quote:BACKGROUND: This is the story of an African doo-wop song. Its original title was “Mbube,” (pronounced EEM-boo-beh) which means “Lion,” and it was sung with a haunting Zulu refrain that sounded, to English-speaking people, like “wimoweh.” “Mbube” was a big hit in what is now Swaziland; it sold nearly 100,000 copies in the 1940s by its originator, South African Solomon Linda. Linda had written it based on a boyhood experience chasing lions that were stalking the family's cattle, and recorded the tune in 1939 with his group the Evening Birds.
And basically it was 'modified' in the US (like the part of it being in the Jungle) and since Solomon Linda lived during apartheid he wasn't allowed to hold a copyright so only received a single fee and no royalties. It's now been covered by I think 197 bands after it become popularized into one of the most popular fun songs.