"Ya Rayah" () 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 one of the best exported and translated Chaabi artist. He moved to France ...

(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 is the capital city of Algeria as well as the capital of the Algiers Province; it extends over many Communes of Algeria, communes without having its own separate governing body. With 2,988,145 residents in 2008Census 14 April 2008: Offi ...

. 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 may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to France ** French language, which originated in France ** French people, a nation and ethnic group ** French cuisine, cooking traditions and practices Arts and media * The French (band), ...

Algeria Algeria, officially the People's Democratic Republic of Algeria, is a country in the Maghreb region of North Africa. It is bordered to Algeria–Tunisia border, the northeast by Tunisia; to Algeria–Libya border, the east by Libya; to Alger ...

n singer

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

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 or blank check 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 va ...

'' (1997) and was later also included on the album '' Diwân'' (1998). In September 1998, Taha performed the song live with fellow Algerian singers Khaled and

Faudel Faudel Belloua (; 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 '' 1,2,3 Soleils'' jointly w ...

at the

Palais omnisports de Paris-Bercy Accor Arena (originally known as the Palais Omnisports de Paris-Bercy), also known as Bercy Arena, is an indoor sports arena and List of concert halls, concert hall in the neighbourhood of Bercy, on the Boulevard de Bercy, in the 12th arrondisse ...

Paris Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, largest city of France. With an estimated population of 2,048,472 residents in January 2025 in an area of more than , Paris is the List of ci ...

France France, officially the French Republic, is a country located primarily in Western Europe. Overseas France, Its overseas regions and territories include French Guiana in South America, Saint Pierre and Miquelon in the Atlantic Ocean#North Atlan ...

. Their version was induced on the

live album An album is a collection of audio recordings (e.g., music) issued on a medium such as compact disc (CD), vinyl (record), audio tape (like 8-track or cassette), or digital. Albums of recorded sound were developed in the early 20th centur ...

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 part of testing, inspection and certification and 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 attestatio ...

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 a French singer, songwriter and musician. Early years Gaston Ghrenassia was born to a Sephardic Jews, Sephardic Jewish family. His father, Sylvain Ghrenassia ...

at the Olympia in

. 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 (; ''ʿÎbrit'') is a Northwest Semitic languages, Northwest Semitic language within the Afroasiatic languages, Afroasiatic language family. A regional dialect of the Canaanite languages, it was natively spoken by the Israelites and ...

Hindi Modern Standard Hindi (, ), commonly referred to as Hindi, is the Standard language, standardised variety of the Hindustani language written in the Devanagari script. It is an official language of India, official language of the Government ...

Turkish Turkish may refer to: * Something related to Turkey ** Turkish language *** Turkish alphabet ** Turkish people, a Turkic ethnic group and nation *** Turkish citizen, a citizen of Turkey *** Turkish communities in the former Ottoman Empire * The w ...

Greek Greek may refer to: 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 of all kno ...

("Ki an se thelo" by

George Dalaras George Dalaras (, born 29 September 1949) is a Greek singer and musician. He is one of the most prominent figures of Greek music. In October 2006, he was selected as a Goodwill Ambassador for the UN Refugee Agency. He was born in Piraeus. His ...

Russian Russian(s) may refer to: *Russians (), an ethnic group of the East Slavic peoples, primarily living in Russia and neighboring countries *A citizen of Russia *Russian language, the most widely spoken of the Slavic languages *''The Russians'', a b ...

( "Ya Rayah" by Dobranotch) and

Serbian Serbian may refer to: * Pertaining to Serbia in Southeast Europe; in particular **Serbs, a South Slavic ethnic group native to the Balkans ** Serbian language ** Serbian culture **Demographics of Serbia, includes other ethnic groups within the co ...

("Jako, jako slabo srce zavodiš" by

Zdravko Čolić Zdravko Čolić (, ; born 30 May 1951) is a Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bosnian-Serbian Pop music, pop singer and widely considered one of the greatest vocalists and cultural icons of the former Yugoslavia. Favourably compared to Paul McCartney and T ...

)."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 (; born 25 July 1982) is an Algerian actress and singer. Biography Bouchoucha was born in Oran. In 2015, Bouchoucha married Lebanese businessman Waleed Awada, originally from Nabatieh. She had her da ...

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

Udit Narayan Udit Narayan Jha (born 1 December 1955) is an Nepali and Indian playback singer whose songs have been featured mainly in Hindi cinema, Hindi films. He has also sung in various other languages including Telugu language, Telugu, Kannada, Tamil ...

and

Kavita Krishnamurthy Kavita Krishnamurthy (born as Sharada Krishnamurthy), is an Indian playback and classical singer. She has recorded numerous songs in various Indian languages including Hindi, Bengali, Kannada, Rajasthani, Bhojpuri, Telugu, Odia, Marathi, ...

. In 2016 a French artist, John Mamann, released a song J’suis Comme Toi (Ya Rayah) in collaboration with Lartiste and Rim’K which is an interpolation of the original.

References

External links

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