The plaque was placed at 32 rue des Tables-Claudiennes in the first arrondissement of Lyon on the facade of a building where Rachid Taha’s group rehearsed in the 1980s.
This Tuesday, May 16, 2023, the city of Lyon paid tribute to the Carte de séjour group by unveiling a plaque at 32 rue des Tables-Claudiennes on the slopes of the Croix-Rousse. A tribute that inscribes the group of Rachid Taha (1958-2018) in Lyon’s heritage.
For the occasion, Jérôme Savy and Mokhtar Amini, two of the group’s former musicians, were invited to the ceremony. “It makes me happy, because for once there is not one person who stands out, it’s a group. That’s what I’ve always defended in my life, we always need others , we don’t do things alone”, reports Jérôme Savy, former guitarist of Carte de séjour.
A place of creation
The address that commemorates the career of Carte de séjour was not chosen at random. It is here, in this mixed district of Lyon that the group, made up of the Mokhtar brothers and Mohamed Amini, Djamel Dif, Jérôme Savy and Rachid Taha, used to rehearse. The group composed its first titles in this room, between 1982 and 1991. It is undoubtedly in this same place that the emblematic cover of Sweet France by Charles Trenet To emerged in 1986.
When they arrive in front of the building at 32 rue des Tables-Claudiennes, Jérôme Savy and Mokhtar Amin have a twinge in their hearts. It must be said that they spent some time at this address, on the slopes of the Croix-Rousse. Returning to this place full of stories from a bygone era immediately brings back memories. “If the walls could talk… I can tell you, there were tears of joy and also big tears of sadness because it wasn’t always rosy, at the time some record companies didn’t want residence permit, because they were afraid of attracting a certain clientele”, entrusts with emotion Mokhtar Amini, the former bassist of the group.
A symbolic date
The date is also important. It symbolizes the 40th anniversary of the March for equality and against racism, a fight for which the Carte de séjour group has been strongly mobilized. By mixing rock and sounds of the Magheb, he fights for the recognition of the rights and the dignity of those who are designated as “young Arabs”, “Beurs” or “Franco-Maghrebs”, and for their access to citizenship. “They are part of a current of protest both musically and politically. It is a voice that was not heard on the public stage, that of immigrants and the children of immigrants who until then were a bit like invisible silhouettes who built houses and made roads”recalls Yasmine Bouagga, EELV mayor of the 1st arrondissement of Lyon.
If Rachid Taha were still alive, this plaque would undoubtedly make him smile. He who did not hesitate to speak in front of an audience of journalists to discuss the social divide. “Are there two kinds of Arabs? The nice migrants who contribute to French cultural expression, that is to say us of course, who eat the petit fours of the administrations, and the bad immigrants who are beaten up because they only bring their labor to their adopted country.
Disbanded in 1989, then bereaved by the death of Rachid Taha (2018) then Mohammed Amini (2019), Residence permit now only has two former members. But their music, like their message, still resonates, far beyond the slopes of Croix-Rousse.