"Ya Rayah" ( ar, يا رايح, Yâ râyiḥ, lit=you, the one leaving) is an Algerian chaâbi song written and performed in 1973 by

Dahmane El Harrachi Dahmane El Harrachi (real name Abderrahmane Amrani), (July 7, 1926 – August 31, 1980), was an Algerian Chaâbi singer of Chaoui origin. His song Ya Rayah made him the best exported and most translated Chaabi artist. He moved to France in 1 ...

(Amrani Abderrahmane). Up until the past 15 years this song was known to be Dahman El Harrachi's original song and in the Chaâbi/Andalous tradition of

Algiers Algiers ( ; ar, الجزائر, al-Jazāʾir; ber, Dzayer, script=Latn; french: Alger, ) is the capital and largest city of Algeria. The city's population at the 2008 Census was 2,988,145Census 14 April 2008: Office National des Statistiques ...

. This song is a ballad of the traveler, the exiled, the longing to come back, the immigrant, the "wanderin' star", etc. hence its universal appeal. In 1993, it was performed by

French French (french: français(e), link=no) may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to France ** French language, which originated in France, and its various dialects and accents ** French people, a nation and ethnic group identified with Franc ...

Algeria ) , image_map = Algeria (centered orthographic projection).svg , map_caption = , image_map2 = , capital = Algiers , coordinates = , largest_city = capital , relig ...

n singer

Rachid Taha Rachid Taha ( ar, رشيد طه, Latn, ar, Rashīd Ṭāhā, ; 18 September 1958 – 12 September 2018) was an Algerian singer and activist based in France described as "sonically adventurous". His music was influenced by many different styles i ...

on his second self-titled album. The song was released as a

single Single may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media * Single (music), a song release Songs * "Single" (Natasha Bedingfield song), 2004 * "Single" (New Kids on the Block and Ne-Yo song), 2008 * "Single" (William Wei song), 2016 * "Single", by ...

from the compilation album ''

Carte Blanche A blank cheque in the literal sense is a cheque that has no monetary value written in, but is already signed. In the figurative sense, it is used to describe a situation in which an agreement has been made that is open-ended or vague, and therefo ...

'' (1997) and was later also included on the album ''

Diwân Diwân is a studio album released in 1998 by Franco-Algerian raï artist Rachid Taha. In contrast to his earlier releases, Diwân contains less rock and punk music, and features more traditional Arabic instruments. Many of the songs are about ...

'' (1998). In September 1998, Taha performed the song live with fellow Algerian singers Khaled and

Faudel Faudel Belloua ( ar, فُضيل بيلوى; born June 6, 1978) is a French raï singer and actor of Algerian descent. He released studio albums, notably '' Baïda'', '' Samra'', ''Un Autre Soleil'' and ''Mundial Corrida'' and the live album ''1 ...

at the

Palais omnisports de Paris-Bercy Palais () may refer to: * Dance hall, popularly a ''palais de danse'', in the 1950s and 1960s in the UK * ''Palais'', French for palace ** Grand Palais, the Grand Palais des Champs-Elysées **Petit Palais, an art museum in Paris * Palais River in ...

Paris Paris () is the capital and most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), making it the 30th most densely populated city in the world in 2020. S ...

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of Overseas France, overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic, Pacific Ocean, Pac ...

. Their version was induced on the

live album An album is a collection of audio recordings issued on compact disc (CD), Phonograph record, vinyl, audio tape, or another medium such as Digital distribution#Music, digital distribution. Albums of recorded sound were developed in the early ...

1,2,3 Soleils 1, 2, 3 Soleils (1, 2, 3 Suns) is a live album performed by Algerian artists Rachid Taha, Khaled and Faudel, widely hailed as the three masters of raï music. The concert, a unique event, took place in 1998 in Palais Omnisports de Paris-Bercy in ...

'' the following year. Taha released the song as a single in August 1997 and reached number eleven on the French singles chart. In February 1998, the song was

certified Certification is the provision by an independent body of written assurance (a certificate) that the product, service or system in question meets specific requirements. It is the formal attestation or confirmation of certain characteristics of a ...

silver in France."Syndicat National de l'Edition Phonographique silver certified singles for the year 1998"
DisqueenFrance.com. Retrieved 24 December 2008. In 2003, Taha performed it as a duo with

Enrico Macias Gaston Ghrenassia (born 11 December 1938), known by his stage name Enrico Macias, is an Algerian-French singer, songwriter and musician of Algerian Jewish descent. Early years Gaston Ghrenassia was born to a Sephardic Algerian Jewish family i ...

at the

Olympia The name Olympia may refer to: Arts and entertainment Film * ''Olympia'' (1938 film), by Leni Riefenstahl, documenting the Berlin-hosted Olympic Games * ''Olympia'' (1998 film), about a Mexican soap opera star who pursues a career as an athlet ...

