"Civilization" is an American

traditional pop Traditional pop (also known as vocal pop or pre-rock and roll pop) is Western culture, Western pop music that generally pre-dates the advent of rock and roll in the mid-1950s. The most popular and enduring songs from this era of music are known ...

song. It was written by

Bob Hilliard Bob Hilliard (born Hilliard Goldsmith; January 28, 1918 – February 1, 1971) was an American lyricist. He wrote the words for the songs: "Alice in Wonderland", " In the Wee Small Hours of the Morning", " Any Day Now", " Dear Hearts and Gentl ...

and

Carl Sigman Carl Sigman (September 24, 1909 – September 26, 2000) was an American songwriter. Early life Born in Crown Heights, Brooklyn, New York, to a Jewish-American family, Sigman graduated from law school and passed his bar exams to practice ...

, published in

1947 It was the first year of the Cold War, which would last until 1991, ending with the dissolution of the Soviet Union. Events January * January–February – Winter of 1946–47 in the United Kingdom: The worst snowfall in the country i ...

and later included in the 1947

Broadway Broadway may refer to: Theatre * Broadway Theatre (disambiguation) * Broadway theatre, theatrical productions in professional theatres near Broadway, Manhattan, New York City, U.S. ** Broadway (Manhattan), the street ** Broadway Theatre (53rd Stre ...

musical Musical is the adjective of music. Musical may also refer to: * Musical theatre, a performance art that combines songs, spoken dialogue, acting and dance * Musical film Musical film is a film genre in which songs by the Character (arts), charac ...

Angel in the Wings ''Angel in the Wings'' is a 1947 musical revue with songs by Bob Hilliard and Carl Sigman and sketches by Hank Ladd, Ted Luce, Paul Hartman, and Grace Hartman. History In addition to contributing sketches, the Hartmans headlined the original ...

'', sung by

Elaine Stritch Elaine Stritch (February 2, 1925 – July 17, 2014) was an American actress, singer, and comedienne, known for her work on Broadway and later, television. She made her professional stage debut in 1944 and appeared in numerous stage plays, music ...

. The song is sometimes also known as "Bongo, Bongo, Bongo (I Don't Want to Leave the Congo)", from the first line of its chorus. The sheet music gives the title as "Civilization (Bongo, Bongo, Bongo)".

Content

The song is a

satire Satire is a genre of the visual, literary, and performing arts, usually in the form of fiction and less frequently non-fiction, in which vices, follies, abuses, and shortcomings are held up to ridicule, often with the intent of exposin ...

modern society Modernity, a topic in the humanities and social sciences, is both a historical period (the modern era) and the ensemble of particular socio-cultural norms, attitudes and practices that arose in the wake of the Renaissancein the Age of Reaso ...

sung from the perspective of an African tribesman. The tribesman has heard from missionaries that "civilization is fine", but he remains unconvinced: civilized people spend their lives working in cramped and noisy cities and have to deal with such annoyances as landlords, doorbells, and automobile accidents. Whenever they get time off, they rush to vacation spots to swim and fish, but the tribesman's lifestyle allows him to do this all year. Bringing up the atom bomb, he refuses to argue any further and concludes that it would be better to stay in the jungles of the Congo, where no modern "conveniences" will bother him.

Recordings

At least five recorded versions made the ''

Billboard A billboard (also called a hoarding in the UK and many other parts of the world) is a large outdoor advertising structure (a billing board), typically found in high-traffic areas such as alongside busy roads. Billboards present large advertis ...

'' charts: by

The Andrews Sisters The Andrews Sisters were an American close harmony singing group of the swing and boogie-woogie eras. The group consisted of three sisters: contralto LaVerne Sophia Andrews (1911–1967), soprano Maxene Anglyn Andrews (1916–1995), and mezzo ...

and

Danny Kaye Danny Kaye (born David Daniel Kaminsky; ; January 18, 1911 – March 3, 1987) was an American actor, comedian, singer, and dancer. His performances featured physical comedy, idiosyncratic pantomimes, and rapid-fire novelty songs. Kaye starred ...

