452 - Hey, Babu Riba! (Dancing in Water), Yugoslavia, 1985. Dir. Jovan Acin.
In 1985 Yugoslavian director Jovan Acin came out with a movie called locally Dancing in Water. It came to America as Hey, Babu Riba!
On the surface, Dancing in Water sounds like a superior title, as it reflects the lives of the five-man, or four-man-and-a-woman, rowing team whose lives intertwined so significantly, and whose hearts blended so profoundly, in their formative years.
Whereas Hey, Babu Riba is a meaningless title. Nonsense words. Confusing. And not appealing.
In fact, multiple critics, who also did not know about the original title, complained that it was a sure-fire way to sink a film.
Who is going to go see a movie with a meaningless title?
Economically, they may have been right.
Unless, of course, the audience understands the meaning behind the name.
It is 1953 in Belgrade, and dictator Josip Broz Tito is in the process of splitting from Joseph Stalin, having been expelled from the Communist Information Bureau, refusing to remain a Soviet satellite state, and moving from Communism to Socialism. He has just been named President of Yugoslavia and retains the title of Prime Minister. He will go on to rule until his death in 1980.
He maintains his hold on the country, but he is giving its citizens the beginnings of a taste of liberty.
And they want it.
He maintains his hold on the country, but he is giving its citizens the beginnings of a taste of liberty.
And they want it.
That includes music.
And the lives of these five young people come together in the middle of a century in which popular music develops at the speed of sound.
In which nonsense words are sung when words are not enough to express the deepest feelings of the heart.
In a period that transitions from Boogie Woogie to Big Band to Swing to Bebop to Rebop to Doo Wop to Rockabilly to Rock-and-Roll to Hip Hop.
And the lives of these five young people come together in the middle of a century in which popular music develops at the speed of sound.
In which nonsense words are sung when words are not enough to express the deepest feelings of the heart.
In a period that transitions from Boogie Woogie to Big Band to Swing to Bebop to Rebop to Doo Wop to Rockabilly to Rock-and-Roll to Hip Hop.
They want to be a part of this world, this culture of freedom, and if they pronounce the song lyrics incorrectly, what difference does it make? It is scat singing anyway.
And it spans all time periods and popular musical styles from the 20th century forward.
And it spans all time periods and popular musical styles from the 20th century forward.
Bebop
A nonsense scat word.
Or, as Rebop, a derivative of the Spanish arriba.
Neil Irvin Painter in Creating Black Americans (2006) quotes Dizzy Gillespie as saying, "People when they'd wanna ask for those numbers and didn't know the name would ask for bebop."
Peter Gammond in The Oxford Companion to Popular Music (1991) states that in the early days Latin American bandleaders shouted "¡Arriba, Arriba!" ("Go! Go!") to pump up their bands.
In 1928 McKinney's Cotton Pickers recorded "Four or Five Times" with heavy scat singing beginning with the lyrics "I'm never a flop / I started on top" and moving on to "Bip-Bop One / Bip-Bop Two / Bip-Bop Three / Ski-Adda-Dadda-Dee."
In 1928 McKinney's Cotton Pickers recorded "Four or Five Times" with heavy scat singing beginning with the lyrics "I'm never a flop / I started on top" and moving on to "Bip-Bop One / Bip-Bop Two / Bip-Bop Three / Ski-Adda-Dadda-Dee."
In 1929 Pine Top Smith recorded "Pine Top's Boogie Woogie," which did not contain the phrase but did contain the swinging boogie rhythm that would return in many of the following songs.
In 1931 Cab Calloway recorded "Minnie the Moocher," with the lyrics "Hi-Dee-Hi-Dee-Hi, Ho-Dee-Ho-Dee-Ho."
In 1936 Jack Teagarden recorded "I'se a Muggin'" with the lyrics, "Nobody knows just how it started / Somebody blew it through a horn / Somebody played it on a bell / Somebody sang it and the song was born / Now it's the craze, the new sensation / Now it's the song that bands all swing / Now it's the phrase that rocks the nation / Don't try and stop me, cause I'm gonna sing / I'se a-muggin', boom doddy doddy / I'se a-muggin', boom doddy doddy / I'se a-muggin', boom doddy doddy / Be-bop, Be-bop, Be-bop, be-bo!"
