ejaasaari/simplewiki-2025-04-01 huggingface dataset:
"Zangaléwa" or "Tsaminamina" is a 1986 hit song, originally sung by a makossa group from Cameroon called Golden Sounds who were popular throughout Africa for their silly dances and costumes. The song was such a hit for Golden Sounds that they eventually changed their name to Zangaléwa, too. The song pays tribute to African skirmishers (a.k.a tirailleurs) during WW2. Most of the band members were in the Cameroonian Army themselves and used make up, fake belly and fake butt for comic relief. The song is still used today almost everywhere in Africa by soldiers, policemen, boy scouts, sportsmen and their supporters, usually during training or for rallying. It is also widely used in schools throughout the continent especially in Cameroon as a marching song and the lyrics are well-known among Cameroonians. The song was also popular in Colombia where it was known as “The Military” and brought to the country by West African DJs. The men in the group often dressed in military uniforms, wearing pith helmets and stuffing their clothes with pillows to appear like they had a swollen buttocks from riding the train and overweight stomachs from eating too much. Music historians say the song, or at least part of it, is a criticism of Black military officers who were in league with Whites to oppress their own people. The rest is Cameroonian slang and jargon from the soldiers during the war. Translation. Meaning of the words in Fang language:
"Polythene Pam" is a song written by John Lennon, credited to Lennon/McCartney, and performed by The Beatles on their album "Abbey Road". Background. The name 'Polythene Pam' came from the nickname of an early Beatles' fan from the Cavern Club days, named Pat Hodgett (now Dawson), who would often eat polythene. She became known as 'Polythene Pat'. She said in an interview, "I used to eat polythene all the time. I'd tie it in knots and then eat it. Sometimes I even used to burn it and then eat it when it got cold."
"She Came in Through the Bathroom Window" is a song written by Paul McCartney (although credited to Lennon/McCartney) and performed by The Beatles on their album "Abbey Road" as part of the "Abbey Road" medley. Origin. McCartney said the song was inspired by Apple scruffs (dedicated fans who would stay outside the Abbey Road studio and the homes of the Beatles), who broke into McCartney's St John's Wood home. Diane Ashley, one of the group, says: "We were bored, he was out and so we decided to pay him a visit. We found a ladder in his garden and stuck it up at the bathroom window which he'd left slightly open. I was the one who climbed up and got in." She then opened the front door to let the others in, and they stole a number of photographs. Another Apple scruff, Margo Bird, remembers being good friends with McCartney - she would often take his dog for walks - and later got a job at Apple Corps. She says that she was asked to get back a certain photograph, which she did. In the 2006 DVD documentary "The Classic Artists Series: The Moody Blues" (DVD UK, released October 2006), Mike Pinder, the former keyboard player of Birmingham R&amp;B band The Moody Blues, states that the inspiration for the song actually rests with an incident that happened to them—a groupie climbing into an open bathroom window in the band's home and spending the night with band member Ray Thomas. The next day, Pinder and Thomas told the story to McCartney, who—guitar in hand—strummed and sang "She came in through the bathroom window...". Recording. The Beatles recorded the rhythm track for this and Polythene Pam as one piece on 25 July 1969. It took them 39 attempts, after which they added lead vocals and re-recorded the drums and bass guitar parts. On July 28, they added more vocals, guitar, percussion and piano. The song was completed two days later with additional guitar and percussion. This song was performed directly after "Polythene Pam", the song on the preceding track, without pause. At
"The End" is a song by The Beatles written by Paul McCartney (credited to Lennon/McCartney) for the album "Abbey Road". It was the last song recorded by all four of the Beatles, and is the final song of the medley that dominates side two of the LP version of the album.  Composition and recording. McCartney said, "I wanted [the medley] to end with a little meaningful couplet, so I followed the Bard [ Shakespeare ] and wrote a couplet." In his 1980 interview with "Playboy", John Lennon said, "That's Paul again ... He had a line in it, 'And in the end, the love you get is equal to the love you give,' which is a very cosmic, philosophical line. Which again proves that if he wants to, he can think." Lennon misquoted the line slightly; the actual words are, "And, in the end, the love you take/ Is equal to the love you make." Recording began on July 23, 1969, when the Beatles recorded a one-minute, 20-second master recording that was extended via overdubs to two minutes and five seconds. At this point, the song was called "Ending." The first vocals for the song were added on August 5, more vocals and guitar overdubs were added on August 7, and bass and drums on August 8, the day the "Abbey Road" cover picture was taken. Orchestral overdubs were added August 15, and the closing piano and accompanying vocal on August 18. All four Beatles have a solo in "The End", including a Ringo Starr drum solo. Starr did not like solos. McCartney, Harrison, and Lennon perform a rotating sequence of three, two-bar guitar solos. The solos begin 53 seconds into the song and end just before the final piano part. Lennon described it in his 1970 interview with "Rolling Stone": "There's a nice little bit I played on "Abbey Road". Paul gave us each a piece, a little break where Paul plays, George plays and I play." The first two bars are played by McCartney, the second two
