Barely returned from his pilgrimage to Mecca, Alpha Blondy went back into the studio and began to record what will become the eponymous title of the album: Eternity. The artist opens the album with this “pilgrim’s chant”, a wonderfully atmospheric reggae piece that portends enormous pleasures.

We literally float on the divine emotions of the pilgrimage which rise crescendo. A heavy and implacable reggae in the powerfully mystical way of an oasis sun, we plunge into a slow and heavy riddim. A huge bass and an oriental arrangement ideally a text inspired by this fabulous prayer, the Talbiya, which pilgrims must recite on their way to the Kaaba. Each measure is impregnated with this step, borrowed from spirituality, towards the black stone.

Alpha Blondy explains: “It’s mystical. When one goes to Mecca, everyone is required to recite this song. When I went there and saw these thousands of people converging in the same direction and singing this chorus, it gave me the idea for this song, which I wrote in English and in Dioula”.