Civilization (Bongo, Bongo, Bongo)

Album: Angel in the Wings (1947)
Charted: 1
Play Video

Songfacts®:

  • The songwriters Bob Hilliard and Carl Sigman wrote this for a special musical show at the legendary New York nightspot The Copacabana. When The Copa turned down the song, Hilliard and Sigman used it in a Broadway stage revue called Angel in the Wings, which ran for 308 performances at the Coronet Theater from 1947-48. In the show, it was performed by Elaine Stritch. Louis Prima had a Top 10 hit with the song, but it was the comic actor Danny Kaye, with the Andrews Sisters, who took it to the top of the charts with a winning call and-response rendition.
  • In The Carl Sigman Songbook, Sigman's son Michael calls this song, "a humorous satire of modern society. Telling what today we'd call the politically incorrect tale of the happy native who doesn't want anything to do with the 'advantages' of modern life, its famous refrain goes, 'Bongo, bongo, bongo I don't want to leave the congo/Oh no no no no no/Bingle, bangle, bungle I'm so happy in the jungle/I refuse to go.'"

Comments: 2

  • Patricia W. Gray from Orrington, MaineI would dearly love to have the chords to this song.
  • Sam from Seattle, WaThis song appears in the video game Fallout 3. It is played on the radio station Galaxy News Radio periodically
see more comments

Editor's Picks

Corey Hart

Corey HartSongwriter Interviews

The Canadian superstar talks about his sudden rise to fame, and tells the stories behind his hits "Sunglasses At Night," "Boy In The Box" and "Never Surrender."

In The Cards

In The CardsSong Writing

Songwriters have used cards and card games to make sense of heartache, togetherness, and even Gonorrhea.

Grunge Bands Quiz

Grunge Bands QuizMusic Quiz

If the name Citizen Dick means anything to you, there's a chance you'll get some of these right.

Greg Lake of Emerson, Lake & Palmer

Greg Lake of Emerson, Lake & PalmerSongwriter Interviews

Greg talks about writing songs of "universal truth" for King Crimson and ELP, and tells us about his most memorable stage moment (it involves fireworks).

Mike Rutherford (Genesis, Mike + The Mechanics)

Mike Rutherford (Genesis, Mike + The Mechanics)Songwriter Interviews

Mike Rutherford talks about the "Silent Running" storyline and "Land Of Confusion" in the age of Trump.

Rock Revenge Songs

Rock Revenge SongsMusic Quiz

John Lennon, Paul Simon and Lynyrd Skynyrd are some of the artists who have written revenge songs. Do you know who they wrote them about?