We’ve covered our fair share of odd lawsuits here on Nerdbot. We’re not even strangers to the subject of weird music-related lawsuits at that. We spent more than a few articles covering the saga of the kid from the Nirvana album, Nevermind, trying to sue the band. It didn’t work out well for him. Now we have another lawsuit to tell you about in the form of the opening chant from The Lion King.
Lost in Translation
“Nants’ingonyama bagithi Baba” are the iconic words that open the film version of the song, “The Circle of Life.” If you ask comedian Learnmore Jonasi, he’ll tell you that those lyrics translate from Zulu to roughly, “Look, there’s a lion. Oh my God.” However, according to singer Lebohang Morake, that’s not true. The lyrics actually translate to, “All hail the king, we all bow in the presence of the king.” Morake is now suing Jonasi for over $20 million for allegedly damaging his reputation.
If you think this lawsuit is ridiculous, it’s because it honestly is. Morake is alleging that this intentional mistranslation is being presented as a fact in the midst of Jonasi’s comedy routines and podcast interviews. Effectively, Morake is stating that Jonasi is slandering his reputation. In order to prove slander in United States law, you generally have to prove three elements. The person slandering you was doing so with malice, knew the statements were false, and that there was proven damage caused by the statements. There are some finer elements, but those are the basics.
Breaking Down the Elements
First of all, Jonasi’s comments weren’t entirely false. Even Morake’s lawyers state that “ingonyama” can translate to the word “lion.” However, in this sense, it’s being used in a figurative sense to refer to a king. But, if you strip away that poetic license, you’re still in the realm of a straight, literal reading. That could easily fall into the realm of a satirical, face-value interpretation. Also, you can find posts and articles online, dating back over 12 years, that say what Jonasi is saying. This Reddit thread, for example, is from 13 years ago and states the lyrics translate to “Here comes a lion, father” and “Oh yes, it’s a lion.”
Disney
If this translation has been going around online for all this time, then Jonasi is hardly the first person to translate the lyrics like this. The terms “father” and “god” are often used interchangeably, too. Plus, if this has been going around online for this long, how does Morake prove damages? The more likely situation here is Jonasi got some traction for making a joke about the lyrics, Morake gets upset or offended, and files a lawsuit for the sake of a settlement or exposure. Or maybe he actually is facing damages that have yet to be proven.
This will likely be thrown out or dropped. We may not be lawyers, but it’s hard to imagine a scenario where Morake wins this. We’ll keep an eye on it and see how things develop. But hey, at least now you know what the lyrics are if you didn’t before.
