"Ram Sam Sam", 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.

Lyrics

In most forms, the song has a few lyrics in the Moroccan dialect of Arabic that are continuously repeated, often with increasing speed or as a round. 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 and meant "Get up on your horse and gallop away".

Recording history

The Spinners included their version titled "Aram Sa-sa" on their 1964 album Folk at the Phil. Rolf Harris recorded the song in 1971 for Columbia Records with The Mike Sammes Singers, including additional lyrics and a distinctive arrangement with backing vocals. The 1981 hit Wordy Rappinghood by 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" (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 and Lorenz Büffel recorded his French version "Aramsamsam" for his album Après Ski Hits 2011.

Adaptations