A comedian is being sued for jokingly 'revealing' what the lyrics to 'The Circle of Life' supposedly translates to — but what do the words actually mean?
The Lion King, which is arguably one of Disney's most iconic films of all time, begins with the moment baby Simba is introduced to the rest of the animal kingdom as 'The Circle of Life' plays.
The song is sang in Zulu, which is of one South Africa’s national languages.
Composer Lebohang Morake (who goes by Lebo M professionally) penned the music for the song, as well as doing some of the vocals for it.
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As not many people know what the lyrics to the hit song really mean, comedian Learnmore Jonasi jokily translated them for listeners of the One54 Africa podcast.
The comic said that part of song translated in English is: "Look, there's a lion. Oh my god."
Jonasi is now being sued by Morake for an eye-watering $27,000,000 for his joke about the real meaning of the lyrics.
In the suit, it accuses the comedian of mocking 'the chant’s cultural significance with exaggerated imitations'.
So, if what Jonasi said the song translates to isn't correct, what is the correct translation, I hear you ask?
Well, there's a couple of different interpretations.
According to U.S. News, Disney’s official translation of the opening phrase 'Nants’ingonyama bagithi Baba' is 'All hail the king, we all bow in the presence of the king'.
The chant continues: "Hay! baba, sizongqoba." Per Morake, the composer, this means 'Through you we will emerge victoriously'.
Meanwhile, if you translate the words of the Disney classic to English on Genius, the lyrics are quite different...
The part of the chant in Zulu reads:
"Nants ingonyama bagithi Baba
"Sithi uhm ingonyama
"Nants ingonyama bagithi baba
"Sithi uhhmm ingonyama
"Ingonyama
"Siyo Nqoba
"Ingonyama
"Ingonyama nengw' enamabala."
This part in English translates to be: "There goes the lion, father. Oh, yes, the lion (Yeah, the lion). There goes the lion, father. Oh, yes, the lion. The lion. We will win. The lion."
The song then repeats the line: "A lion and a leopard come to this open place."
Eh?
If that hasn't left you scratching your head, Classic FM reported a different translation... It was still similar to the one on Genius, though.
In the article that was originally posted in 2019 – long before all the drama between Jonasi and Morake started – it was reported that the chant meant: "Here comes a lion, father, Oh yes it’s a lion.
"Here comes a lion, father, Oh yes it’s a lion. A lion we’re going to conquer, a lion, a lion and a leopard come to this open place."
Whatever the lyrics may be, you can't deny that it's a banger.
Niamh Shackleton