Massi's music, which prominently features the acoustic guitar, displays Western musical style influences such as rock, country or the Portuguese fado, rather than traditional Algerian or Raï musical styles performed by most Algerian musicians. Massi sings in Algerian Arabic, French, and occasionally English and Kabyle (Berber language), often employing multiple languages in the same song.
Massi was born in Algiers, Algeria to a poor Muslim family of seven children. Encouraged by her older brother, she began studying music at a young age, singing and playing guitar. Growing up Massi immersed herself in American country and roots music, musical styles that would later heavily influence her songwriting. At the age of seventeen she joined a flamenco band, but quickly grew bored with the group and left.
In the early 1990s, Massi joined the Algerian political rock band Atakor, who were influenced by Western rock bands such as Led Zeppelin and U2. She recorded and performed with the group for seven years, releasing a successful album and two popular music videos. The band, however, with its political lyrics and growing popularity, became a target. Massi disguised herself by cutting her hair and dressing in male clothing, but she nevertheless became the target of a series of death threats. In 1999, she left the band and moved to Paris, France.
In 1999, Massi was invited to perform at the Femmes d'Algerie ("Women from Algeria") festival in Paris, which led to a recording contract with Island Records. In June of 2001, she released her solo debut album Raoui ("Storyteller"), which All Music Guide compared to 1960s American folk music. Sung mostly in French and Arabic, the album became a critical and commercial success in France. The following year she was nominated for "Best Newcomer" at the Radio 3 World Music Awards.
In 2003, she released her second album Deb ("Heart-broken"). The album's lyrics were more personal rather than political and it became one of the most successful North African albums worldwide. Three years later, Massi released her third album Mesk Elil ("Honeysuckle"). The album expanded on the themes of love and loss that had been explored on Deb and featured duets with Daby Toure and Rabah Khalfa.
Studio albums
* 2001: Raoui
* 2003: Deb
* 2006: Mesk Elil
* 2010: Ô Houria
* 2015: El Mutakallimun
* 2019: Oumniya
* 2022: Sequana
https://souad-massi.com/en/
J'Ai Pas De Temps
Souad Massi Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
Mais moi je la trouve des fois cruelle
La fumй noir a pris la place du ciel
Les grandes tours ont cachй les йtoiles
Refrain
J'ai plus de reves ,j'ai plus de maisons
J'ai pas de cheminйe pour le feu
J'ai pas de temps pour ce jeu
Non,non,non,non
J'ai pas de temps pour ce jeu lа
J'ai pas de temps pour ce jeu
J'ai pas de temps pour ce jeu lа
J'ai pas de temps pour ce jeu
Attendre la nuit pour pleurer
Cacher ses larmes jusqu'au soir
Ecouter le vide nous murmurer
Jusqu'au matin notre histoire
refrain
Seule dans la rue dйserte
Seule traversant l'hiver
Je marche sans tourner le tete
Je suis mon chemin de solitaire
In Souad Massi's song "J'ai Pas De Temps," the singer expresses her feelings of disillusionment and loneliness in modern society. The song begins with the singer acknowledging that life is often cruel, as darkness and urbanization have taken over the natural world. She then proceeds to express her sense of feeling lost and disconnected from everything around her. The refrain emphasizes her feeling of being adrift; she has lost her dreams, her home, and her sense of time and place.
The next verse describes how the singer copes with her troubles by crying alone at night while attempting to conceal her feelings from the world. She feels that the emptiness and vacuity of modern life whisper to her and tell her story all through the night. This verse conveys a sense of sadness, frustration, and emotional vulnerability.
Finally, in the last verse, the singer describes herself as traversing a deserted, wintery street alone, carrying on with a lonely journey, accepting her fate as a solitary traveler. The song is an introspective account of the dark side of modern civilization, which has overwhelmed and disconnected the singer from the outside world.
Overall, the lyrics describe a sense of sadness, longing, and isolation caused by the pressures of modern society. Souad Massi's "J'ai Pas De Temps" is a haunting song that captures the anxiety and melancholy of our contemporary condition.
