"Ani Kuni" is a folk song said to have its origins in Iroquois/Native American culture. For many, it's a song that was learned from the long-haired, acoustic guitar-wielding camp counselors of our youth. For me, it's one of the most ridiculously catchy pop/psych/acid/fuzz anthems ever, thanks to Madeleine Chartrand's brilliant rendition from the summer of 1973. The song first caught my attention about five years ago, when it was comped on the third volume of Satan Belanger's Total Freakout series, and it's been something of an obsession ever since.
Here's the MP3. [Download]
Extensive googling (okay, maybe half an hour) has revealed many conflicting interpretations of the meaning, but the most consistent one is revealed here. (That the song is a lament, was composed by women, and was sung during times of forced relocation from one's native land.) The lyrics are as follows:
Awawa bikana caïna (x2) | The Medicine-man disappeared into the forest (x2)
E aouni bissini (x2) | Touching the ground with his hands. (x2)
Inspired by Scott's previous exposé on the fan-cover phenomenon surrounding Raul Seixas' Metamorfose Ambulante, here are a bunch of amazing videos of Ani Kuni covers, for better or for worse. (Including Madeleine Chartrand herself, down there at the bottom.) Enjoy, and don't say I didn't warn you about the massive earworm factor. This song has been stuck in my head since I first played it on the radio in 2005, but I haven't minded yet.
This is so weird. I grew up singing this song and had no idea anyone else even knew it. I was exposed to the song because my grandmother had an album of African singing nuns and they did this song, although it was done differently. It was the only song on the album that did not the words translated and it was listed as a Berber song, so it's a total shock to hear that it's Native American.
Posted by: Rashid al-Din | September 21, 2009 at 11:03 PM