Bhangra meanings

[David H]

I listen to a lot of Bhangra, but not being Asian myself, wonder what the chants mean, if anything. The ones I can remember are bule-bule, areepa and bruah, though there are some others as well.

[WaldoMcFroog]

Firstly, I should admit I know very little bhangra, but I am a bit of a fan of Aziz Ibrahim, former Stone Roses II guitarist, and people like the Dholl Foundation.

I wonder if the chants you're referring to aren't the same as the ones that Aziz's tabla player Dalbir Singh does. These are phenomenally fast little rhythmic chants, with a lot of 'clicking' and syncopation. In the case of these chants, they are literally an oral version of the drum beats. Before Tabla players are allowed to pick up their drums, they spend years learning how to speak the drum patterns. To my ears these sound (phonetic attempt at best) similar to 'rikka-ta-tikkata tikkata tik' etc - very percussive sounds. Each sound is representative of a different drum beat. If the tabla players cannot speak the beats, they cannot graduate to actually playing their drums.

May not be that, of course! :-)

[David H]

I know the ones you mean, I think they're closer to Raga or similar traditional music. These are shouted out as part of the rhythm/song

[beenee]

Baley-baley is an expression of celebration. It has connotations of happy festivities... we (usually the men, actually) shout it when dancing. Areepa is not used in speech and serves as a sound to top-off a bhangra beat or song. Bruuuah has the same function and doesn't mean anything.

[David H]

Thanks beenee, I thought you might help me out again. By the way, how's the moving going? I tried to post an answer but the thread must have been closed. My vote is for NW11 by the way, with N2 and N6 close behind.

[beenee]

Gosh, NW-all is so pricey! I'm supposed to move in Sept. but I'm still looking for the right place.

[David H]

Let me know if you need any advice, I spent a bit of time as an estate agent and I know most areas as I've lived all over London

[beenee]

Very sweet of you to offer David, thanks! :)