"Ponta de Lança Africano (Umbabarauma)" is a song by Jorge Ben Jor from his 1976 album África Brasil. It was later recorded by Ambitious Lovers and Soulfly. The song is about an African striker, and became a well known football-related track.[1][2] It has been described as "[possibly] one of the best songs about sports ever written",[3] and prompted one writer to state that "Jorge Ben should be considered the poet laureate of soccer songwriting".[4]
It was included on David Byrne's 1989 compilation Brazil Classics Beleza Tropical, prompting rotation of a video for the track on VH-1.[5][6] The original version of the track was used in the documentary film Di/Glauber.[7]
It was released as a single in 1989 by EMI Records, backed with another track from the Beleza Tropical album, Nazaré Pereira's "Maculele".
Ambitious Lovers recorded a cover of the song for their Lust album. A 12-inch single of remixes of the track (listed on the label as simply "Umbabarauma") by Charley Casanova and Goh Hotodain was released by Elektra Records in 1990, which became a dance hit, peaking at no. 10 on the Billboard Dance Music/Club Play Singles chart.[9]
Track listing
"Umbabarauma" (World Beat Club Mix) – 5:08
"Umbabarauma" (Jorge Meets Junior House Dub) – 6:20
"Umbabarauma" (Mix Da Verdade) – 4:27
"Umbabarauma" (Cassanova's Kickin' House Mix) – 6:47
Heavy metal band Soulfly recorded a cover version of the song, as "Umbabarauma", released as the band's second single in 1998, taken from the debut album Soulfly.
^McGowan, Chris & Pessanha, Ricardo (1991) The Brazilian Sound: Samba, Bossa Nova, and the Popular Music of Brazil, Billboard Books, ISBN978-0823076734, p. 97