"Ari Ari (Indian Street Metal)" is a single by Indian heavy metal band

Bloodywood Bloodywood is an Indian heavy metal band from New Delhi, formed in 2016. They began as a parody band that uploaded metal covers of pop songs on YouTube and later wrote their own music. They have become India's first metal act to chart on ''Bi ...

. The track is their first song to feature rapper Raoul Kerr, who would later become a permanent member of the band. Initially released to their

YouTube YouTube is an American social media and online video sharing platform owned by Google. YouTube was founded on February 14, 2005, by Steve Chen, Chad Hurley, and Jawed Karim who were three former employees of PayPal. Headquartered in ...

channel at the beginning of May 2018, the song gained traction after being promoted by actress

Ileana D'Cruz Ileana D'Cruz (born 1 November 1986) is a Portuguese actress who primarily appears in Telugu and Hindi films. She is the recipient of several accolades including a Filmfare Award and a Filmfare Awards South. D'Cruz made her screen debut in 2 ...

. ''Ari Ari'' has since become one of the band's best-known songs, with over six million views as of September 2022.

Background

''Ari Ari'' is a

cover Cover or covers may refer to: Packaging * Another name for a lid * Cover (philately), generic term for envelope or package * Album cover, the front of the packaging * Book cover or magazine cover ** Book design ** Back cover copy, part of c ...

of a cover. The original, ''Baari Barsi'', is a traditional folk song usually sung in

call-and-response Call and response is a form of interaction between a speaker and an audience in which the speaker's statements ("calls") are punctuated by responses from the listeners. This form is also used in music, where it falls under the general category of ...

form with improvised verses. It was later covered multiple times by the

bhangra Bhangra may refer to: * Bhangra (music), a genre of Punjabi music * Bhangra (dance), a folk dance of Punjab region * ''Bhangra'' (film), a 1959 Indian Punjabi-language film See also * Bhangara, Nepal Bhangara, Nepal is a village development c ...

duo

Bombay Rockers Bombay Rockers is a Danish musical duo popular in India. Their debut album, ''Introducing'', has gone five times Platinum, with sales of over 100,000 records. History In 2003, Danish-Indian singer Navtej Singh Rehal (Naf) was introduced to the ...

. The version on their 2007 album, '' Crash and Burn'', serves as the basis for Bloodywood's reinterpretation. Bloodywood guitarist and flautist, Karan Katiyar, has stated that the song was chosen due to it being unheard of outside of the country: "No one knew about "Ari Ari" outside India and that's where it worked." The majority of the group's prior material is composed of humorous covers of well-known songs. ''Ari Ari'' is considered by the band to be their first "serious" attempt at original material. They decided to not include it on their 2022 debut album, ''

Rakshak ''Rakshak'' () is 1996 Indian Hindi-language action thriller film directed by Ashok Honda, starring Sunil Shetty, Karisma Kapoor, Raghuvaran, Sonali Bendre, Alok Nath and Aruna Irani. It is a remake of the Tamil film ''Honest Raj''. Plot Raj a ...

'', as they preferred to only include original material on the record.

Composition

Instrumentation

The song heavily features a

tin whistle The tin whistle, also known as the penny whistle, is a simple six-holed woodwind instrument. It is a type of fipple flute, a class of instrument which also includes the recorder and Native American flute. A tin whistle player is called a whistl ...

melody, which is a largely atypical instrument across heavy metal. The instrument also features in the Bombay Rockers cover version of the song. The

dhol Dhol () can refer to any one of a number of similar types of double-headed drum widely used, with regional variations, throughout the Indian subcontinent. Its range of distribution in Indian subcontinent primarily includes northern areas such ...

, a traditional Indian drum, acts as the song's main percussion instrument.

Lyrics

The lyrics to the chorus of ''Ari Ari'' speak of unity and equality. Translated from

Punjabi Punjabi, or Panjabi, most often refers to: * Something of, from, or related to Punjab, a region in India and Pakistan * Punjabi language * Punjabis, Punjabi people * Punjabi dialects and languages Punjabi may also refer to: * Punjabi (horse), a ...

, they read, "Besides all differences, we are one".

Reception

The song was widely praised after its rise to popularity, having accumulated over ten million views on

Facebook Facebook is a social media and social networking service owned by the American technology conglomerate Meta Platforms, Meta. Created in 2004 by Mark Zuckerberg with four other Harvard College students and roommates, Eduardo Saverin, Andre ...

in 2018 alone. YouTube music reviewer Alex Hefner spoke highly of the song, describing it as "absolutely unique, unlike anything that e'dever heard before".

Music video

Described as "joyful", ''Ari Ari''s music video is largely filmed on the streets of India. Many scenes involve Katiyar playing guitar atop a camel, the band gate-crashing a wedding setup, and vocalist Jayant Bhadula riding a horse.

References

{{reflist 2018 songs 2018 singles Rap metal songs Bloodywood songs