. After the death of Rachid Taha, the song re-entered the French Singles Chart reaching the Top 20.

Track listing

Charts

Covers

There have been also multiple renditions of Ya Rayah by different artists in different languages including

Hebrew Hebrew (; ; ) is a Northwest Semitic language of the Afroasiatic language family. Historically, it is one of the spoken languages of the Israelites and their longest-surviving descendants, the Jews and Samaritans. It was largely preserved ...

Hindi Hindi (Devanāgarī: or , ), or more precisely Modern Standard Hindi (Devanagari: ), is an Indo-Aryan language spoken chiefly in the Hindi Belt region encompassing parts of northern, central, eastern, and western India. Hindi has been de ...

Turkish Turkish may refer to: *a Turkic language spoken by the Turks * of or about Turkey ** Turkish language *** Turkish alphabet ** Turkish people, a Turkic ethnic group and nation *** Turkish citizen, a citizen of Turkey *** Turkish communities and mi ...

Greek Greek may refer to: Greece Anything of, from, or related to Greece, a country in Southern Europe: *Greeks, an ethnic group. *Greek language, a branch of the Indo-European language family. **Proto-Greek language, the assumed last common ancestor ...

("Ki an se thelo" by

George Dalaras George Dalaras ( Γιώργος Νταλάρας, 29 September 1949) is a Greek musician and singer. He is one of the most prominent figures of Greek musical culture. In October 2006, he was selected as a Goodwill Ambassador for the UN Refugee Ag ...

) and Serbian ("Jako, jako slabo srce zavodiš" by

Zdravko Čolić Zdravko Čolić (, ; born 30 May 1951) is a Bosnian Serb singer and is widely considered one of the greatest vocalists and cultural icons of the former Yugoslavia. Dubbed the " Tom Jones of the Balkans", he has garnered fame in Southeastern Europ ...

)."Discographie Rachid Taha"
LesCharts.com. Retrieved 24 December 2008. In the year 2010, the song was covered as part of an Israeli rap compilation album,TACT. The song's beat was sampled and used in the song Belyby by Booksills, which featured Shlome Shabat. In January 2012, it was covered again by the Algerian singer

Amel Bouchoucha Amel Bouchoucha also known as Amal Bouchoucha ( ar, أمل بوشوشة; born 24 July 1982) is an Algerian actress and singer. Biography Bouchoucha was born in Oran. In 2015, Bouchoucha married Lebanese businessman Waleed Awada, originally from ...

(Fady Bitar & The AB Brothers), using African dance beats and

Berber Berber or Berbers may refer to: Ethnic group * Berbers, an ethnic group native to Northern Africa * Berber languages, a family of Afro-Asiatic languages Places * Berber, Sudan, a town on the Nile People with the surname * Ady Berber (1913–196 ...

sounds, bringing the song closer to its roots. The tune of this song was used by

Sanjeev Darshan Sanjeev may refer to: *Sanjeev (Tamil actor, born 1975) (born Sanjeev Venkatasubramanian) *Sanjeev (Tamil actor, born 1989) *Sanjeev Kumar, Indian actor * Sanjeev Bhaskar, British Indian comedian *Sanjeev Nanda, Indian businessman *Sanjeev Kohli, S ...

in the Bollywood movie Mann (1999) for the song "Kali Nagin Ke Jaisi" sung by

Udit Narayan Udit is an Indian masculine given name that may refer to: *Udit Narayan, Bollywood playback singer *Udit Narayan (politician) (born 1960), Fijian politician of Indian descent *Udit Narayan Singh (1770–1835), Indian monarch *Udit Patel (born 1984 ...

and

Kavita Krishnamurthy Sharada Krishnamurthy, popularly known as Kavita Krishnamurthy or Kavita Subramaniam, is an Indian playback and classical singer. She has recorded 50,000 songs in 45 various Indian languages including Hindi, Bengali, Kannada, Rajasthani, Bhojp ...

References

External links

Official website
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Ya Rayah 1997 singles Algerian music Raï World music songs PolyGram singles Barclay (record label) singles 1977 songs