In 1936 Glenn Miller and His Orchestra recorded "Wham" with the lyrics "I can swing and I can jam / Wham, Rebop, Boom, Bam / I'm a killer diller, yes, I am! / Wham, Rebop, Boom, Bam."
In 1937 Jimmy Rushing recorded "Boogie Woogie" with Count Basie, continuing the rhythm.
In 1939 Cab Calloway recorded "(Hep Hep!) The Jumping Jive."
In 1939 Cab Calloway published a book, Hepster Dictionary, to translate jive talkin' for fans. See below for examples.
In 1940 Cab Calloway recorded "Are You Hep to the Jive?" Hep would become hip, meaning cool, as in hipster, as in hip hop.
In 1944 Cab Calloway updated his book, The New Cab Calloway's Hepsters Dictionary: Language of Jive.
In 1939 Cab Calloway recorded "(Hep Hep!) The Jumping Jive."
In 1939 Cab Calloway published a book, Hepster Dictionary, to translate jive talkin' for fans. See below for examples.
In 1940 Cab Calloway recorded "Are You Hep to the Jive?" Hep would become hip, meaning cool, as in hipster, as in hip hop.
In 1944 Cab Calloway updated his book, The New Cab Calloway's Hepsters Dictionary: Language of Jive.
In 1945 Jimmy Wynn and his Bobalibans recorded "Ee-Bobaliba" with Claude Trenier.
In 1945 Helen Humes recorded "Be-Baba-Leba."
In 1945 Lionel Hampton and His Orchestra recorded "Hey! Ba-Ba-Re-Bop" with Herbie Fields.
In 1946 Tex Beneke recorded "Hey Ba-Ba-Re-Bop" with the Glenn Miller Orchestra.
In 1946 Perry Como recorded "One More Vote (One More Kiss)" for the movie If I'm Lucky, with the lyrics "On the hop, blow your top / Bring me home with the rebop de bop! (Mop!).
In 1947 Dizzy Gillespie and His Bebop Orchestra recorded "Bob A Lee Ba."
In 1947 Tina Dixon recorded "E-Bop-O-Lee-Bop."
In 1947 Charlie Parker recorded "Bebop," with the lyrics "I rock the bebop, the bebop, the bebop / The bud-budda-budda-bidda bebop bebop somebody don't / Bopped Bopped."
In 1947 Charlie Parker recorded "Bebop," with the lyrics "I rock the bebop, the bebop, the bebop / The bud-budda-budda-bidda bebop bebop somebody don't / Bopped Bopped."
In 1949 Woody Herman recorded George Wellington's super-fast "Lemon Drop," with lyrics containing nothing but scat.
In 1949 Dizzy Gillespie recorded "He Beeped When He Shoulda Bopped."
In 1956 Dizzy Gillespie recorded "Oop Bop Sh'Bam!"
In 1956 Gene Vincent recorded "Be-Bop-A-Lula" with His Blue Caps.
In 1956 Little Richard recorded "Tutti Frutti" with the lyrics "Awopbobaloobop Alopbamboom."
In 1957 Ray Conniff recorded an album entitled Dance the Bop! with multiple songs containing the word bop in them.
In 1958 The Everly Brothers recorded "Be-Bop-A-Lula."
In 1958 Gene Vincent recorded "Dance to the Bop."
In 1958 radio DJ Jiles Perry Richardson recorded "Chantilly Lace" under the name The Big Bopper. On February 2, 1959, his bandmate Waylon Jennings gave up his seat on a chartered plane so that The Big Bopper, who had the flu, could fly instead of ride in the cold tour bus. The Big Bopper died in the plane crash along with Buddy Holly and Ritchie Valens on the day the music died. Bye bye, Miss American Pie.
In 1958 American Bandstand host Dick Clark asked the group Danny and the Juniors to change the name of their song "Do the Bop" to "At the Hop" to promote his job as an MC of Sock Hops. When they sang "Let's go to the Hop / Oh, baby," they, under Dick Clark's influence, did as much as anyone to lay the groundwork for popularizing the name of a future style known as Hip (cool, hipster) Hop (dance hall). Just as suburban communities called their dance parties sock hops, so also residents of Central Avenue in Los Angeles referred to teen house parties as hippity hops.
