costumes together. Many of them were musicians, gamblers, hustlers and pimps.

The song was performed by Dr. John during halftime of the 2008 NBA All-Star Game in New Orleans and again in 2014.

Chart performance

Natasha version

Background

The most successful charting version in the UK was recorded by the Scottish singer Natasha, whose version reached number 10 on the UK singles chart in 1982.^[14] The song also charted highly in Ireland and New Zealand. The single was produced by Tom Newman.^[15] A remix of the single was released in 2007, and Natasha's version enjoyed a resurgence in 2014 when it was included on the soundtrack to the highest-grossing Italian film of 2014, Un Boss In Salotto.^[16]

Chart performance

The Belle Stars version

Background

In 1989, the British girl group the Belle Stars had a US chart hit with their cover of "Iko Iko" which reached number 14 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart in March, after it was included on the soundtrack of the film Rain Man, starring Tom Cruise and Dustin Hoffman.^[17] The single was issued on Capitol Records. Their song is in the opening scene of the 1988 film.

It was originally released several years earlier on Stiff Records in 1982 as a single in the UK where it peaked at a modest number 35 on the UK Singles Chart in June 1982.^[18] The track was produced by Brian Tench and was also featured on the band's eponymous debut album, The Belle Stars which reached number 15 on the UK Albums Chart.^[18]

The Belle Stars version was also included in the 1997 film Knockin' on Heaven's Door,^[19] K-9^[20] and The Hangover in 2009. The Belle Stars' version of "Iko Iko" is used in a trailer for 20th Century Fox Family Features.

Chart performance

Captain Jack version

Background

The German Eurodance act Captain Jack recorded a cover version of "Iko Iko" for their fourth studio album, Top Secret in 2001. It was released on E-Park Records. The single was produced by Udo Niebergall and Eric Sneo. Captain Jack's version was a hit in several countries, reaching number 22 in Germany, number 62 in Switzerland and peaking at number 16 in Austria.^[21]

Chart performance

Other versions

• Oddly, the Larry Williams version, included on the Specialty Records Larry Williams CD released in 1989, although it was recorded on April 26, 1957, still credits the song as being written by "Hawkins, Hawkins and Johnson" though the Dixie Cups did not record it for another 8 years.^[22]
• Rolf Harris in 1965 recorded a cover version with slightly altered words, removing references to "flag boys" and other regionally specific lyrics, although much of the creole patois remained as a sort of nonsense scat. This version made the song popular in England and Australia in the 1960s. It was released in Australia both on the Rolf Harris Show album, and on the Jake The Peg picture-cover EP.
• It has also been covered by the Grateful Dead who made "Iko Iko" a staple in their live shows from 1977 onward. It was included on their live album, Reckoning as a bonus track on the 2004 CD reissue.
• The Neville Brothers recorded it in a medley with the melodically-related Mardi Gras song "Brother John" as "Brother John/Iko Iko" for their 1981 album Fiyo on the Bayou.
• Saragossa Band recorded a cover of the song in 1981 as "Aiko Aiko".^[23]
• Cyndi Lauper covered the song on her True Colors album in 1986.
• An a cappella version of the song was performed by Britta Phillips, Julia Roberts, Justine Bateman, and Trini Alvarado in the 1988 film Satisfaction.
• Amy Holland covered the song in 1989 for the soundtrack of the film K-9.
• Kids Incorporated covered the song in the episode "Pollution Problems", recorded in 1989 and released in 1990.
• The song is regularly performed by artists from New Orleans such as The Radiators, Willy DeVille, Buckwheat Zydeco, Irma Thomas and Zachary Richard, and can often be heard on the streets and in the bars of New Orleans, especially during Mardi Gras.
• Other remakes were by Cowboy Mouth, Warren Zevon, Long John Baldry (with backing vocal by Elton John), Dave Matthews & Friends, The Ordinary Boys, Glass Candy, and Sharon, Lois & Bram, among others.
• Aaron Carter covered "Iko Iko" for 2000's The Little Vampire soundtrack and included it on his album Aaron's Party (Come Get It). He filmed a music video for his cover.
• A later version by Zap Mama, with rewritten lyrics, was featured in the opening sequences of the film Mission: Impossible II in 2000.
• The band Schtärneföifi released a Swiss German version, "Heicho – Ohni Znacht is Bett", which has become a popular children's song in Switzerland. In 2009, the band rerecorded their version with The Dixie Cups and the Hot 8 Brass Band in New Orleans.^[24]
• Rooster Davis and Ann Vriend perform the song on Rooster Davis' album "For Saints and Sinners", released in 2015.
• Alvin and the Chipmunks covered the song for their 2015 film and soundtrack Alvin and the Chipmunks: The Road Chip.
• Turkish singer Gökçe Dinçer recorded a cover of the song in 2015 as "Tik Tak".^[25]
• Singer Sia Furler along with Jimmy Fallon, Natalie Portman and band The Roots performed the song for The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon in 2016.^[26]

Linguistic origins

Linguists and historians have proposed a variety of origins for the seemingly nonsensical chorus, suggesting that the words may come from a melange of cultures.

