Tarzan Boy

Album: Living In The Background (1985)
Charted: 3 13
Play Video
  • Oh-oh-oh-oh-oh-oh-oh-oh-oh-oh-oh
    Oh-oh-oh-oh-oh-oh-oh-oh-oh-oh-oh
    Oh-oh-oh-oh-oh-oh-oh-oh-oh-oh-oh
    Oh-oh-oh-oh-oh-oh-oh-oh-oh-oh-oh

    Jungle life
    I'm far away from nowhere
    On my own like Tarzan boy
    Hide-and-seek
    I play alone while rushing 'cross the forest
    Monkey business on a sunny afternoon
    Jungle life
    I'm living in the open
    Native beat that carries on
    Burning bright
    A fire blows the signal to the sky
    I sit and wonder, does the message get to you?

    Oh-oh-oh-oh-oh-oh-oh-oh-oh-oh-oh
    Oh-oh-oh-oh-oh-oh-oh-oh-oh-oh-oh
    Oh-oh-oh-oh-oh-oh-oh-oh-oh-oh-oh
    Oh-oh-oh-oh-oh-oh-oh-oh-oh-oh-oh

    Night to night
    Gimme the other, gimme the other
    Chance tonight
    Gimme the other, gimme the other
    Night to night
    Gimme the other, gimme the other world

    Oh-oh-oh-oh-oh-oh-oh-oh-oh-oh-oh
    Oh-oh-oh-oh-oh-oh-oh-oh-oh-oh-oh
    Oh-oh-oh-oh-oh-oh-oh-oh-oh-oh-oh
    Oh-oh-oh-oh-oh-oh-oh-oh-oh-oh-oh

    Jungle life
    You're far away from nothing
    It's all right
    You won't miss home
    Take a chance
    Leave everything behind you
    Come and join me, won't be sorry
    It's easy to survive
    Jungle life
    We're living in the open
    All alone like Tarzan's boy
    Hide-and-seek
    We play alone while rushing 'cross the forest
    Monkey business on a sunny afternoon

    Night to night
    Gimme the other, gimme the other
    Chance tonight, oh yeah
    Night to night
    Gimme the other, gimme the other
    Night to night
    You won't play, yeah
    Night to night
    Gimme the other, gimme the other
    Chance tonight, oh yeah
    Night to night, night to night
    Gimme the other, gimme the other world

    Oh-oh-oh-oh-oh-oh-oh-oh-oh-oh-oh
    Oh-oh-oh-oh-oh-oh-oh-oh-oh-oh-oh
    Oh-oh-oh-oh-oh-oh-oh-oh-oh-oh-oh
    Oh-oh-oh-oh-oh-oh-oh-oh-oh-oh-oh Writer/s: Maurizio Bassi, Naimy Hackett
    Publisher: Sony/ATV Music Publishing LLC
    Lyrics licensed and provided by LyricFind

Comments: 15

  • Ju5t1n from LaBaltimora wasn't named for a Nina Simone album. Maurizio Bassi and Jimmy McShane were hanging out one night not long after meeting each other, and almost immediately deciding that they should form a music group. But they couldn't figure out what to call themselves. They knew that in order earn a decent wage as a professional music group. They needed to appeal to American music fans. Because the sheer size and spending power of the American market and its position as the dominant force in the music industry. So, McShane took a map of the United States, closed his eyes and happened to place his finger on Baltimore. They changed the final letter to an 'a' to make the name more in keeping with the act's Italian roots. And that's how the musical group Baltimora came to be.
  • Jeffrey Alan Cella from Woodstock, NyI recently listened to this song repeatedly while writing an original song, because the lines, "I'm far away from nowhere," and "You're far away from nothing," as well as the structure of "Tarzan Boy," are very inspiring to me, since I was aspiring to write a lyric with the same type of ambiguous and open- to-interpretation words. My now completed song sounds nothing like--or one would never guess that "Tarzan Boy" helped my process--but that's how inspiration/influence work if one is creating original works/products, and are using influence properly.

    I love this song--(It's very unique)--and I'm listening to it as I write this comment!

    There are some very well-done covers of "Tarzan Boy" on YT, which I came across!
  • Jimbo from South FloridaIt’s a fun, catchy, upbeat song. Does it matter what it’s about? Who cares!! Turn it on, turn it up. Dance to the beat!!! Life is to short.
  • Kez from UkIf jimmy mc Shane was not the original singer of tarzan boy then to put everyone's minds at rest on who was the real singer let Maurizio bassi sing tarzan boy now that jimmy Mc Shane has passed away , and see the difference
  • Michelangelo from Ny CityTurtle power!!!
  • Zip Von Weltzien from Wisconsin UsaJimmy McShane was gay. He came out to his family at a very young age, and the family had a hard time accepting that he was gay. Jimmy moved from Ireland to London to study acting, dancing and singing, then later ended up in Italy where Baltimora was formed. To me, the song Tarzan Boy is about coming out gay, and the difficulty at that time of finding other gay people in the "urban jungles" of the World.
  • Bruno from Lima, PeruThe problem with Milli Vanilli was that they won the Grammy. Boney M and Technotronic (in the beginning) had "fake singers" lypsynching too and the woman in the C+C Music Factory's "Gonna Make You Sweat" video wasn't the singer but neither one nor another won the Grammy as Milli Vanilli did.
  • Sharon from Cleveland, OhThis song is architypal.
  • Joe from Gallipolis, Ohthis song is about johnny damon
  • Jeff from Austin, Txso, the dude in the video wasnt the guy singing, and he's the one who died of AIDS??? Im totally confused now. So, if the real guy who was singing is still alive, why the hell hasn't he recorded Tarzan Boy II?
  • Joshua from La Crosse, WiNow let me get this straight: Maurizio Bassi was the "real" Baltimora, but he hired this McShane guy to be its figurehead? Can you say "Milli Vanilli", boys and girls? How is it that Baltimora got away with this while MV didn't? (Actually, this was four years or so before Rob and Fab themselves came on the scene. I guess MV's disgrace is now complete - even their infamous identity scam itself turns out not to have been an original idea!)
  • Soutiman from Mumbai, IndiaVery catchy song. Will make my kids listen to it.
  • Woody from Moose Jaw, CanadaWhat does DANK mean?
  • Quin from Alpine, UtThis song is dank
  • Alex from New Orleans, LaThis is now best known as "the gay fuel there song",thanks to ytmnd.
see more comments

Editor's Picks

Allen Toussaint - "Southern Nights"

Allen Toussaint - "Southern Nights"They're Playing My Song

A song he wrote and recorded from "sheer spiritual inspiration," Allen's didn't think "Southern Nights" had hit potential until Glen Campbell took it to #1 two years later.

Richard Marx

Richard MarxSongwriter Interviews

Richard explains how Joe Walsh kickstarted his career, and why he chose Hazard, Nebraska for a hit.

Commercials

CommercialsFact or Fiction

Was "Ring Of Fire" really used to sell hemorrhoid cream?

John Doe of X

John Doe of XSongwriter Interviews

With his X-wife Exene, John fronts the band X and writes their songs.

Yoko Ono

Yoko OnoSongwriter Interviews

At 80 years old, Yoko has 10 #1 Dance hits. She discusses some of her songs and explains what inspired John Lennon's return to music in 1980.

Loreena McKennitt

Loreena McKennittSongwriter Interviews

The Celtic music maker Loreena McKennitt on finding musical inspiration, the "New Age" label, and working on the movie Tinker Bell.