Pata Pata! It's party time at Pundita blog!

Where did they get that dress? Off a rag pile? Do you see the backside? But neither bad wardrobe nor klutzy backup dancers could faze Senegal's gap-toothed pop diva Coumba Gawlo, as she rocked a Parisian venue in 1998 with her rendition of Miriam Makeba's exuberant dance tune Pata Pata. The French and Belgians went crazy for her rendition; it was, according to Wikipedia, "a platinum single which was number 1 for two weeks in Belgium and sold 50,000 copies in one day in France in 1998."

A grumpy YouTube viewer slammed the performance: 

TOTAL DISRESPECT FOR OUR NATIONAL HERITAGE, AS A SOUTH AFRICAN MUSICIAN, I FEEL VERY INSULTED THAT YOU CAN INTERPRET THIS SONG LIKE THIS. RESPECT OTHER PEOPLE'S CULTURAL HERITAGE. DON'T BE LIKE THIS, THERE IS NOTHING WRONG WITH SINGING YOUR OWN SONGS, AND DOING THEM WELL. AND THERE IS EVERYTHING WRONG WITH DOING OTHER PEOPLE'S SONGS AND TAKING THEM COMPLETELY OUT OF CONTEXT.     

This brought forth a good-natured riposite from another viewer: 

you're just jealous. She was speaking Wolof what do you want Chinese interpretation

But Gawlo interprets the 1957 song exactly as conceived and sung by Makeba: It's time to party and forget everything else. Here's the English translation of the lyrics:

Pata Pata (Touch Touch)

So we grooved and said: "Check it out!"
This is the Pata Pata...
So we grooved and said: "Check it out!"
This is the Pata Pata...

That’s it, lady!
This is the Pata Pata…
That’s it, lady!
This is the Pata Pata…

Pata Pata is the name of the dance
We do down Johannesburg way
And everybody starts to move
As soon as Pata Pata starts to play
So we grooved and said: "Check it out!"

This is the Pata Pata...
So we grooved and said: "Check it out!"

This is the Pata Pata...
That’s it, lady!
This is the Pata Pata…
That’s it, lady!
This is the Pata Pata…

Every Friday and Saturday Night
It’s Pata Pata time!
The dance keeps going all night long
Til’ the morning sun begins to shine!
So we grooved and said: "Check it out!"

This is the Pata Pata...
[etc etc] 

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