DESCRIPTION:
In HD. The Neville Brothers from "Tell It Like It Is" featuring The Dixie Cups, Family and Friends.

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What "IT" means and other versions:

Iko, Iko - the Dixie Cups
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0wNSHPQj0W8

Iko, Iko is a Mardi Gras song in which Indian tribes, dressed in extraordinary costumes, chant this song during a mock battle between the tribes. It has been translated in many ways and leaves a lot of room for interpretation. I included the lyrics.

It's become a traditional New Orleans song. Radio back then was local, not national; bet that's why most ppl weren't aware of it before the Dixie Cups.It's damn catchy; they weren't trying to pirate it. ( see @ shainaization below). Nobody knows where the chorus comes from originally, not even Crawford, who grabbed pieces of local Indian battle sayings (like in the vid)--but the Indians themselves were possibly picking them up from other pieces of? the local creole.

James Sugar Boy Crawford - Jock-A-Mo
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7iQeWTP3L6c

The original Iko. He is really saying "Chock-a-mo feen-o and-dan-day". When the demo was received by Chess Records in Chicago, they thought he was saying Jock-A-Mo so that's what they put on the label. Some think he's sayin' "Yock-a-mo feen-o and-dan-day"

Hey! I heard a "Chokmo feel no hey" by Preservation Jazz Hall Band!! It sounded different from this song but I assume this is where they got it from. What does that phrase mean? I'm? so curious!

I don't know what it means. Crawford says he made it up. I've heard it's derived loosely from a Native American (mainly Choctaw and Chickasaw tribes) extinct language but used by African Americans and European settlers and their descendants in the Gulf Coast Region. Loosely translated, it means "very good". Some music scholars say it translates in Mardi Gras Indian lingo as "Kiss my? ass". Some say it's from the Caribbean. I tend to believe Sugar Boy's explanation.

Be careful, they may begin to monitor us? as spies talkin' in code.

Captain Jack - Iko Iko
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DjRXGCHYO6c&feature=related

Dr. John playing 'IKO IKO'
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JESFMO1Hl4M&feature=related
The great Doctor playing 'IKO IKO' with its characteristic Bo Diddley rhythm.

"Iko Iko" is a much-covered New Orleans song that tells of a parade collision between two "tribes" of Mardi Gras Indians. The lyrics are derived from Indian chants and popular catchphrases. The song, under the original title "Jock-A-Mo", was written in 1954 by James "Sugar Boy" Crawford in New Orleans, but has spread so widely that many people take it to be a much older folk song. The song is closely identified as a Mardi Gras song, but it is equally known as a Top 40 hit. The main melody bears a strong resemblance to the guitar riff in "Son de la Loma" recorded by the Trio Matamoros. "Son de la Loma" was written by Miguel Matamoros sometime before May 8, 1925.

The story tells of a "spy dog" or lookout for one band of Indians encountering the "flag boy" or guidon carrier for another band. He threatens to set the flag on fire.

Dr John - Iko Iko
On Night Music
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vx1KhaEc_8I&NR=1
In My Opinion: The Best Explanation of "What It Means" in beginning of Video.

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