"El harba wine" is a single from Khaled's album Kenza. "El Harba Wine" loosely translates to "Run away, but where to?". Khaled explains the title as "You want to leave your country? Where do you want to go?".[1] The song is also sometimes referred to by the title "El Harba". The credited writers for the lyrics are Mohamed Angar[2] Khaled, Amar, and Mohamed Benhamadouche, and for the music Khaled and Idir.[3]
Versions and release history
"El Harba Wine" is an Arabic cover version of "Zwit Rwit", an Amazigh song sung by Idir. The original Arabic cover version was recorded by Khaled in 1987 and released in 1988.[1] The release coincided with Algeria's civil unrest of October 1988.
A live version of the song was included in Khaled's live album Hafla. A rare flamenco inspired version of the song was included in Sahra's promotional CD. Khaled's 1999 album Kenza included a remake of "El Harba Wine" featuring Indian fused beats and Hindi verses sung by Amar. Billboard described this version as a "mesmerizing merging" of Khaled and Amar's singing, "equal parts world music and tribal house".[4]
Track listings
CD single – Version 1
"El Harba Wine (Edit Version)" - 3:50
"Mele h'bibti" - 6:29
"El Harba (unreleased version)" - 4:13 (from 1996)
"El Harba (Live Version)" - 7:08 (from the album "Hafla")