RACHID TAHA - YA RAYAH

YA RAYAH

RACHID TAHA

SONGWRITER: ABDERRAHMANE AMRANI

WHERE: LIVE IN VIENNA 2014

COUNTRY: ALGIERS

ALBUM: RACHID TAHA

LABEL: BARCLAY

GENRE: CHAABI SONG

YEAR: 1993

Rachid Taha is the second solo album by Rachid Taha after he left the group Carte de Séjour. It was produced by Steve Hillage and Justin Robertson; and was first released in 1993.

The album contains Taha’s song "Voilà Voilà", which was released as a dance-oriented single that was a hit with English DJs; and his version of Ya Rayah, the classic chaâbi song composed by Dahmane El Harrachi (real name Abderrahmane Amrani). Taha returns to these songs in later albums.

A video clip was later made for "Ya Rayah" Taha and Bruno Maman  co-wrote "Indie (1+1+1)", which was released as a single in 1995 and for which a video clip was also made.

Chaabi is a traditional music of Algiers (Algeria), formalized by El Hadj M'Hamed El Anka.

Originally from the Casbah, Chaabi first appeared in the late 19th century, inspired by vocal traditions of Arab, Andalusian music using its modes and rhythms (Andalusia is also the home of Flamenco music). Chaabi simply means "folk" in Algerian.

A typical song features mournful, Arabic/Berber vocals, set against an orchestral backdrop of a dozen musicians, with violins and mandolins swelling and falling to a piano melody and the clap of percussion beats. While it shares many set themes with Flamenco - love, loss, exile, friendship and betrayal, Chaabi is part of a deeply conservative tradition and its lyrics often carrying a strong moral message.

At first Chaabi remained a scandalous genre, thriving behind closed doors or in specific locations called "Mahchachat" (cannabis dens), where the admirer of this music would go to drink coffee, tea or smoke. By the late 1950s, however, it had become the people's music, played at weddings and religious festivals; and El Hajj Muhammad El Anka, "the father of chaabi" also nicknamed "the cardinal", ran courses at the Algiers conservatoire. El Anka dedicated 50 years of his life to Chaabi, and died in 1978.

In 2011, Safinez Bousbia directed a documentary on chaabi music. El Gusto is the story of an orchestra of Jewish and Muslim musicians torn apart by war and then reunited to play in concert.

Ya rayah win msafar trouh taâya wa twali Chhal nadmou laâbad al ghaflin qablak ou qalbi (bis)

Chhal cheft al bouldan laâmrine wa lber khali Chhal dhiyaât wquat chhal tzid mazal ou t'khali Ya Ighayeb fi bled ennas chhal taâya ma tadjri

Refrain

Aâlach quabek hzine waâlech hakdha ou tanni Matdoum achadda wila tzid taâlem ou tabni Maydounou layyam walay doum seghrek ou seghri Ya hilou meskine li ghab saâdou ki zahri

Refrain

Ya msafer naâtik ouwaayti addiha el bakri Chouf ma yeslah bik qbal ma tbiâ ou ma techri Ya nnayem djani khabrek ma sralek ma srali Hakdha rad el qual bel djbine el aâli.