pancocojams: Sly And The Family Stone's 1968 Hit Song "I Want To Take You Higher" And Its "Boom Shakalaka" or "Boom Laka Laka" Lyrics

The Ed Sullivan Show, Nov 14, 2021

Sly And The Family Stone "I Want To Take You Higher" on The Ed Sullivan Show,
December 29, 1968.

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Edited by Azizi Powell

This pancocojams post showcases the hit 1968 song "I Want To Take You Higher" with a focus on its "Boom Shaka Laka" or "Boom laka-laka-laka" lyrics,

The content of this post is presented for cultural, historical, and entertainment purposes. cultural purposes.

All copyrights remain with their owners.

Thanks to Sly and the Family Stone for their musical legacy. Thanks to Ed Sullivan for showcasing African American music on his television series during a time when it was controversial and daring to do so. Thanks also to all those who are quoted in this post.
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Click https://pancocojams.blogspot.com/2025/06/sly-and-family-stone-performing-stand.html for the June 2025 pancocojams post entitled "Sly and the Family Stone Performing "Stand" & Five Of Their Other Hit Funk Songs From The Late 1960s & The Early 1980s".

Also, click https://pancocojams.blogspot.com/2025/10/part-ii-use-of-term-boom-shakalaka-in.html for the October 2025 pancocojams post entitled "Part II - The Use Of The Term "Boom Shakalaka" In One Of Geophysicist Stefan Burn's 3 I Atlas Podcasts & In That Podcast' Discussion Thread. That post presents some definitions of the term "Boom Shakalaka" as well as some examples of comments from that video's discussion thread that include the term "boom shakalaka". For context, this post also includes some other discussion thread comments that don't include the term "boom shakalaka".

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INFORMATION ABOUT THE SONG "I WANT TO TAKE YOUR HIGHER"
From https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/I_Want_to_Take_You_Higher
"I Want to Take You Higher" is a song by the soul/rock/funk band Sly and the Family Stone, the B-side to their top 30 hit "Stand!". Unlike most of the other tracks on the Stand! album, "I Want to Take You Higher" is not a message song; instead, it is simply dedicated to music and the feeling one gets from music. Like nearly all of Sly & the Family Stone's songs, Sylvester "Sly Stone" Stewart was credited as the sole songwriter.[3]

Composition

"I Want to Take You Higher" opens with a bluesy guitar riff played by Freddie Stone. The song, one of the most upbeat recordings in the Family Stone canon, is a remake of sorts of "Higher", a song from the band's 1968 Dance to the Music LP. "Higher" itself has its origins in "Advice", a song Sly Stone co-wrote and arranged for Billy Preston's album The Wildest Organ in Town in 1966.

[…]

Chart performance

Even though it was a B-side, "I Want to Take You Higher" became a top 40 hit (No. 38) of its own in 1970. That same year, Ike & Tina Turner released a cover of the song that became a hit as well, peaking above the original Family Stone recording on the Billboard Hot 100 (at No. 34), and one position below the original on the R&B singles chart"....

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DID SLY AND THE FAMILY STONE SING "BOOM SHAKA LAKA" OR BOOM LAKA LAKA"?
According to various websites, including Wikipedia and Genuis.con's lyric's page for Sly And The Family Stone, their 1968 song has the words "Boom Laka Laka". However, some other websites such as https://songmeanings.com/songs/view/3530822107858793137/ Song Meanings (I Want To Take You Higher" gives the lyrics Sly And The Family Stone sang as "Boom Shaka Laka".

Read https://www.reddit.com/r/MandelaEffect/comments/9kt0eg/sly_the_family_stone_i_want_to_take_you_higher/ for a discussion about commenters' remembrances of the lyrics for that song and why they think that people remember the lyrics as "Boom Shaka Laka" instead of "Boom Laka Laka".
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Here's a excerpt from https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shakalaka

"Shakalaka may refer to:

Music

Titles

"Boom Shaka Laka Laka", a 1970 song by Hopeton Lewis
- A 2010 cover of the same song, by UB40 on their album Labour of Love IV
"Boom Shack-A-Lak", 1993 song by artist Apache Indian
"Boom Shakalaka", a song from the 1996 film Muppet Treasure Island
"Shakalaka Baby", 2002 song from the film Nayaka
"Boom Shacka", a 2010 song by Brianna and Flo Rida
"Shakalaka", a 2018 original mix by Steve Aoki, Deorro, MAKJ & Max Styler
"Boomshakalaka", a 2019 song by Dimitri Vegas & Like Mike
"Shaka laka", a 2023 song by 6ix9ine featuring Kodak Black & Yailin la Más Viral

Lyrics

"I Want to Take You Higher”, a 1968 song by Sly and The Family Stone, with the lyric “boom lacka-lacka-lacka"
- A 1970 cover of the same song, by Ike and Tina Turner, with the lyric "boom shaka-laka-laka"

re"I an online wes

https://genius.com/Sly-and-the-family-stone-i-want-to-take-you-higher-lyrics gives the lyrics "Boom Laka Laka".

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LYRICS - "I WANT TO TAKE YOUR HIGHER"

(Sly Stone)

[Intro]

Hey, hey, hey

[Verse 1]

Beat is gettin' stronger

Music gettin' longer, too

Music is a-flashin' me

I want to, I want to, I want to take you higher

I wanna take you higher

Baby, baby, baby, light my fire

I wanna take you higher

[Refrain]

Boom laka-laka-laka

Boom laka-lak-goon-ka boom

Hey, hey, hey, hey

[Verse 2]

Beat is nitty-gritty

Sound is in your city, too

Music's still flashin' me

Don't ya, don't ya, don't, don't, don't ya wanna get higher?

Don't ya wanna get higher?

Baby, baby, baby, light my fire (Woo)

I wanna take you higher

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Tuesday, October 28, 2025

Sly And The Family Stone's 1968 Hit Song "I Want To Take You Higher" And Its "Boom Shakalaka" or "Boom Laka Laka" Lyrics

Music

Titles

Lyrics

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