We close our harraga music review of with an Algerian classic. This is an old track by Algerian singer Dahmane El Harrachi (1926-1980). In 1997 another Algerian singer, Rachid Taha (born in 1958), came out with a remake of it, a single that become a real cult, taken up again by Cheb Khaled and remixed well into the new millennium. The song is called Ya Rayah, You who leave. And it is a sort of invitation to stay or at least to return. It feels like the words are dedicated to all those who didn’t make it. Who are now prisoners of Fortress Europe. Without valid documents to work or travel, or perhaps detained in CIEs or held in prison for some minor offense. Perpetually torn between the longing for their country and their families, and the impossibility of returning without a success story and pockets full of money. Because in the rural areas of Morocco and Egypt, or in the working-class districts of Tunis and Annaba, the social imperative is very strong. You do not come back as a loser unless you want to face the shame of not having made it and of having needlessly wasted your youth far from home and loved ones. Dahmane El Harrachi already saw this back in the seventies with Algerians in France: "You who are leaving, where are you going? You'll end up coming back. How many naïve ones have repented before you and me ... And the days go by, and youth goes by, yours and mine". Below you will find all the lyrics translated into English.
| Ya Rayah Ya rayah win msafar trouh taaya wa twali Chhal nadmou laabad el ghaflin qablak ou qabli Ya rayah win msafar trouh taaya wa twali Chhal nadmou laabad el ghaflin qablak ou qabli Chhal cheft al bouldan laamrine wa lber al khali Chhal dhiyaat wqat chhal tzid mazal ou t'khali Ya lghayeb fi bled ennas chhal taaya ma tadjri Tzid waad el qoudra wala zmane wenta ma tedri Ya rayah win msafar trouh taaya wa twali Chhal nadmou laabad el ghaflin qablak ou qabli Ya rayah win msafar trouh taaya wa twali Chhal nadmou laabad el ghaflin qablak ou qabli Aalach qalbek hzine waalach hakdha ki zawali Matdoum achadda wila tzid taalem ou tabni maydoumou layyam walay doum seghrek ou seghri Ya hlilou meskine li ghab saadou ki zahri Ya msafer naatik oussaayti addiha el bakri Chouf ma yeslah bik qbal ma tbia ou ma techri Ya nnayem djani khabrek ma sgharek ma sghari Hakdha rad el qalb bel djbine sabhane el aali Ya rayah win msafar trouh taaya wa twali Chhal nadmou laabad el ghaflin qablak ou qabli Ya rayah win msafar trouh taaya wa twali Chhal nadmou laabad el ghaflin qablak ou qabli | You who are leaving You who are leaving, where are you going? You'll end up coming back. How many naïve ones have repented before you and me! You who are leaving, where are you going? You'll end up coming back. How many naïve ones have repented before you and me! How many overcrowded countries have you seen and how many desert regions? How much time have you wasted? And how much more will you waste before giving up? Oh migrant you won’t stop running in others’ countries, but how much longer will you have to run? Fate and time follow their course, but you ignore this You who are leaving, where are you going? You'll end up coming back. How many naïve ones have repented before you and me! You who are leaving, where are you going? You'll end up coming back. How many naïve ones have repented before you and me! Why is your heart is so sad? Why do you sit there so luckless? Difficulties pass, this way you will neither build nor learn anything And the days pass, as does youth, yours and mine. Oh, unfortunate is he who has lost his fortune, like me Oh traveler, here is some advice to follow soon See what suits you before selling or buying Oh you who are asleep I have received news of you what happened to me has happened to you And so the heart returns To its creator up high You who are leaving, where are you going? You'll end up coming back. How many naïve ones have repented before you and me! You who are leaving, where are you going? You'll end up coming back. How many naïve ones have repented before you and me! |