Carte de Séjour: Protesting Racism in France
Via Les Trans
Did you know that before Rachid Taha sang Dahmane El Harrachi’s Ya Rayah – the song that launched him to global fame – he was the vocalist for a band called Carte de Séjour. The band was active from 1980 to 1990 and had Mohamed Amini on guitar, Moktar Amini on the bass and Jérôme Savy as lead guitarist. Djamel Dif and Éric Vaquer were also past members. They became a pioneering example of an empowered “beur” (slang for “Arab”) group in French popular culture.
Via Les Trans
Founded in the banlieus of Lyon, the band’s name references the residence cards that are carried by immigrants in France.
via L’histgeo Box
They rose to fame after performing at Paris’ Palais des Sports and the Place de la Bastille during the “Marche pour l’egalité et contre le racisme”, dubbed the “Marche des Beurs” (“March of the Arabs”) — a demonstration against racism and issues relating to immigration that took place between October and December 1983.
In 1986, their rendition of Charles Trenet’s Douce France gained them further fame. Trenet had originally written and performed it during the German occupation of France.
Thus Carte de Séjour subverted a quintessentially French tune. And their “North-African inflected” version quickly became an anthem for those standing against racism and calling into question the status of Arabs and other post-colonial immigrants in France.
Carte de Séjour performing Douce France in May 1987.
In “Carte de Séjour: Revisiting ‘Arabness’ and Anti-Racism in 1980s France”, Barbara Lebrun asserts that Taha’s “intentions in this cover were ironic rather than literal. Instead of appropriating the patriotism of the original, his ‘Douce France’ was an antiphrasis’.
Image crédits 1) Le Progrès 2) Afrisson 3) YouTube
Carte de Séjour brought together reggae, funk, punk, rock, electronic sounds, raï and gnawa music. They sang in a mix of Algerian-Arabic and French.
Carte de Séjour by Jean-Yves Legras via Gonzo Music
بتعرفوا أنه قبل ما غنا رشيد طه أغنية يا رايح لدحمان الحراشي الي أوصلته إلى الشهرة العالمية كان يغني كعضو بفرقة اسمها Carte de Séjour؟ كانت الفرقة نشطة من 1980 لل1990 وكان يعزف فيها محمد أميني على الجيتار ومختار أميني على الباس وكان جيروم سافي عازف الجيتار الرئيسي. جمال ديف وإيريك فاكير أيضًا أعضاء سابقين
