Iko Iko Lyrics - Iko Iko Meaning - Jockamo - New Orleans, LA Part 1 - Aiko Aiko

It's been a recurrent pop hit since the sixties, but what are the Iko Iko lyrics? And what is the secret meaning hidden in the Iko Iko lyrics? Iko Iko is originally a folk song from New Orleans, the song is about a secret society of warriors that exists in New Orleans to this day.

The song originated in the bayous of New Orleans and what is now the chorus was the original song. "Hey now, hey now, Iko Iko an dey. Jackomo feeno an un dey, Jackomo fee na ney" are words derived from languages in Ghana, Africa combined with West Indies derivatives and potentially some derivatives of French and American Indian thrown in as well.

Local New Orleans lore places the first instances of this song during the early years of the Civil War when several tribes of American Indians are thought to have assisted slaves in escaping their masters. Songs such as Iko Iko were often used as codes to alert slaves that the passage was either safe to navigate or to wait. The songs would be sung by one group of slaves working in the fields, then travel on to the next group down the road. The songs and their codified meaning could travel miles very quickly. Flags and fires were often used as well to transmit messages from one group of slaves to another.

After the Civil War and emancipation, the newly-freed African Americans integrated the traditions of songs like Iko Iko into their folklore and music. Groups such as the Mardi Gras Indians, a secretive community of Black men, were created to celebrate and honor the contribution of the American Indian to the slaves' freedom. The Mardi Gras Indians conferred titles such as Spyboy or Flagboy to men of merit within the tribe who served as look outs when the tribes paraded and battled other tribes. Thoughout most of the twentieth century the various tribes in New Orleans had great animosity towards one another and parades often turned into street brawls.

Each year, shortly after Mardi Gras, on St. Joseph's Day, the Mardi Gras Indians celebrate by parading in elaborate costumes painstakingly made of beadwork and feathers. During these parades, the traditional "call and response" songs are sung telling the stories of past victories. Iko Iko is such a song.

The phrase "Iko Iko" is thought to be a call to arms and "Jockomo feeno" a victory cry. Handed down through many generations, the original words and meanings are long-since lost leaving only the spirit of the meaning.

Iko Iko was first recorded by New Orleans-native James "Sugar Boy" Crawford in 1953. He wrote the song using the chorus taught to him by his elders. He added English words for the verses to tell the story of his understanding of the meaning of the song. Though, in a 2002 interview with OffBeat magazine in New Orleans, Crawford admits that he really doesn't know either the exact pronunciation of the words in the traditional song or its accurate meaning. He wrote the song because he liked the way the words sounded together.

In 1965, a girl group from New Orleans named the Dixie Cups sang the song as they had learned it from their Grandmother during a studio session in New York. The engineers were rolling tape while they sang and the rest is, as they say, history. Though the Dixie Cups are credited with writing the song, it is widely understood that the original English verses had been previously recorded by Crawford and the chorus is a folk tune. The Dixie Cups also changed a number of lyrics as well.

In the Sugar Boy Crawford version there is no reference to anyone's Grandmother. These lyrics were probably changed by the Dixie Cups' Grandmother to personalize the song as she sang it to them. The original song speaks of Spyboys, Flagboys and Queens, all designations within the tribes of Mardi Gras Indians.

In it's original form the song tells of a battle between two rival Mardi Gras Indian gangs. Spyboys sent out to see if the way is clear for the gang to travel through hostile territory. The act of burning the rival gang's flag makes it impossible for the Flagboy to signal a warning to his tribe making a battle inevitable.

In this video Iko Iko is sung by participants of the New Orleans' Mardi Gras Indians Super Sunday Celebration and Festival. Singers include Charmaine Neville of the famous New Orleans' musical Neville family that includes the Neville Brothers and television's Arthel Neville. The music soundtrack in this video also includes a small portion of the Dixie Cups Iko Iko recorded in 1965.

Written by Claire Jordan. Copyright 2008. All Rights Reserved.
New Orleans, 70115, New Orleans Louisiana, New Orleans Music.