Tumba

words and music traditional
additional words by Joaquin Liebert

Joaquin Liebert introduced this song to us at the 2018 CMN Conference. As he says, the “Tumba, Tumba, Tumba-ba” chorus is immediately singable. The silly actions of the skeletons or skulls are a direct invitation to dance and frolic! Joaquin tells us:

“ ‘Tumba’ is my version of the children’s songs ‘Los Esqueletos’ and ‘Las Calaveras Salen de Su Tumba.’ Originally from Costa Rica, this Spanish language song moved to other Latin American countries and took on a life all its own. I call my rendition simply ‘Tumba.’ It is a tune associated with the holiday Dia de los Muertos (Day of the Dead) and is a great Halloween song as well. It is a fun simple counting song that counts to ten.

“When the clock strikes a certain hour, that is the number of skeletons that come out of the tomb, dancing and doing other fun actions like going to the theater, eating cake and rice, and even riding a rocket ship. There are many different choruses to the song but my chorus is simply ‘Tumba Tumba Tumba-ba’ making it easy for all to sing along no matter what their native language.

“My tempo is fast with a syncopated Latin feel. In the end it moves even faster to a high-energy blue-beat Jamaican jazz rhythm, making it difficult not to dance and move. My calaveras (skulls) are truly enjoying their time out of the tombs and hopefully anyone who hears the song will as well.”