Line by Line Meaning
On m'avais dit que la vie est belle
Someone told me that life is beautiful
Mais moi je la trouve des fois cruelle
But sometimes I find it cruel
La fumй noir a pris la place du ciel
The black smoke has replaced the sky
Les grandes tours ont cachй les йtoiles
The tall buildings have hidden the stars
J'ai plus de reves ,j'ai plus de maisons
I have no more dreams, I have no more homes
J'ai pas de cheminйe pour le feu
I don't have a fireplace for the fire
J'ai plus d'йpoque ,j'ai plus de saisons
I have no more era, I have no more seasons
J'ai pas de temps pour ce jeu
I don't have time for this game
Non,non,non,non
No, no, no, no
J'ai pas de temps pour ce jeu lа
I don't have time for this game
Attendre la nuit pour pleurer
Waiting for the night to cry
Cacher ses larmes jusqu'au soir
Hiding your tears until the evening
Ecouter le vide nous murmurer
Listening to the emptiness whisper to us
Jusqu'au matin notre histoire
Until morning, our story
Seule dans la rue dйserte
Alone in the deserted street
Seule traversant l'hiver
Alone, crossing through winter
Je marche sans tourner le tete
I walk without turning my head
Je suis mon chemin de solitaire
I follow my path of loneliness
Contributed by Sarah G. Suggest a correction in the comments below.
Artemis Antoniou
I have been told that life is beautiful
But me, I find it cruel sometimes
The dark smoke has taken the place of the sky
Chorus
I’ve no more dreams, I’ve no more home
I have no chimney for the fire
I have no era, I have no seasons anymore
I don’t have time for this game
No no no no
I don’t have time for this game
Waiting for the night to cry
Hiding our tears until the evening
Listening to the emptiness whispering to us
Our story until the morning
Chorus
Alone in the desert street
Alone living through the winter
I walk without looking around
I follow my lonely way
YOUSSEF ZEGOUTE ROUDANI
I had been told that life is beautiful
But I find it sometimes cruel
The black smoke has taken the place of the sky
The big towers have hidden the stars
I have more dreams, I have more houses
I do not have a fireplace for the fire
I have more era, I have more seasons
I have no time for this game
No no no no
I have no time for this game
I have no time for this game
I have no time for this game
I have no time for this game
Waiting for the night to cry
Hide her tears until evening
Listen to the void whisper us
Until the morning our story
Alone in the deserted street
Only crossing the winter
I walk without turning my head
I am my lonely way
Artemis Antoniou
I have been told that life is beautiful
But me, I find it cruel sometimes
The dark smoke has taken the place of the sky
Chorus
I’ve no more dreams, I’ve no more home
I have no chimney for the fire
I have no era, I have no seasons anymore
I don’t have time for this game
No no no no
I don’t have time for this game
Waiting for the night to cry
Hiding our tears until the evening
Listening to the emptiness whispering to us
Our story until the morning
Chorus
Alone in the desert street
Alone living through the winter
I walk without looking around
I follow my lonely way
Samuel Ito
Artemis Antoniou
thx 👍
Van Boissiere
Seule dans la rue déserte
Seule traversant l'hiver
Je marche sans tourner le tete
Je suis mon chemin de solitaire
J'ai pas de temps pour ce jeu là
Non,non,non,non
Hotch Kiss
très belle chanson, et voix magnifique
kamila algerienne
j'aime surtout les paroles , sont formidables ......magnifiques ,souad t'es une vraie star " god bless you "
Quidinovi
Magnifique, j'adore, ... longue et douce route, à bientôt la bonne étoile est là, le talent avant tout.
Blueline47
Sublime chanson magnifiée par un backing track des plus vivants qui soit et une guitare dont le doux trémolo vient rythmer cette douce mélancolie, empreinte de la très jolie et sensuelle voix de Souad Massi.
Angel Rolán
Bella melodia para un sábado a la noche en Brasília capital . Merci beaucoup pour cette beauté
YOUSSEF ZEGOUTE ROUDANI
I had been told that life is beautiful
But I find it sometimes cruel
The black smoke has taken the place of the sky
The big towers have hidden the stars
I have more dreams, I have more houses
I do not have a fireplace for the fire
I have more era, I have more seasons
I have no time for this game
No no no no
I have no time for this game
I have no time for this game
I have no time for this game
I have no time for this game
Waiting for the night to cry
Hide her tears until evening
Listen to the void whisper us
Until the morning our story
Alone in the deserted street
Only crossing the winter
I walk without turning my head
I am my lonely way
ma rocco
i love that music