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Jorge Ben Jor | Umbabarauma (1976)

"Ponta de Lança Africano (Umbabarauma)" is a song by Jorge Ben Jor from his 1976 album África Brasil. It was later recorded by Ambitious Lovers and Soulfly.

The song is about an African striker, Ben Jor's "Ponta de Lança Africano (Umbabarauma)" became a well known football-related track. It has been described as one of the best songs about sports ever written" and prompted one writer to state that "Jorge Ben should be considered the poet laureate of soccer songwriting".



It was included on David Byrne's 1989 compilation Brazil Classics Beleza Tropical, prompting rotation of a video for the track on VH-1. The original version of the track was used in the documentary film Di/Glauber.


It was released as a single in 1989 by EMI Records, backed with another track from the Beleza Tropical album, Nazaré Pereira's "Maculele".


In 2021, Rolling Stone ranked it number 351 in their updated list of the 500 Greatest Songs of All Time.

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