ZoOm, ZoOm, zOoM, yeah, Zoom Zoom Zoom Zoom (snarkcast)
“ZoOm, ZoOm, zOoM, yeah, Zoom Zoom Zoom Zoom” Don’t ya just love that catchy yet painfully repetitive hook. When I first heard it when it was first shown in the year 2000, couldn’t get enough of it. Mazda’s “zoom zoom” ads are still playing in Japan although they seem to have been pulled from the US market.
When I first went online to listen to this tune on the Mazda.co.jp, I found out it’s actually a song from the movie “Only the Strong” which I had seen long ago in 1973. The song begins, “Zoom zoom zoom capoeira mata um!” which in Portuguese means the Brazilian-afro martial art “Capoeira kicks butt” hee, hee. Actually in Portuguese it means “Capoeira kills one” :
“Zoom zoom zoom capoeira kills one / kills two, kills three / if all of you attack me at once / I will kill you all”
The Zoom Zoom Zoom song by Serapis Bey that’s still being used in current TV commercials playing in Europe and Japan, the Japanese zoom-zoom tag line has the tagline “motto noritaku naru” — (I) Wanna go more.
The “zoom zoom” song Mazda is actually a capoeira song. For those of you who have no idea what capoeira is, it’s a Brazillian martial art that practitioners “play” or “mock fight” while performing a bunch of gymnastic/breakdancing-looking fighting moves to the tune of singing and intrumental sound in the background. Songs and instruments are traditional Brazilian/African heritage. The song was then modifed a stronger beat for the capoeira movie “Only The Strong” starring Mark Dacascos.
WARNING!
I made an MP3 podcast of my “learned” commentary about the history of the Zoom-zoom song (MP3, 3MB, runtime 3min 20sec) Get it now because doubt I will be making very many additional “snarkcasts” for news3Yen.com.
And to entirely avoid hearing my squeeky commentary, click here to download only-music version in my world-music-mega-mix of Zoom-zoom-zoom — MP3 (16MB) that contains all the different versions of Zoom-zoom. My world-music-mega-mix of Zoom-zoom lasts 12 minutes that include the following:
1st) ZOOM-ZOOM Japanese regular short version for TV CMs,
2nd) Zuum-zuum, the original by Serapis Bey,
3rd) Zoom-ZOOM J-pop,
4th) ZOOM-ZOOM French pop (Japanese market),
5th) Zoom-ZOOM J-rock,
6th) Zoom-ZOOM J-hiphop, and
7th) Zoom-ZOOM “punk jazz.”
Alternatively, you can go to Mazda Japan’s “Zoom-zoom” website and listen to all these songs. Click on the musical note icon to get the selection menu for the different musical styles as shown below.
Note that signature “zoom zoom” whisper of the little boy “Micah” in the Mazda commercials is now a woman in the Japanese versions.
- 
February 23rd, 2007 at 12:37 am
Hi, been trying to find a copy that I can save of the JapaneseZOOM-ZOOM Japanese regular short version for TV CMs.
The download from Mazda site can’t be saved, can’t find it in the temp files to save either.
Any ideas? thanks
February 23rd, 2007 at 9:35 am
There a dozens of different Japanese versions on the official Japanese Zoom-zoom website http://zoom-zoom.mazda.jp/open.html .
So, I just recorded the basic Japanese one in the list. It’s a large MP3, 4MB file that I recorded at a 192 bit rate and 48 kHz sample rate (which may be overkill since the source may be a lower quality). Don’t even ask me who recorded it—the Japanese website doesn’t make it clear to me.
Link to my blog post with the http://taro.podomatic.com/enclosure/2009-01-21T21_34_06-08_00.mp3” rel=”nofollow”>Japanese Zoom-zoom MP3.
Direct link to the MP3 (4MB) download of the Japanese song (right click and save).
January 22nd, 2009 at 11:09 am
Great job.. like others been trying to “Catch” a copy. Even to the extreme of being “put on hold” when calling into Mazda Corporate.
How can or can you send me a copy of the original “Zuum Zuum Zumm” ?
Thanks
January 22nd, 2009 at 2:20 pm
Just the “real” Zoom, Zoom, Zoom (Zum, Zum, Zum) is here:
Click here to download only-music version in my world-music-mega-mix of Zoom-zoom-zoom — MP3 (16MB) that contains all the different versions of Zoom-zoom. My world-music-mega-mix of Zoom-zoom lasts 12 minutes that include the following:
1st) ZOOM-ZOOM Japanese regular short version for TV CM,
2nd) Zuum-zuum, the original by Serapis Bey,
3rd) Zoom-ZOOM J-pop for TV CM,
4th) ZOOM-ZOOM French pop (Japanese market),
5th) J-rock,
6th) J-hiphop, and
7th) “punk jazz.”
May 4th, 2009 at 5:02 pm
Thank`s all of you guys. I`ve been looking this sounds for a long time!
September 20th, 2009 at 6:00 am
hi there, it was great to have encountered your website for one of the songs that have stayed latent in my mind for the longest time, only to be unearthed recently in my own involvement in capoeira. do you think you’d actually know the name of the ‘band’ that created this piece for mazda, and what the exact lyrics of the japanese version is?
September 21st, 2009 at 5:43 pm
As I said in comment No. 2 above: ” Don’t even ask me who recorded it—the Japanese website doesn’t make it clear to me….”
(February 23rd, 2007 at 9:35 am)
One Japanese version of the Zoom-zoom song is by Tamaki Hiroshi ( 玉木宏 ) see the YouTube below. The other Japanese versions are by an un-named chorus.
Mazda is offering a Japanese translation of the zoom-zoom tag line, the phrase “motto noritaku naru” means (I) wanna go more. I cannot catch the rest of the Japanese drival.
As I said before the TV commercial Zoom-zoom song was taken from the soundtrack from “Only The Strong” (released in 1993) performed by Serapis Bey (used in commercials in Europe, Japan and South Africa). The Serapis Bey version is a cover of a traditional Capoeira song, called “Capoeira Mata Um”.
Right click and “save as..” here to download the Miata desert commercial. (3.6 megs – Quicktime format)
Zoom zoom!-mp3
http://www.bucklescomic.com/miata/2001se/Only%20the%20Strong%20-%20Zoom%20Zoom%20Zoom%20%28Mazda%20Commercial%29.mp3
Right Click and “save as..” here to download the mp3 of the song used in the commercial. (6.61 megs)
January 29th, 2010 at 2:58 am
Wow… I want Zoom-zoom Tamaki version lyric. ^^
October 4th, 2010 at 10:07 am
There is a review on Amazon that says Spank did the recording for Mazda.
http://www.amazon.com/Only-Strong-Harvey-W-Mason/dp/B00000099D
October 4th, 2010 at 10:42 am
Further information from Wikipedia says the Jibril Serapis Bey version was used in Japan, Europe, and South Africa.
If correct, then the Spank version was only used in North America.
October 4th, 2010 at 10:53 am
Oops, left out the link:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mazda#Marketing