“Jump in the Line (Shake, Senora)” by Harry Belafonte

There’s an old saying that argues there’s nothing new under the sun. So the next time you come across, say a reggaeton song which features a vocalist admiring the sexy dancing skills of a particular lady, well, let’s just say that phenomenon started way before the days of Bad Bunny. For here (“Jump in the Line (Shake, Senora)” ) we have Harry Belafonte, a man who is currently old enough to be some readers’ great-grandfather, basically doing the exact same thing.

The difference is that he did this over half a century ago. This was a time when the music industry was more moderate than it is today. So even though Harry does manage to get away with encouraging this lady, whom to note is depicted as his girlfriend, to ‘shake her body line’, he doesn’t go as far as mentioning particular body parts, as some of today’s artists do.

Also, despite there have been some pretty-heavy explanations offered to the meaning of this song, it is pretty clear that the vocalist is in fact referring to dancing. And why? Because he goes as far as to actually namedrop certain steps in the second verse. Speaking of the second verse, there’s also what can be deemed a sexual undertone to this piece. 

A Song about Sex?

Some listeners who are under the impression that that this entire piece is about sex. Other even say that the vocalist is taking on the role of a pimp.

In their defense, yes, if a song with these lyrics were dropped here and now, we really wouldn’t have any choice but to believe that the following metaphors as ambiguous as they may be, are pointing to bonking:

• “hoist those guns”
• “up the chimney”

But “Jump in the Line” does a sound job of effectively sticking to the notion that what the vocalist is referring to is Senora’s calypso-dancing skills. 

But that said, watching a beautiful lady perform said dance, especially when she’s focused on ‘shaking and working her body line’ as Belafonte instructs, can – as implied for instance, when he invites the “fellas” to “watch” also – be interpreted in a sexual way in and of itself.

Harry Belafonte and “Jump in the Line (Shake, Senora)”

Harry Belafonte is actually five years away from being 100 as of the writing of this post. He is one of the most impressively-decorated musicians in American history. Between 1954 and 1988, he put out nearly 30 studio albums, with a couple of his earlier works topping the Billboard 200. The project this song was derived from, 1961’s “Jump Up Calypso”, also stands as one of Harry’s most-successful projects. The album peaked at number 3 on the Billboard 200. It has also been certified gold by the RIAA. And as for “Jump in the Line (Shake, Senora)” itself, it has achieved BPI silver status in the UK. It also is the biggest song on its album.

Harry is the writer of this song, and its producer is Bob Bollard.

This track is a product of RCA Victor, with RCA being one of the senior labels in the game.

Numerous artists have either covered or sampled “Jump in the Line (Shake, Senora)” throughout the years. For instance, as recently as 2011 Pitbull dropped a hip-hop track, inspired by Belafonte, which itself is titled “Shake Señora”.

It has been put forth that the writer of the original “Jump in the Line”, which came out in 1946 was one Lord Kitchener (1922-2000). Kitchener was a calypso musician from Trinidad and Tobago. 

But ultimately it was Belafonte who is primarily credited with globalizing the genre of calypso. Calypso is a type of West Indian music which served as a predecessor to reggae. And to note, Belafonte himself was of Jamaican parentage.