I spent the day and still the following night,
JKLERH ACHEL UDWER EHADH
I spent the day and still the following night,
LERH AZAMAN IGLAERH
I spent a whole day travelling
LERH AZAMAN IGLAERH
I spent a whole day travelling
TIGILA MELA TIGILAT HAR TAKANARH AM NOUNOU
You've gone Mila you've already gone and I've plunged deeper into my dreams
ANIZDJOUM DJERH ATAT DIKTOH IHAL FALAS OULHIN
Whatever my thoughts, she occupies them all and my heart cries out still.
Chorus
KAY EBEDHOUN DE AMARHANAK ERHIK TARHET
It's a time that separates the beloved from those they love
WARHAK DAKHIM SEL INIZDJAM ED TID TEKTED
And when you think of them, painful obsessive thoughts are all that come.
Tinariwen (Tamasheq: ⵜⵏⵔⵓⵏ; with vowels ⵜⵉⵏⴰⵔⵉⵡⵉⵏ; plural of ténéré meaning "desert") is a collective of Tuareg musicians from the Sahara region of northern Mali. Considered pioneers of desert blues, the group's guitar-driven style combines traditional Tuareg and African music with Western rock music. They have released nine albums since their formation and have toured internationally.
The group was founded by Ibrahim Ag Alhabib; he and bandmates Alhassane Ag Touhami and Abdallah Ag Alhousseyni have all been present since 1979. Tinariwen first started to gain a following outside the Sahara region in 2001 with the release of the album The Radio Tisdas Sessions. Their most recent album Amatssou was released in 2023.
The group has been nominated for Grammy Awards three times, and their 2012 album Tassili won the award for Best World Music Album in 2012. NPR calls the group "music's true rebels", AllMusic deems the group's music "a grassroots voice of rebellion", and Slate calls the group "rock 'n' roll rebels whose rebellion, for once, wasn't just metaphorical".
