"Pantala Naga Pampa" is the first track on the Dave Matthews Band

Dave Matthews Band

Dave Matthews Band, sometimes shortened to DMB, is a U.S. rock band formed in Charlottesville, Virginia in 1991. The founding members were singer-songwriter and guitarist Dave Matthews, bassist Stefan Lessard, drummer/backing vocalist Carter Beauford and saxophonist LeRoi Moore. Boyd Tinsley was...

's album, Before These Crowded Streets

Before These Crowded Streets

Before These Crowded Streets is the third studio album by Dave Matthews Band, released on April 28, 1998. It is the last official album by the group to be produced by longtime producer Steve Lillywhite and their first album recorded at The Plant Recording Studios in Sausalito, California...

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The song is the shortest track recorded by the band in the studio and was based on an old live song known as "What Will Become of Me?" part of which can be heard at the end of "Jimi Thing

Jimi Thing

"Jimi Thing" is a song by Dave Matthews Band, from their album Under the Table and Dreaming. It failed to reach any noteworthy position on the charts, like "Typical Situation" , but has grown into a popular live song played by the band...

" on Matthews

Dave Matthews

David John "Dave" Matthews is a South African–born American musician and occasional actor, best known as the lead vocalist, songwriter, and guitarist for the Dave Matthews Band...

 and Tim Reynolds

Tim Reynolds

Tim Reynolds is a Grammy nominated multi-instrumentalist known as both a solo artist and as the lead guitarist for Dave Matthews Band...

' album, Live at Luther College

Live at Luther College

Live at Luther College is a live album by Dave Matthews and Tim Reynolds recorded at Luther College in Decorah, Iowa. Recorded on February 6, 1996 and released nearly three years later, it was the first concert by the pair to be available commercially...

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When performed live, the song regularly segues into "Rapunzel

Rapunzel (song)

"Rapunzel" is the second track and was the last single of the Dave Matthews Band 1998 album, Before These Crowded Streets. It is featured on the Dave Matthews Band compilation album The Best of What's Around Vol. 1....

," just as it does on the studio recording. This can be heard on Listener Supported.

A band representative told a band fan site in 2002 that the phrase "pantala naga pampa" is believed by the band to mean "I have a snake in my pants" in colloquial Tamil

Tamil language

Tamil is a Dravidian language spoken predominantly by Tamil people of the Indian subcontinent. It has official status in the Indian state of Tamil Nadu and in the Indian union territory of Pondicherry. Tamil is also an official language of Sri Lanka and Singapore...

. They learned the phrase from their cook, who was fond of using the phrase.