According to linguist Geoffrey D. Kimball, the lyrics of the song are derived in part from Mobilian Jargon, an extinct American Indian trade language consisting mostly of Choctaw and Chickasaw words and once used by Southeastern American Indians, Blacks, and European settlers and their descendants in the Gulf Coast Region.^[27] In Mobilian Jargon, čokəma fehna (interpreted as "jockomo feeno") was a commonly used phrase, meaning "very good".

A translation of Louisiana Creole French interprets the words of the entire chorus as;

Ena! Ena!
Akout, akout, an déyè
Chaque amour fi nou wa na né

Chaque amour fi na né

In English, this equates to:

Hey now! Hey now!
Listen, listen at the back
All our love made our king be born

All our love made it happen.

Another possible translation interprets the third and fourth lines as:^[28]

Chokma finha an dan déyè

Chokma finha ane.

From Chickasaw words "chokma" ("it's good") and "finha" ("very"), the Creole "an dan déyè" from the French Creole "an dans déyè" ("at the back"), and the Creole "ane" from the French "année" ("year").

In English, this equates to:

It's very good at the rear

It's (a) very good year.

In a 2009 Offbeat article, however, the Ghanaian social linguist Dr. Evershed Amuzu said the chorus was "definitely West African", reflecting West African tonal patterns. The article also notes that the phrase ayeko—often doubled as ayeko, ayeko—is a popular chant meaning "well done, or congratulations" among the Akan and Ewe people in modern-day Togo, Ghana, and Benin.^[29] Both groups were heavily traded during the slave trade, often to Haiti, which served as a way station for Louisiana. Ewes in particular are credited with bringing West African cultural influences like West African Vodun rites from West Africa to Haiti and on to New Orleans.

Musicologist Ned Sublette has backed the idea that the chorus might have roots in Haitian slave culture, considering that the rhythms of Mardi Gras Indians are nearly indistinguishable from the Haitian Kata rhythm. Yaquimo, he has also noted, was a common name among Taino people, who inhabited Haiti in the early years of the slave trade.^[29] "Jakamo Fi Na Ye" is also, whether coincidentally or not, the phrase "The black cat is here" in Bambara, a West African Mandingo language.

In a 1991 lecture to the New Orleans Social Science History Association, Dr. Sybil Kein proposed the following translation from Yoruba and Creole:

Code language!
God is watching
Jacouman causes it; we will be emancipated

Jacouman urges it; we will wait.^[30]

Voodoo practitioners would recognize many aspects of the song as being about spirit possession. The practitioner, the horse, waves a flag representing a certain god to literally flag down that god into himself or herself. Setting a flag on fire is a way of cursing someone. The song also mentions a man dressed in green who either has a change in personality or is in some way not what he seems to be. That would be recognized in Voodoo as a person being possessed by a spirit from the peaceful Rada realm who has a preference for green clothes and has love magic or fertility as their tell-tale characteristics. The man in the song who is dressed in red, and who is being sent after someone to kill them, would likely be a person possessed by a spirit from the vengeful Petwo realm who has a preference for red clothing and who has revenge or some other destructive quality among their characteristics.^[31] The relationship of the song to voodoo practices is celebrated in the movie The Skeleton Key, whose plot revolves around the practice of Hoodoo (folk magic).

Pop culture usage

Films

• The movie Satisfaction (1988) pays homage to this song with the band singing the song on their way to their next gig.
• The Belle Stars version is used in Rain Man (1988).^[32]
• The Todd Phillips movie The Hangover (2009) pays homage to the Belle Stars version with a scene (also a homage to Rain Man) in which the men attempt to win money at blackjack by counting cards.
• A version in 1990 by Amit Kumar is performed in the Hindi movie Kishen Kanhaiya (1990).
• Zap Mama covered the song for the opening scene of Mission: Impossible II (2000).
• A recurring song in The Skeleton Key (2005).
• Natasha's version is used in A Boss in the Living Room (Italian: Un Boss In Salotto) (2014).^[33]

Television

• A modified version was created for a "Nickelodeon Nation" campaign.^[34]
• South African artist Kurt Darren created his own version of the song, entitled "Aiko Aiko".
• In 1989, Mowaya covered this song in Season 1 of The All-New Mickey Mouse Club (now MMC).
• Actress Kim Dickens' character Janette sings it while wandering the streets during Mardi Gras in episode 8, season 1 of the HBO series Treme. It also features in episode 4, season 3 of the series.
• It was used as an opening song in Miss USA 2014 which was held in Baton Rouge, Louisiana.
• It also made an appearance on The Fresh Prince of Bel Air in Season 2, when Will and Aunt Vivian play a jump rope game together singing the song.

Other

• Abita Brewing Company produces a beer called Jockamo IPA.^[35]
• Advertising agency Saatchi & Saatchi (Australia) used the track as backing for a Cadbury Chocolates Australia 2014 ad campaign.
• The protagonist of Neil Gaiman's novel American Gods recognizes the song as sung by the Dixie Cups as "an old children's song" while in a dive bar with the god Odin.

References

External links

• Origins of the song "Iko Iko" - AMG website
• Lyrics of this song at MetroLyrics