Zinjanthropus Blues

Back to song list

Zinjanthropus, now known as Australopithecus (Paranthropus) boisei, was a robust australopithecine cranium discovered by Mary Leakey in 1959 at the archaeological site of FLK Zinj in Bed I of Olduvai Gorge, Tanzania. This species goes extinct in East Africa by about 1.2 million years ago. This song was written on our first trip from Nairobi to Koobi Fora, Kenya, travelling with Glynn Isaac in 1977.

Zinjanthropus Blues

I got the Zinjanthropus Blues,
My name’s been abused,
They call me dumb,
They call me thick,
My tools don’t even do the trick,
Oh, no.
I just can’t take it no more
I just might do myself in
Down on the Olduvai floor.

I got the Zinjanthropus Blues,
My name’s been abused,
From the soles of my feet,
To my saggital crest,
I know my lineage is the best,
Uh, huh.
Don’t give me no give me
no big-brained buffoon,
‘Cause under that dome,
He’s just an aberrant baboon.

I got the Zinjanthropus Blues,
I’m really bad news,
I’m strong as a lion,
Got jaws like a croc,
I’m smart as a wildebeest,
May take a walk over you,
I pity the fool who hassles Mr. Z,
I’ll give you 32 diastemas,
Instantaneously.

Some walkin’ blues,
Across the savannas,
It’s already the Plio-Pleistocene,
And I ain’t seen no bananas,
I never had a jolly time eatin’ seeds,
Tubers and roots,
They never satisfy my needs.

I got the Zinjanthropus blues,
My syntax is confused,
I’ve mastered five nouns,
But I’m weak on my verbs,
You can’t think of meat when you’re browsing for herbs, oh, no,
It just doesn’t make any sense,
To contemplate extinction, please
Someone invent a future tense.

Zinjanthropus, the “Nut-Cracker Man.”*

Image by Kathy Schick, courtesy of
THE STONE AGE INSTITUTE®. All rights reserved.

Music and lyrics by
Nicholas Toth

Vocals, Guitar: Nicholas Toth

Engineer: David Weber

Recorded at
Airtime Recording Studio.

* Discovered by Mary Leakey at Olduvai Gorge,
Tanzania in 1959.