, by

Louis Prima Louis Leo Prima (; December 7, 1910 – August 24, 1978) was an American trumpeter, singer, entertainer, and bandleader. While rooted in New Orleans jazz, swing music, and jump blues, Prima touched on various genres throughout his career: he ...

, by "Smilin'" Jack Smith, by

Ray McKinley Ray McKinley (June 18, 1910 – May 7, 1995) was an American jazz drummer, singer, and bandleader. He played drums and later led the Major Glenn Miller Army Air Forces Orchestra in Europe. He also led the new Glenn Miller Orchestra in 1956. ...

, and by

Woody Herman Woodrow Charles Herman (May 16, 1913 – October 29, 1987) was an American jazz Jazz is a music genre that originated in the African-American communities of New Orleans, Louisiana, in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Its roo ...

. The Andrews Sisters and Danny Kaye recording was made September 27, 1947, and released by

Decca Records Decca Records is a British record label established in 1929 by Edward Lewis (Decca), Edward Lewis after his acquisition of a gramophone manufacturer, The Decca Gramophone Company. It set up an American subsidiary under the Decca name, which bec ...

as catalog number 23940. The record first reached the ''Billboard'' magazine charts on November 14, 1947, and lasted 10 weeks on the chart, peaking at No. 3. The Louis Prima recording made July 24, 1947,

RCA Victor Records RCA Records is an American record label owned by Sony Music Entertainment, a subsidiary of Sony Group Corporation. It is one of Sony Music's four flagship labels, alongside Columbia Records (its former longtime rival), Arista Records and Epic ...

catalog number 20-2400, first reached the ''Billboard'' magazine charts on November 7, 1947, and lasted eight weeks, peaking at No. 8. The Jack Smith recording released by

Capitol Records Capitol Records, LLC (known legally as Capitol Records, Inc. until 2007), and simply known as Capitol, is an American record label owned by Universal Music Group through its Capitol Music Group imprint. It was founded as the first West Coast-base ...

as catalog number 465 reached the ''Billboard'' magazine charts on December 26, 1947, and lasted two weeks on the chart, peaking at No. 14. The Ray McKinley recording,

Majestic Records Majestic Records was a mid-20th century record label based in New York City, incorporated in 1945 as a wholly-owned subsidiary of Majestic Radio & Television. The label enjoyed its greatest commercial success in the 1940s until expansion and sup ...

catalog number 7274, first reached the ''Billboard'' charts on December 26, 1947, at No. 14, lasting one week. The Woody Herman recording,

Columbia Records Columbia Records is an American reco ...

catalog number 37885, reached the ''Billboard'' magazine charts the same week at No. 15, also lasting one week.

1947 charting versions

Note that all five versions were on the chart during the week of December 26, 1947.

Other versions

A recording by

Joe Loss Joshua Alexander "Joe" Loss (22 June 1909 – 6 June 1990) was a British dance band leader and musician who founded his own eponymous orchestra. Life Loss was born in Spitalfields, London, the youngest of four children. His parents, Israel an ...

and his Orchestra with vocal by Elizabeth Batey was made in

London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...

on March 11, 1948. It was released by

EMI EMI Group Limited (formerly EMI Group plc until 2007; originally an initialism for Electric and Musical Industries, also referred to as EMI Records or simply EMI) was a British transnational conglomerate founded in March 1931 in London. At t ...

on the

His Master's Voice His Master's Voice is an entertainment trademark featuring a dog named Nipper, curiously peering into the horn of a wind-up gramophone. Painted by Francis Barraud in 1898, the image has since become a global symbol used across consumer elect ...

label BD 6007.