Israel and Judah were Iron Age kingdoms of the old Near East. The area of time covered in this page is from the first mention of the name Israel in the archaeological record (1200 BCE) to the end of a independent Judean kingdom near the time of Jesus Christ. The two kingdoms arose on the eastern coast of the Mediterranean, the most western part of the Fertile Crescent, between the old empires of Egypt to the south, Assyria, Babylonia, later Persia to the north and east, Greece and later Rome across the sea to the west. The area is small, maybe only 100 miles north to south and 40 or 50 miles east to west. Israel and Judah were from the Canaanite culture of the late Bronze Age, and were based on villages that formed and grew in the southern Levant highlands (today for the region between the coastal plain and the Jordan Valley) between c. 1200-1000 BCE. Israel became an important local power in the 9th and 8th centuries BCE before falling to the Assyrians. The southern kingdom, Judah, became rich inside the greater empires of the region before a revolt against Babylon led to it being destroyed early in the 6th century. Judean exiles returned from Babylon early in the following Persian period, starting a Judahite presence in the province of Yehud, as Judah was now called. Yehud was absorbed into the subsequent Greek-ruled kingdoms which followed the conquests of Alexander the Great. In the 2nd century BC, the Jews went up against Greek rule and created the Hasmonean kingdom, which became first a Roman dependency and soon went under the rule of the Roman Empire. Late Bronze Age background (1550-1200 BCE). Geography and human settlement. The eastern Mediterranean seaboard - the Levant - goes 400 miles north to south from the Taurus Mountains to the Sinai desert, and 70 to 100 miles east to west between the sea and the Arabian desert. The coastal area of the southern Levant is large in the south and becoming short to the north. The
"Golden Slumbers" is a song by The Beatles, part of the climactic medley on their 1969 album "Abbey Road". The song begins the progression that leads to the end of the album and is followed by "Carry That Weight." The two songs were recorded together as a single piece, and both were written by Paul McCartney (credited to Lennon/McCartney). Recording. McCartney was the lead vocalist. He begins the song in a soft tone, with piano, bass guitar, and string section accompaniment. Starting with the line "Golden slumbers fill your eyes", the drums come in and McCartney switches to a stronger tone. McCartney said, "I remember trying to get a very strong vocal on it, because it was such a gentle theme, so I worked on the strength of the vocal on it, and ended up quite pleased with it." The main recording session for "Golden Slumbers"/"Carry That Weight" was on July 2, 1969. John Lennon was not present. He was injured in a motor vehicle accident in Scotland on July 1, 1969, and was hospitalized there until July 6. Additional vocals were added in an overdub session on 30 July 1969, the same day the first trial edit of the side two medley was created. Lennon did participate in this session. On 15 August, orchestral overdubs were made to "Golden Slumbers" and five other songs on "Abbey Road". Personnel per Ian MacDonald
"Carry That Weight" is a song by The Beatles. Released on "Abbey Road" and part of the long, climactic medley that closes the album, it has vocals from all four of the Beatles (a rarity in their songs). It is after "Golden Slumbers", and transitions into "The End". The middle bridge, featuring brass instruments, electric guitar and vocals, repeats the beginning of "You Never Give Me Your Money", but with different lyrics. The ending also repeats the arpeggiated guitar motif from the end of that song, similar to the figure featured in the George Harrison written songs "Here Comes the Sun" and "Badge" (co-written by Harrison and Eric Clapton). Meaning. Music critic Ian MacDonald said that the lyrics were an acknowledgment by the group that nothing they would do as solo artists would equal what they had achieved together, and they would always carry the weight of their Beatle past. McCartney said the song was about the Beatles' business difficulties and the atmosphere at Apple at the time. In the film "", Lennon says that McCartney was "singing about all of us." Recording. The Beatles began recording "Golden Slumbers"/"Carry That Weight" as one piece on July 2, 1969. McCartney, Harrison and Starr recorded 15 takes of the two songs while Lennon was in the hospital recovering from a car accident in Scotland. The rhythm tracks featured McCartney on piano, Harrison on bass guitar and Starr on drums. The best were takes 13 and 15, which were edited together on July 3rd. That day and the next, McCartney overdubbed his lead vocals and rhythm guitar, Harrison added lead guitar, and all three sang the chorus. On July 30, they added more vocals, including Lennon, who had rejoined the sessions on July 9. More vocals, timpani and drums were overdubbed on 31 July. The orchestra was recorded on August 15. Personnel. Personnel per MacDonald and Mark Lewisohn
