Zombie

Album: Zombie (1977)
Play Video

Songfacts®:

  • The full version of this track runs to around 12-and-a-half minutes. According to the Tejumola Olaniyan biography Arrest the Music! Fela and His Rebel Art and Politics, "Zombie" gave the youth of Africa "a handy concept that dramatized the intellectual shallowness of the military dictatorships rampaging the continent."

    It is clear to anyone who knows anything about the man and his music what inspired this song. On February 18, 1977, Fela's residence was sacked by nearly a thousand soldiers. "Residents - including Fela - and guests were brutally beaten and bayoneted and scores ended up with broken heads, legs, backs, shoulders, arms, and ribs; women were sexually assaulted; Fela's ailing mother... was tossed from a second-floor window; and the house itself was razed."

    When Fela performed this song the following year in Accra, the capital of neighboring Ghana, riots broke out, and he was deported and banned from the country. >>>
    Suggestion credit:
    Alexander Baron - London, England

Comments: 1

  • Seminal from NigeriaI love this song sooo much, it mist be tough for soldiers too. Doing anything you are told without questioning
see more comments

Editor's Picks

Chris Tomlin

Chris TomlinSongwriter Interviews

The king of Christian worship music explains talks about writing songs for troubled times.

Trans Soul Rebels: Songs About Transgenderism

Trans Soul Rebels: Songs About TransgenderismSong Writing

A history of songs dealing with transgender issues, featuring Pink Floyd, David Bowie, Morrissey and Green Day.

Phone Booth Songs

Phone Booth SongsSong Writing

Phone booths are nearly extinct, but they provided storylines for some of the most profound songs of the pre-cell phone era.

Ramones

RamonesFact or Fiction

A band so baffling, even their names were contrived. Check your score in the Ramones version of Fact or Fiction.

Songs in Famous Movie Scenes: '80s Edition

Songs in Famous Movie Scenes: '80s EditionMusic Quiz

You know the scenes - Tom Cruise in his own pants-off dance off, Molly Ringwald celebrating her birthday - but do you remember what song is playing?

Bryan Adams

Bryan AdamsSongwriter Interviews

What's the deal with "Summer of '69"? Bryan explains what the song is really about, and shares more of his songwriting insights.