Dyan Cannon Dyan Cannon (born Samille Diane Friesen; January 4, 1937) is an American actress, filmmaker, and editor. Her accolades include a Saturn Award, a Golden Globe Award, three Academy Award nominations, and a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. Sh ...

performed the song on ''

The Muppet Show ''The Muppet Show'' is a variety sketch comedy television series created by Jim Henson and starring the Muppets. It is presented as a variety show, featuring recurring sketches and musical numbers interspersed with ongoing plot-lines with ru ...

'' along with several

Muppet The Muppets are an American ensemble cast of puppet characters known for an absurdist, slapstick, burlesque, and self-referential style of musical variety-sketch comedy. Created by Jim Henson in 1955, the eponymous media franchise encompasse ...

jungle animals. Although

sang it on Broadway, she did not record it until the 1977 album ''Make Mine Manhattan: Great Revues Revisited''. It was included in her 2002 one woman stage show Elaine Stritch at Liberty. In 1967, a version of the song was included on

Disneyland Records Walt Disney Records is an American record label owned by the Disney Music Group. The label releases soundtrack albums from the Walt Disney Company's motion picture studios, television shows, theme parks and traditional studio albums produced b ...

"Songs From 'The Jungle Book' And Other Jungle Favorites" (STER1304). The song was translated into Finnish titled as "Bingo bango bongo" by Tapio Lahtinen. It was recorded by both

Henry Theel Henry Per-Erik Theel (November 14, 1917 – December 19, 1989), also known by his pseudonym Heikki Hovi, was one of the most prominent Finnish singers during the 1940s and the 1950s, though he continued to perform until the late 1980s. His most f ...

and

Olavi Virta Olavi Virta (originally until 1926 Oskari Olavi Ilmén; 27 February 1915 – 14 July 1972) was a Finnish singer, acclaimed during his time as the "King" of Finnish tango. Between 1939 and 1966 he recorded almost 600 songs, many of which are ...

in 1948.

Lasse Mårtenson Lars Anders Fredrik "Lasse" Mårtenson (24 September 1934 – 14 May 2016) was a Finnish singer, composer, actor, and theater conductor. Mårtenson was born in Helsinki. He performed at the Eurovision Song Contest The Eurovision Song Con ...

(1963), Hullujussi (1974), How Many Sisters (1983), and Lissun Baari (1997) have also released their versions in Finnish. An Italian version translated by Alberto Curci was made popular in Italy sung by

Nilla Pizzi Adionilla Pizzi (; 16 April 1919 – 12 March 2011), known by her stage name Nilla Pizzi, was an Italian singer and actress. Born in Sant'Agata Bolognese, Italy, she was particularly famous in Italy during the 1950s and 1960s. She is well know ...

and Luciano Benevene in 1947, and also sung by

Sophia Loren Sofia Costanza Brigida Villani Scicolone (; born 20 September 1934), known professionally as Sophia Loren ( , ), is an Italian actress, active in her native country and the United States. With a career spanning over 70 years, she is one of the ...

in the 1954 movie '' Too Bad She's Bad''. It was again brought to popularity in 1985 when

Renzo Arbore Lorenzo Giovanni "Renzo" Arbore (; born 24 June 1937) is an Italian television host, singer, actor and film director. Career Arbore became nationally recognized as radio anchor man, together with Gianni Boncompagni, in the late 1960s, with ...

used it in a popular TV show ('' Quelli della notte''), and as a single release by comedy actor

Christian De Sica Christian De Sica (; born 5 January 1951) is an Italian actor, comedian, television presenter, and filmmaker. Life De Sica was born in Rome, the second son of Italian director Vittorio De Sica and Spanish actress María Mercader. His first ...

in 1994.

Other appearances

* The 1950 ''

Screen Songs ''Screen Songs'' (formerly known as ''KoKo Song Car-Tunes'') are a series of animated cartoons produced at the Fleischer Studios and distributed by Paramount Pictures between 1929 and 1938. Paramount brought back the sing-along cartoons in 19 ...

