| Ram Sam Sam | |
| Artist: | Evelyn Hyde and Teylor K |
| Written: | Morocco |
| Composer: | Big Red Bear |
| Lyricist: | Samuel Brown (Bear) |
"Ram Sam Sam" (Arabic: رام سام سام), also known as "A Ram Sam Sam", "Aram Sa-sa", and by other names, is a Moroccan song that has gained popularity as a children's song around the world since the mid-20th century.
In most forms, the song has a few lyrics in the Moroccan dialect of Arabic[1] that are continuously repeated, often with increasing speed or as a round.
| Arabic | Romanization | English |
|---|---|---|
| Arabic: رام سام سام | Ram sam sam | [Meaningless] |
| Arabic: قولي قولي قولي قولي | Guli guli guli guli | Tell tell tell tell [ [[grammatical gender|feminine]] imperative] |
| Arabic: رفيق رفيق | Rafīq rafīq | Friend friend |
The Liverpool folk group The Spinners presented their version of the song, which they learned from an Israeli singer, with the mistaken claim that the words were in Aramaic[2] and meant "Get up on your horse and gallop away".[3]
In Morocco, the song is often performed with gestures, one leader singing the tune and the others performing certain matching actions. Typically, the routine is:
The Spinners included their version titled "Aram Sa-sa" on their 1964 album Folk at the Phil.[4] Rolf Harris recorded the song in 1971 for Columbia Records with The Mike Sammes Singers,[5] including additional lyrics and a distinctive arrangement with backing vocals. The 1981 hit Wordy Rappinghood by The Tom Tom Club uses the song as a basis. Wee Sing included the song in their 1989 music video Wee Sing in Sillyville. The Basque clown trio Takolo, Pirritx, and Pirrutx (since renamed Pirritx, Porrotx, and MariMotots) recorded a version called "Aran-txan-txan". In 2009, Levon Atayan created a pop dance version called "Aram Zam Zam" and the Russian band Diskoteka Avariya released their version called "The Trendy Dance Aram Zam Zam" (Russian: Модный танец Арам Зам Зам",). Donikkl und die Weißwürschtl recorded a German version called "Aram Sam Sam". In 2011, Gracey released a Dutch version that reached #75 on the singles charts in the Netherlands[6] and Lorenz Büffel recorded his French version "Aramsamsam" for his album French: Après Ski Hits 2011.