Ya Mustafa

"Ya Mustafa", also spelled "Ya Mustapha" (in Arabic يا مصطفى) , is a famous Egyptian multilingual song of unclear origin, whose lyrics are composed in 3 different languages: Arabic, French and Italian. There are also versions in the Greek ("Μουσταφά") and Turkish languages, where they are very popular in the respective countries. There was also a Hindi version used in the soundtrack of a Bollywood film. The music of the song is influenced by Greek music. The song was very popular in the 1950s and early 1960s, but its popularity is revived with newer versions of the song

Content and style

The song, with its Greek style music and polyglotic lyrics, can be considered as a historical tribute to the cosmopolitan era in the Egyptian city of Alexandria. During that era, a large cosmopolitan polyglotic community, mainly Greeks, Jews and Italians, lived in Alexandria. A sizable portion lived in the Attarine district, where the events of the song takes place.

The refrain of the song is "Chérie je t'aime, chérie je t'adore, como la salsa del pomodoro" (Darling, I love you, darling, I adore you, like tomato sauce).

According to some Egyptians the song originated as a kind of "resistance" during the French imperial days around 1780. By singing "Moustafa", an alternative name for Mohammed, the locals were "putting their tongues out" at the French. It was an added bonus when the song became popular amongst the French occupiers much to the quiet amusement of their subjects.

Versions

The song has been performed in many different versions by many different singers worldwide.

• One of the earliest singers to record this song in the 1950s was the Jewish-Turkish-French singer Dario Moreno.
• The song became popular in Europe with the help of the Egyptian-born Lebanese-Palestinian singer Bob Azzam, who released it in 1960 in France. Azzam's version was also a hit on the UK Singles Chart, where it spent 14 weeks and peaked at number 23^[1].
• In Spain, in 1960, the song reached #1 in the charts in two versions sung by Bob Azzam and by José Guardiola[1].
• Bruno Gigliotti (also known as Orlando, the brother of famous singer Dalida, and the founder of Orlando record label) also covered the song.
• Kyu Sakamoto also sang a version of this song in Japanese.
• In 1975, the Turkish Cypriot actress and singer Nil Burak sang "Ya Mustafa".
• The music was adapted by the Indian composers Nadeem-Shravan and appeared in the film Aatish starring Sanjay Dutt, Aditya Pancholi, Raveena Tandon, Karisma Kapoor. The vocals of Jolly Mukherjee, Mukul Aggarwal and Alka Yagnik were used for the song.
• The American singer and actress Angélica María made a recording in her album La Magia de Angélica María
• Other singers who have interpreted the songs include the Lebanese singer Reeda Boutros

Appearances

The song featured in a few Egyptian movies, including one starring the Egyptian actor Ismail Yassin in the 1950s, and another film featuring Sabah from the same era. It is also used in the Indian film Aatish.

References