"Her Majesty" is a song written by Paul McCartney (although credited to Lennon/McCartney) that appears on The Beatles' album "Abbey Road". "Her Majesty" is the final track of the album and appears fourteen seconds after the song "The End", but was not listed on the original sleeve. As such, it is considered one of the first examples of a hidden track in rock music. Recording. The song was recorded in three takes on July 2, 1969, before the Beatles started work on "Golden Slumbers"/"Carry That Weight". McCartney sang and played an acoustic guitar. The decision take it from the Abbey Road medley was made on July 30.
"Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band" is a song credited to Lennon/McCartney, and released in 1967, on The Beatles' album of the same name. The song appears twice on the album: as the first song (transitioning into "With a Little Help from My Friends"), and as "Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band (Reprise)", (which transitions into "A Day in the Life"). As the title track, the lyrics introduce the fictional band that performs in the album. Since its original album release, the song has also been released on singles, on compilation albums, and has been performed by several other artists including Jimi Hendrix (such as at the Isle of Wight Festival 1970), U2, and a comic interpretation by Bill Cosby. Song structure. On the "Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band" album, the song opens to the sound of a loud audience, and an orchestra tuning up, which was taken from the February 10 orchestra session for "A Day in the Life". The crowd sounds edited into the song were recorded in the early '60s by Martin, during a live recording of the stage show Beyond the Fringe. When the song itself begins, the band introduces its members. The song is in G major, with a 4/4 meter. A horn quartet was used to fill out the instrumental sections. Reprise. "Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band (Reprise)" is a repeat of the song at a faster tempo with heavier instruments. While the first track stays largely in the key of G major (except for transient modulation to F and perhaps C in the bridges), the reprise starts in F and modulates back to G. The track opens with a distorted guitar strumming a "Hendrix chord" (dominant 7th sharp 9). McCartney counts 1-2-3-4, and between 2 and 3, Lennon says "bye!". The idea for a reprise was Aspinall's, who thought that as there was a "welcome song", there should be a "goodbye song". The song contains the same melody as
"With a Little Help from My Friends" (originally titled "A Little Help from My Friends") is a song written by John Lennon and Paul McCartney. It was on the album "Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band" in 1967. The song was written for and sung by Beatles drummer Ringo Starr as the character "Billy Shears"; it is ranked #304 on Rolling Stone's list of the 500 Greatest Songs of All Time. Paul McCartney and Ringo Starr performed this song for the first time together at the David Lynch Foundation Benefit Concert in the Radio City Music Hall, New York on 4 April 2009. Origins. Lennon and McCartney finished writing this song in mid-March 1967, written as Starr's song for the album. It was briefly called "Bad Finger Boogie" (later the inspiration for the band name Badfinger), because Lennon composed the melody on a piano using his middle finger after having hurt his forefinger; but in his 1980 "Playboy" interview Lennon said: "This is Paul, with a little help from me. 'What do you see when you turn out the light/ I can't tell you, but I know it's mine...' is mine." Lennon and McCartney wrote a tune with a limited range - except for the last note, which McCartney worked closely with Starr to achieve.  Speaking in the Anthology, Starr insisted on changing the first line which originally was "What would you do if I sang out of tune? Would you stand up and throw tomatoes at me?" He changed the lyric so that fans would not throw tomatoes at him should he perform it live. (In the early days, after George Harrison made a comment that he liked jelly babies, fans would throw them at the Beatles at all of their live shows.) The song is in the form of a conversation. The other three Beatles sing a question and Starr answers, for example: "Would you believe in a love at first sight? / Yes, I'm certain that it happens all the time." The band started recording the song the day before they posed for the Sgt. Pepper album cover (29 March 1967), ending the session at 5:45 in the morning. Personnel per Ian MacDonald Cultural references. "With a Little Help from My Friends" was played as wake-up music on Space Shuttle Mission STS-61.
"Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds" is a song written by John Lennon and Paul McCartney for The Beatles' 1967 album "Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band". Lennon's son, Julian, inspired the song with a nursery school drawing he called "Lucy — in the sky with diamonds". Shortly after the song's release, people realized that the first letter of each of the title's nouns spelled LSD. Though Lennon denied and mocked the idea of a hidden LSD reference, the BBC banned the song.  Later, other artists made a cover version of the song. One of them was Elton John, whose 1974 recording was at the top of the "Billboards" chart for two weeks. Title and lyrics. Julian's drawing. According to the Beatles, Lennon's son, Julian Lennon showed his father a nursery school drawing he called Lucy - in the sky with diamonds, depicting his classmate, Lucy O'Donnell.  Julian said, "I don't know why I called it that or why it stood out from all my other drawings, but I obviously had an affection for Lucy at that age. I used to show dad everything I'd built or painted at school, and this one sparked off the idea..." Lucy Vodden née O'Donnell died of an immune system disease in 2009. Lennon was surprised at the idea that the song title was a hidden reference to LSD. Reviews and legacy. "Rolling Stone" magazine described the song as "Lennon's lavish daydream" and music critic Richie Unterberger said "'Lucy in the Sky With Diamonds' was one of the best songs on the Beatles' famous Sgt. Pepper album, and one of the classic songs of psychedelia as a whole. There are few other songs that so successfully evoke a dream world, in both the sonic textures and words." In a review for the BBC, Chris Jones described the song as "nursery rhyme surrealism" that contributed to Sgt. Pepper's "revolutionary ... sonic carpet that enveloped the ears and sent the listener spinning into other realms." In later interviews, Lennon expressed disappointment with the Beatles' arrangement of the recording, complaining that inadequate time was
"Getting Better" is a song written by Paul McCartney and John Lennon, based on an original idea by McCartney. It was recorded by The Beatles for the 1967 album "Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band". Lennon on the roof. One of the recording sessions for "Getting Better" is famous for an incident involving Lennon. During the 21 March 1967 session in which producer George Martin added a piano solo, Lennon complained that he did not feel well and could not focus. He had accidentally taken LSD when he meant to take an upper. Unaware of the mistake, Martin took him up to the roof of Abbey Road Studio for some fresh air, and returned to Studio Two where McCartney and Harrison were waiting. They knew why Lennon was not well, and upon hearing where Lennon was, rushed to the roof to retrieve him and prevent a possible accident. Personnel per Ian MacDonald
"Fixing a Hole" is a song mainly written by Paul McCartney (credited to Lennon/McCartney) and performed by The Beatles on the 1967 album "Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band". Recording. The first of two recording sessions for the song was at Regent Sound Studio in London on 9 February 1967 in three takes. The lead vocal was recorded at the same time as the rhythm track, a change from their post-1963 approach of overdubbing the vocal. According to McCartney, on the night of the session an unusual man appeared at the gate of McCartney's home and said he was Jesus Christ. After a cup of tea, and after getting him to promise to be quiet and sit in a corner, McCartney brought the man to the recording session. After the session the man left and was never heard from again. In another version of the story, John Lennon arrived at the studio, found the man hanging around the front door, and it was Lennon who invited him in. The song is referenced to by Lennon in the last stanza of the song "Glass Onion" ("Fixing a Hole in the ocean"), from "The Beatles", released a year later. In the live-action scene at the end of the 1968 movie "Yellow Submarine", Ringo mentions that he gave the other half of the "hole in me pocket" to Jeremy, so that he could "stop his mind from wandering", a direct reference to "Fixing a Hole". Personnel per Ian MacDonald
