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"Hakuna Matata" is a song sung by Timon, Pumbaa, and Simba from Disney's 32nd animated feature The Lion King. It was composed by Elton John, who also composed other songs from the film, and with the lyrics by Tim Rice.
Plot
In the movie, the song was sung after the wildebeest stampede and Mufasa's death. Timon and Pumbaa tried to cheer up the depressed Simba (after saving him from dying in the desert), who feels guilty for his father's death. The song is to teach Simba to slack and relax and enjoy the life with no worries, while he grows older as time passes. At one part, Pumbaa almost said, "Every time that I farted," but Timon cuts him off, warning Pumbaa, "Not in front of the kids!" (referencing the audience and Simba).
In Timon & Pumbaa, the song was used as the theme song of the TV series Timon and Pumbaa.
In the midquel The Lion King 1½, the song was used as a sing-along version when Timon and Pumbaa find a quiet home where they perform after Timon is thinking of a correct catchphrase. The song suddenly pauses when Pumbaa (in the audience) starts chewing the bug following the lyrics on the screen in which Timon prompts him to bring the bug back to the big screen so they can finish the song. The song suddenly continues when Timon and Pumbaa spend time together in their new home.
In The Lion Guard, the song is sung twice in the episode "Bunga and the King". It is first sung by Bunga and Simba while lost in underground tunnels, and later at the end of the episode by the whole cast.
Lyrics
Timon: Hakuna Matata, what a wonderful phrase!
Pumbaa: Hakuna Matata, ain't no passing craze
Timon: It means no worries for the rest of your days
Timon and Pumbaa: It's our problem-free philosophy
Timon: Hakuna Matata!
(Instrumental Bridge)
Timon: Why, when he was a young warthog...
Pumbaa: When I was a young warthog!
Timon: (rubbing his ear) Very nice.
Pumbaa: Thanks.
Timon: He found his aroma lacked a certain appeal
He could clear the Savannah after every meal
Pumbaa: I am a sensitive soul
Though I seem thick-skinned
And it hurt that my friends never stood downwind
And oh, the shame!
Timon: He was ashamed!
Pumbaa: Thought of changing my name!
Timon: Oh, what's in a name!
Pumbaa: And I got downhearted!
Timon: How did you feel?
Pumbaa: Every time that I...
Timon: Hey, Pumbaa! Not in front of the kids!
Pumbaa: Oh, sorry.
Timon and Pumbaa: Hakuna Matata! What a wonderful phrase!
Hakuna Matata, ain't no passing craze
Simba: It means no worries for the rest of your days
Timon: Yeah, sing, kid!
Timon and Simba: It's our problem-free...
Pumbaa: philosophy!
All: Hakuna Matata!
(Instrumental Bridge)
Timon and Pumbaa: Hakuna! Matata! (3x)
Hakuna...
Simba: It means no worries for the rest of your days
All: It's our problem-free philosophy
Timon: Hakuna Matata
Pumbaa: Hakuna Matata
Simba: Hakuna Matata...
Timon: Hakuna Matata, what a wonderful phrase!
Pumbaa: Hakuna Matata, ain't no passing craze!
Timon: It means no worries, for the rest of your days
Both: It's our problem-free philosophy
Hakuna Matata!
Pumbaa: Yeah!
(Instrumental bridge)
Both:
Hakuna! Matata!
Timon! And Pumbaa!
Hakuna! Matata!
Timon: It means no worries, for the rest of your days
Both: It's our problem-free philosophy
Hakuna Matata!
Timon and Pumbaa!
Timon and Pumbaa: Hakuna Matata, what a wonderful phrase!
Hakuna Matata, ain't no passing craze
Timon: It means no worries, for the rest of your day--
(Timon pauses the movie)
Timon: Hakuna Matata! Ha-haah!
(Both scream as they bungee-jump)
Timon and Pumbaa: It means no worries for the rest of your days
It's our problem-free philosophy
Hakuna Matata
Hakuna Matata
Hakuna Matata
Hakuna Matata
Hakuna Matata
Hakuna Matata
Hakuna Matata
Hakuna Matata...
