Ok, here's the thing.
I'm a born spanish speaker, and I've listened to this song since it was released back in 1985. Honestly, I don't find any hint of spanish language in the verse that it's repeated over and over in the last part of this song. I've always assumed that it was a dialect o language unknown to me.
As someone has pointed out, there's one (even three) too many syllables to fit what's supposedly being sung.
It's now that I got (at last) a little curious that I find the theory that this is spanish spread all over the internet. Until someone comes up with an official source for this, I'll think that this was just someone making up the words and so starting the wrong theory.
I agree with ben6821 that it's an instrumental song. More on this point later.
I agree with ben6821 that it's an instrumental song. More on this point later.
I also agree with @donaldheil–I've never thought it was español (or any actual words) being sung–I always thought it was silly, onomatopoeic, nonsense sounds. Nonsense, but specifically attempting to mimic the rhythm of the percussion being played–sometimes simultaneously while the onomatopeia was being spoken:
I also agree with @donaldheil–I've never thought it was español (or any actual words) being sung–I always thought it was silly, onomatopoeic, nonsense sounds. Nonsense, but specifically attempting to mimic the rhythm of the percussion being played–sometimes simultaneously while the onomatopeia was being spoken:
boom-dee-al-uh-chick-uh-nack-uh-ko-ko-say
boom-dee-al-uh-chick-uh-muck-uh-ko-ko-say
boom-dee-al-uh-chick-uh-nick-uh-ko-ko-say
(I can't quite make out the 'nack,' 'muck,' 'nick' sound)
boom-dee-al-uh-chick-uh-nack-uh-ko-ko-say
boom-dee-al-uh-chick-uh-muck-uh-ko-ko-say
boom-dee-al-uh-chick-uh-nick-uh-ko-ko-say
(I can't quite make out the 'nack,' 'muck,' 'nick' sound)
The percussion, playing over and over, has the same number of counts, and has much the same rhythm as the spoken onomatopoeia. The...
The percussion, playing over and over, has the same number of counts, and has much the same rhythm as the spoken onomatopoeia. The percussion riff rarely changes throughout the last half of the song.
Think this through, too: were they real words, in any language, there'd be a good chance they'd have been listed with the four lines of published words (plus the missing "listen...") on the song's lyric sheet, but they're not listed, which could make an argument for their not being real words.
Then there's the (more or less) instrumental intent of the song. As ben6821 mentions, he believes it's an instrumental song, and instrumental songs, well, they, er, don't have lyrics. True, there are four official lines of lyrics, but pretend for the sake of the argument that they're insignificant for the moment, and let the non-lyric-ness of the song wash over you. Instrumental songs engage a different part of the brain than songs with words. In this way, the nonsense sounds support the song's being instrumental.
The female voice (?) toward the end of the song sings portions of the onomatopoeia, singing different portions at different times. (Who's voice is this?)
My official source is me. I just hope I don't end up on www.amiright.com. :-P
Ok, here's the thing. I'm a born spanish speaker, and I've listened to this song since it was released back in 1985. Honestly, I don't find any hint of spanish language in the verse that it's repeated over and over in the last part of this song. I've always assumed that it was a dialect o language unknown to me. As someone has pointed out, there's one (even three) too many syllables to fit what's supposedly being sung. It's now that I got (at last) a little curious that I find the theory that this is spanish spread all over the internet. Until someone comes up with an official source for this, I'll think that this was just someone making up the words and so starting the wrong theory.
I agree with ben6821 that it's an instrumental song. More on this point later.
I agree with ben6821 that it's an instrumental song. More on this point later.
I also agree with @donaldheil–I've never thought it was español (or any actual words) being sung–I always thought it was silly, onomatopoeic, nonsense sounds. Nonsense, but specifically attempting to mimic the rhythm of the percussion being played–sometimes simultaneously while the onomatopeia was being spoken:
I also agree with @donaldheil–I've never thought it was español (or any actual words) being sung–I always thought it was silly, onomatopoeic, nonsense sounds. Nonsense, but specifically attempting to mimic the rhythm of the percussion being played–sometimes simultaneously while the onomatopeia was being spoken:
boom-dee-al-uh-chick-uh-nack-uh-ko-ko-say boom-dee-al-uh-chick-uh-muck-uh-ko-ko-say boom-dee-al-uh-chick-uh-nick-uh-ko-ko-say (I can't quite make out the 'nack,' 'muck,' 'nick' sound)
boom-dee-al-uh-chick-uh-nack-uh-ko-ko-say boom-dee-al-uh-chick-uh-muck-uh-ko-ko-say boom-dee-al-uh-chick-uh-nick-uh-ko-ko-say (I can't quite make out the 'nack,' 'muck,' 'nick' sound)
The percussion, playing over and over, has the same number of counts, and has much the same rhythm as the spoken onomatopoeia. The...
The percussion, playing over and over, has the same number of counts, and has much the same rhythm as the spoken onomatopoeia. The percussion riff rarely changes throughout the last half of the song.
Think this through, too: were they real words, in any language, there'd be a good chance they'd have been listed with the four lines of published words (plus the missing "listen...") on the song's lyric sheet, but they're not listed, which could make an argument for their not being real words.
Then there's the (more or less) instrumental intent of the song. As ben6821 mentions, he believes it's an instrumental song, and instrumental songs, well, they, er, don't have lyrics. True, there are four official lines of lyrics, but pretend for the sake of the argument that they're insignificant for the moment, and let the non-lyric-ness of the song wash over you. Instrumental songs engage a different part of the brain than songs with words. In this way, the nonsense sounds support the song's being instrumental.
The female voice (?) toward the end of the song sings portions of the onomatopoeia, singing different portions at different times. (Who's voice is this?)
My official source is me. I just hope I don't end up on www.amiright.com. :-P
DP Las Vegas, NV Oct 2014