In 1958 American Bandstand host Dick Clark asked the group Danny and the Juniors to change the name of their song "Do the Bop" to "At the Hop" to promote his job as an MC of Sock Hops. When they sang "Let's go to the Hop / Oh, baby," they, under Dick Clark's influence, did as much as anyone to lay the groundwork for popularizing the name of a future style known as Hip (cool, hipster) Hop (dance hall). Just as suburban communities called their dance parties sock hops, so also residents of Central Avenue in Los Angeles referred to teen house parties as hippity hops.
In 1959 Cliff Richard recorded "Be-Bop-A-Lula."
In 1961 Barry Mann recorded ""Who Put the Bomp?," with the lyrics "Who put the Bomp in the Bomp-Ba-Bomp-Ba-Bomp? / Who put the Ram in the Rama-Lama-Ding-Dong? / Who put the Bop in the Bop-Shoo-Bop-Shoo-Bop? / Who put the Dip in the Dip-Da-Dip-Da-Dip?"
In 1962 The Rivingtons recorded "Papa-Oom-Mow-Mow."
In 1962, a few months later, they recorded "Mama-Oom-Mow-Mow (The Bird)."
In 1963 they recorded "The Bird's the Word," which The Trashmen then developed into "Surfin' Bird," containing the lyrics "A-bap-a-pa-pa-pa-pa-pa-pa-pa . . . / Ma-ma-mow, pa-pa-ma-ma-mow, pa-pa-ma-ma-mow."
In 1961 Barry Mann recorded ""Who Put the Bomp?," with the lyrics "Who put the Bomp in the Bomp-Ba-Bomp-Ba-Bomp? / Who put the Ram in the Rama-Lama-Ding-Dong? / Who put the Bop in the Bop-Shoo-Bop-Shoo-Bop? / Who put the Dip in the Dip-Da-Dip-Da-Dip?"
In 1962 The Rivingtons recorded "Papa-Oom-Mow-Mow."
In 1962, a few months later, they recorded "Mama-Oom-Mow-Mow (The Bird)."
In 1963 they recorded "The Bird's the Word," which The Trashmen then developed into "Surfin' Bird," containing the lyrics "A-bap-a-pa-pa-pa-pa-pa-pa-pa . . . / Ma-ma-mow, pa-pa-ma-ma-mow, pa-pa-ma-ma-mow."
In 1963 Ricky Nelson recorded "Be-Bop Baby."
In 1969 The Oak Ridge Boys recorded "Elvira," with the lyrics "Giddy-Up-A-Oom-Papa-Oom-Papa-Mow-Mow."
In 1969 The Oak Ridge Boys recorded "Elvira," with the lyrics "Giddy-Up-A-Oom-Papa-Oom-Papa-Mow-Mow."
In 1971 Paul McCartney and Wings recorded "Bip Bop" with the lyrics "Bip bop, Bip bip bop / Bip bop, Bip bip band." And variations.
In 1973 Helen Humes rerecorded her song as "Ooh Baba Leba."
In 1978 the cast of Grease recorded "Summer Nights," where, after Stockard Channing sings "Cause he sounds like a drag," the Chorus sings "Shoo-Bop-Bop / Shoo-Bop-Bop / Shoo-Bop-Bop / Shoo-Bop-Bop / Shoo-Bop-Bop / Shoo-Bop-Bop / Shoo-Bop Bop / Yeah!"
In 1978 the cast of Grease recorded "Summer Nights," where, after Stockard Channing sings "Cause he sounds like a drag," the Chorus sings "Shoo-Bop-Bop / Shoo-Bop-Bop / Shoo-Bop-Bop / Shoo-Bop-Bop / Shoo-Bop-Bop / Shoo-Bop-Bop / Shoo-Bop Bop / Yeah!"
In 1979 The Sugarhill Gang recorded "Rapper's Delight," with the lyrics influenced by Grandmaster Flash and Love Bug Starski, "I said a Hip Hop / The Hippie, the Hippie / To the Hip, Hip-Hop you don't stop / The Rock it to the Bang Bang Boogie / Say Up jump the Boogie to the rhythm of the Boogity Beat."
In 1983 Cyndi Lauper recorded "She Bop," with the lyrics "She bop, he bop, and we bop / I bop, you bop, and they bop / Be bop, be bop a lu she bop."
In 1985 Dire Straits recorded "Walk of Life," beginning with the lyrics "Here comes Johnny singing oldies, goldies, / Be-Bop-A-Lula, Baby, what I say."