Hakuna Matata!
Hem hollolo iyo
Hakuna Matata!
Hem hollolo iyo
Hakuna Matata!
Hakuna Matata!
Hakuna Matata!
When I was a cool young one
(When he was a cool young one)
I worked in the colony, paying my dues
Accepting without question the prevailing views
That a young man's life was one long grind
Diggin' holes, standin' guard till it crossed my mind
I was wrong
All along
All that I needed
Was to have heeded
Chorus:
Hakuna Matata!
What a wonderful phrase
Hakuna Matata!
Ain't no passing craze
It means no worries
For the rest of your days
It's a problem-free philosophy
Hakuna Matata!
When I was a shallow youth
(When he was a shallow youth)
Cool calm reflection
I was never that good
I was a pawn in the game, I saw no trees for the wood
My future stretched behind me
I was over the hill
I put my best foot forward
But the other one stood still
Take my word
I have heard
All that I needed
Was to have heeded
Repeat Chorus
Videos
Gallery
Trivia
- "Hakuna Matata" is a Swahili phrase that is literally translated as "There are no worries." It is sometimes translated as "no worries". The production team learned the phrase during their research trip in Kenya.[1]
- "Hakuna Matata" is based on a song called "Warthog Rhapsody," which was written early in the production stage of The Lion King. Although the two songs shared the same message and position in the film, when Elton and Tim began working on the music, the song was completely rewritten and eventually evolved into "Hakuna Matata." "Warthog Rhapsody" was eventually re-produced and released on the Rhythm of the Pride Lands CD, as well as rewritten as "That's All I Need," which was used in The Lion King 1½.
- There is a lost verse of "Hakuna Matata" which explained Timon's past situation, like Pumbaa's. It was later cut, but used in The Lion King 1½.
- It was nominated for the 67th Academy Award for Best Original Song, but lost to another song in the film, "Can You Feel the Love Tonight?".
- The song is ranked #99 on the list AFI's 100 Years... 100 Songs,[2] along with "When You Wish Upon a Star" (#7), "Some Day My Prince Will Come" (#19), "Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious" (#36), "Wind Beneath My Wings" (#44), "Zip-a-Dee-Doo-Dah" (#47), "Beauty and the Beast" (#62), and "The Rainbow Connection" (#74). It is one of only six songs from Disney that made the cut.
- One of the bugs that Timon pulls out of a knothole during the song is wearing Mickey Mouse ears.
- Part of the song was heard in Toy Story when Molly is in the car and sees the toys in the mirror trying to get into the moving van.
- In Aladdin and the King of Thieves, Genie turns into Pumbaa and says, "Hakuna Matata!"
- Timon breaks the fourth wall when he says, "Hey, Pumbaa! Not in front of the kids!"
- In The Lion King: The Legacy Collection, the song is longer than previous releases.
- Tim Rice was inspired to write the lyrics to Hakuna Matata when watching the British sitcom Bottom. Rice was also pulling for the show's stars, Rik Mayall and Adrian Edmondson, to voice Timon and Pumbaa.
- Jimmy Cliff and Lebo M covered "Hakuna Matata" on the 1995 album Rhythm of the Pride Lands. Jimmy Cliff continues to sing "Hakuna Matata" at his concerts.
- In the Disney on Ice version, Simba as an adult sings his line by actually speaking "It means no worries, for the rest of your days".
- When Timon says, "Not in front of the kids!" he stops Pumbaa from saying "farted," but in the Broadway production of The Lion King Timon is unable to stop Pumbaa from saying, "Every time that I farted".
- This verse of the song was "written" by Jim Cummings, according to remarks he made at Calgary Comic & Entertainment Expo 2012[3].
- At the 1995 Academy Awards, Ernie Sabella and David Alan Grier sung this song, both were dressed in leopard striped to get that look of animals, while dancers dressed as lions danced around them.
References
- ↑ Schrager, Noah. "10 things you probably didn't know about The Lion King". The Christian Science Moniter.
- ↑ "AFI's 100 Years...100 Songs".
- ↑ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Wmrdn9eFTK8
