Shakira's song out of Africa after all

Whatever else Golden Sounds thought they were doing 25 years ago when they donned pith helmets to record ZangalEwa, it's unlikely they thought they were making a World Cup song. But that's what has happened.

It began with an underwhelming response in South Africa to the news Colombian popstar Shakira would record the tournament's official song.

When she delivered the generic Waka-Waka (This Time for Africa), one South African commentator greeted it with the headline: "Waka-Waka - Wank Wank".

The song was also disliked for its martial lyrics: "You're a good soldier, choosing your battles ...". The producers feared a backlash and pointed to the collaboration of South African band Freshlyground, without realising that the chorus of Waka-Waka had African roots that ran deeper than that.

In true global style, Shakira's effort had sampled its chorus from a 1980s dancefloor hit in Latin America. It was Latin blog Guanbee that first spotted that the original song ZangalEwa had arrived in the clubs courtesy of West African DJs.

The song had been a hit for Golden Sounds, an eccentric group whose lead singer was in the Cameroon national guard.

As the singer, Jean Paul ZE Bella, explained to the Cameroon Tribune, the Waka-Waka chorus does have a military background: "The song ZangalEwa came from Cameroonian sharpshooters who had created a slang for better communication between them during World War II."

Golden Sounds, who changed their name to ZangalEwa as the song became more widely known, said they would "probably" be getting some royalties.

Sadly, ZE Bella will not be reprising the original performance, which featured his band dressed in army officers' uniforms stuffed with pillows to make them look fat, wearing pith helmets and painting their faces white - parodying black officers who had been in league with white officers to oppress the rank-and-file African men.

The lead singer, who retired eight years ago from the presidential guard after 30 years, said he was flattered by the reprise and thought it might be a good omen for the Cameroon national team.

- INDEPENDENT