And for as many examples as I have listed, there may be hundreds more.
Lionel Hampton's 1945 version stood at Number One on the R&B Juke Box chart for 16 weeks. And it was this version that the characters in the movie sing and on which the movie's American title is based.
Hey! Ba-Ba-Re-Bop. - Lionel Hampton
Hey Babu Riba. - The Yugoslavian Youth
In 1961, when Barry Mann asked, "Who put the Bop in the Bop-Shoo-Bop-Shoo-Bop?," he went on to explain why he wanted to know.
"Who was that man? / I'd like to shake his hand / He made my baby fall in love with me."
And millions of people around the world have felt the same way. Including those in Yugoslavia.
How many people have fallen in love during a song?
How many people have fallen in love while singing nonsense words?
In this movie, all four men fall in love, at different times and in different ways, with the one main woman in their lives, influenced profoundly by the music in their lives.
Her name is Mariana Zivkovic, but they called her Esther, named after Esther Williams, the American swimming champion and movie star, who makes movies under water.
They especially love the soundtrack to Esther Williams' movie Bathing Beauty.
Esther is their coxswain. Because she is lighter than all the boys, she weighs down their shell less, and together this crew of five, called The Four, wins races.
A fifth boy loves Esther, a captain of the team that functions as their main competitor. And a rising member in the Communist party. He complicates things for the rest of them.
So does Esther's father, who believes that the four men are bad influence on her. He asserts himself into their lives in such a way that he changes things forever.
The film begins towards the ends of their lives, and the story is told in flashbacks.
Of those wonderful years.
And that wonderful Summer. Summer of '53. Those were the best days of my life.
So if you wonder what such an obscure title could possibly mean. Hey, Babu Riba!
And millions of people around the world have felt the same way. Including those in Yugoslavia.
How many people have fallen in love during a song?
How many people have fallen in love while singing nonsense words?
In this movie, all four men fall in love, at different times and in different ways, with the one main woman in their lives, influenced profoundly by the music in their lives.
Her name is Mariana Zivkovic, but they called her Esther, named after Esther Williams, the American swimming champion and movie star, who makes movies under water.
They especially love the soundtrack to Esther Williams' movie Bathing Beauty.
Esther is their coxswain. Because she is lighter than all the boys, she weighs down their shell less, and together this crew of five, called The Four, wins races.
A fifth boy loves Esther, a captain of the team that functions as their main competitor. And a rising member in the Communist party. He complicates things for the rest of them.
So does Esther's father, who believes that the four men are bad influence on her. He asserts himself into their lives in such a way that he changes things forever.
The film begins towards the ends of their lives, and the story is told in flashbacks.
Of those wonderful years.
And that wonderful Summer. Summer of '53. Those were the best days of my life.
So if you wonder what such an obscure title could possibly mean. Hey, Babu Riba!
Esther can tell you.
Her four best friends can tell you.
It is not obscure to them.
It means something to them.
It means love.
It means joy.
Her four best friends can tell you.
It is not obscure to them.
It means something to them.
It means love.
It means joy.
It means freedom.
Hey, Babu Riba! (Hey, Babu Riba!)
Hey, Babu Riba! (Hey, Babu Riba!)
Hey, Babu Riba! (Hey, Babu Riba!)
Hey, Babu Riba! (Hey, Babu Riba!)
Hey, Babu Riba! (Hey, Babu Riba!)
Yes, your baby knows.
* * * * *
Here are some examples of words and phrases in Cab Calloway's dictionary:
apple (for Harlem, later NY), beat (tired), blow your top, bring down (depress), canary (female singer), cat (musician), chick (girl), collar (to obtain), come again (repeat), cop (obtain), corny (old-fashioned), cut out (to leave), cut rate (cheap), dig, foxy, freebie, get in there, gimme some skin, gravy, groovy, guzzle, have a ball, hep/hip, hot, in the groove, jam, jitterbug, jive, joint is jumping, to kill (show someone a good time), kopesetic, latch on, licks, main (as in main man), mellow, muggin', nix, nod, out of this world, pad, pigeon, pops, ride (swing, as in ride cymbal), riff, righteous, rock me, rug cutter, salty, send (as in "You send me"), sharp, so help me, solid, sound off, square, stache, Susie-Q, take it slow, take off, the man, threads, too much, trickeration, truck, yeah man, zoot suit
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