'' animated short ''Jingle Jangle Jungle'' features a lion inviting the audience to sing along to the song to explain why he doesn't want to join a circus. * "Civilization", performed by Danny Kaye and the Andrews Sisters, is featured on the in-game Galaxy News Radio in the 2008

video game A video game or computer game is an electronic game that involves interaction with a user interface or input device (such as a joystick, game controller, controller, computer keyboard, keyboard, or motion sensing device) to generate visual fe ...

Fallout 3 ''Fallout 3'' is a 2008 action role-playing game developed by Bethesda Game Studios and published by Bethesda Softworks. The third major installment in the ''Fallout'' series, it is the first game to be developed by Bethesda after acquiring ...

'', which takes place in a

post-apocalyptic Apocalyptic and post-apocalyptic fiction are genres of speculative fiction in which the Earth's (or another planet's) civilization is collapsing or has collapsed. The apocalypse event may be climatic, such as runaway climate change; astronom ...

retro-futurist Retrofuturism (adjective ''retrofuturistic'' or ''retrofuture'') is a movement in the creative arts showing the influence of depictions of the future produced in an earlier era. If futurism is sometimes called a "science" bent on anticipat ...

United States in the year 2277 in the ruins of

Washington D.C. Washington, D.C., formally the District of Columbia and commonly known as Washington or D.C., is the capital city and federal district of the United States. The city is on the Potomac River, across from Virginia, and shares land borders with ...

The song is also included on Diamond City Radio in ''

Fallout 4 ''Fallout 4'' is a 2015 action role-playing game developed by Bethesda Game Studios and published by Bethesda Softworks. It is the fourth main game in the ''Fallout'' series and was released worldwide on November 10, 2015, for Microsoft Windo ...

'', the fifth major installment of the ''Fallout'' series, which takes place in the post-apocalyptic ruins of

Boston Boston is the capital and most populous city in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Massachusetts in the United States. The city serves as the cultural and Financial centre, financial center of New England, a region of the Northeas ...

in the year 2287, as well as in ''

Fallout 76 ''Fallout 76'' is a 2018 action role-playing game developed by Bethesda Game Studios and published by Bethesda Softworks. It is an installment in the ''Fallout'' series and a prequel to previous entries. Initially set in the year 2102, players ...

'' on Appalachia Radio. Several characters note the irony of the song as most civilization has collapsed after nuclear war. *

's recording of "Civilization" is heard playing on the radio in

Adrian Lyne Adrian Lyne (born 4 March 1941) is an English film director. Lyne is known for sexually charged narratives that explore conflicting passions, the power of seduction, moral ambiguity, betrayal, and the indelibility of infidelity. In the mid 197 ...

's 1997 film ''

Lolita ''Lolita'' is a 1955 novel written by Russian-American novelist Vladimir Nabokov. The protagonist and narrator is a French literature professor who moves to New England and writes under the pseudonym Humbert Humbert. He details his obsession ...

''. *

Sofia Loren Sofia Costanza Brigida Villani Scicolone (; born 20 September 1934), known professionally as Sophia Loren ( , ), is an Italian actress, active in her native country and the United States. With a career spanning over 70 years, she is one of the ...

lilts the song several times in

Alessandro Blasetti Alessandro Blasetti (3 July 1900 – 1 February 1987) was an Italian film director and screenwriter who influenced Italian neorealism with the film ''Four Steps in the Clouds''. Blasetti was one of the leading figures in Italian cinema during the ...

's 1955 film '' Too Bad She's Bad'' * In

Terence Davies Terence Davies (10 November 1945 – 7 October 2023) was a British screenwriter, film director, and novelist. He is best known as the writer and director of autobiographical films, including '' Distant Voices, Still Lives'' (1988), '' The Long ...

's 1992 film '' The Long Day Closes'' a man sings the song

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Civilization (Song) 1947 songs Satirical songs Protest songs Songs about indigenous peoples Songs with lyrics by Bob Hilliard Songs written by Carl Sigman Novelty songs The Andrews Sisters songs Works about missionaries