Lionel Richie - All Night Long - Lyrics Meaning

All Night Long by Lionel Richie was released in 1983 and reached number 1 in the US charts and number 2 in the UK charts.

The upbeat lyrics in this song encourage everyone to have a party and dance and enjoy yourselves all through the night.

There is a line in the song, 'So, Tambo liteh sette mo-jah' which everyone thinks is an African phrase, the truth is Lionel Richie actually made it up.

There are though other phrases taken from different dialects, "Karamu" is a Swahili word for a party along with a feast; "Liming" is a Caribbean phrase for getting together, and "Fiesta" is Spanish for party.

The song describes people dancing in the street and really feeling the music and rythym in their souls, it has a real Caribbean feel to and you can imagine, whilst listening to the song, people singing, dancing and having a good time.

Lionel Richie said that the songs he writes are based on real events and he has experienced parties in the streets as described in the lyrics of this song which make whole song so believable.