"She's Leaving Home" is a song, written by John Lennon and Paul McCartney and released in 1967 on The Beatles album "Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band". McCartney wrote and sang the verse and Lennon the chorus. This was one of a handful of songs of the Beatles in which the members did not play any instruments. Background. Paul McCartney: The newspaper story McCartney mentioned was from the front page of the "Daily Mirror", about a girl named Melanie Coe. Although McCartney made up most of the content, Coe, who was 17 at the time said that he got most of it right. Her parents wondered why she had left... "She has everything here." In real life, Melanie did not "meet a man from the motor trade", but instead a croupier, and left in the afternoon while her parents were at work. She was found ten days later because she had said where her boyfriend worked. Coincidentally, Coe had met McCartney three years earlier when she was a contestant and prize winner on ITV's "Ready Steady Go!". An update on Melanie appeared in the Daily Mail in May 2008. Recording. The day before McCartney wanted to work on the string arrangement, he learned that George Martin was not available to do the score. He contacted Mike Leander, who did it in Martin's place. It was the first time a Beatle song was not arranged by Martin (and the only time it was done with the Beatles' consent: Phil Spector's orchestration of "Let It Be" was done without McCartney's knowledge). Martin was hurt by McCartney's actions, but he produced the song and conducted the string section. The harp was played by Sheila Bromberg, the first female musician to appear on a Beatles record. The stereo version of the song runs at a slower speed than the mono mix, and consequently is a semitone lower in pitch. This is mentioned in the booklet accompanying "The Beatles in Mono" CD box set, but no reason is given. A 2007 Mojo magazine article revealed the mono mix was sped up to make Paul sound younger and tighten the track. Critical reception. When discussing Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band, composer Ned Rorem described "She's Leaving Home" as "equal to any song that Schubert ever wrote." Personnel per Ian MacDonald
"Being for the Benefit of Mr. Kite!" is a song from the 1967 album by The Beatles, "Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band". It was composed mainly by John Lennon with input from Paul McCartney and credited to Lennon/McCartney. Inspiration. Lennon wrote the song taking inspiration from a nineteenth century circus poster for Pablo Fanque's circus which he purchased in an antique shop on 31 January 1967 while filming the promotional video for the song "Strawberry Fields Forever" in Kent. Lennon said that "Everything from the song is from that poster, except the horse wasn't called Henry." (The poster idenitifies the horse as "Zanthus".) Mr. Kite is believed to be William Kite, who worked for Pablo Fanque from 1843 to 1845.
"Within You Without You" is a song written by George Harrison and released on The Beatles' 1967 album, "Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band".  Composition. "Within You Without You" features only Harrison and a group of uncredited Indian musicians, although producer George Martin arranged the string section, and Harrison and assistant Neil Aspinall played the tambura. According to Prema Music, dilrubha player Amrit Gajjar played on the track. It is the second of Harrison's songs to be explicitly influenced by Indian classical music, after "Love You To", and Harrison's only composition on "Sgt. Pepper". "Within You Without You" was written on a harmonium at the house of long-time Beatles friend Klaus Voormann, while "there were lots of joints being smoked". Stephen Stills was so impressed by the lyrics that he had them carved on a stone monument in his yard. John Lennon said it was"one of George's best songs."
Sauber Petronas Engineering AG was a company owned jointly by the Swiss racing car manufactor Sauber (60%) and the Malaysian oil company Petronas (40%). The company was founded for the sole purpose of building engines to the Sauber Formula One team. The engines were for many years nearly identical to the ones used by Ferrari but were branded (named) Petronas. Sauber licensed nearly every part from Ferrari and even had several Ferrari engineers on staff.  The company also helped developing motorcycles like Petronas FP1.