Yeha-Noha

"Yeha-Noha"
Single by Sacred Spirit
from the album Chants and Dances of the Native Americans
B-side
  • "Dawa"
  • "Ly-o-lay ale loya"
Released1994
Genre
Length
  • 3:49
  • 4:29 (radio edit)
LabelVirgin
Producer(s)The Fearsome Brave

"Yeha-Noha (Wishes of Happiness and Prosperity)" is a song by German musical project Sacred Spirit. It was the first single from the album Chants and Dances of the Native Americans. Released in 1994, it achieved a great success in various countries, including France, where it topped the singles chart. It was sung in the Navajo language by Navajo elder Kee Chee Jake from Chinle, Arizona. The song is a remixed version of a portion of the Navajo Shoe Game song (a part of the origin myth describing a game played among the day animals and night animals where the animals who discovered the shoe in which a yucca ball was hidden would win a permanent state of daylight or night).

The song describes the Giant's (Yé'iitsoh) lament at the owl's attempt to cheat by stealing the ball, saying:

... shaa ninánóh'aah (you give it back to me)

... Yé'iitsoh jinínáá léi' (... The Giant says again and again...)

... ninánóh'aah (...give it back)

Chart performance

[edit]

The song was certified gold disc in France,[1] after spending 19 weeks on the French Singles Chart, from 8 July 1995. It went to number 26, then jumped to number three and reached number one three weeks later. It topped the chart for six consecutive weeks, then did not stop to drop on the chart.[2] The single charted for 16 weeks on the Ultratop 50, in the Wallonia region of Belgium. It debuted at number 20 on 5 August, reached the top ten in its third week, peaked at number three in its sixth week, then dropped on the chart.[3] It was ranked 23rd on Wallonia's year-end.[4] The song charted twice in United Kingdom in 1995: first for one week, at number 74, on 15 April,[5] then for two weeks from in November, peaking at number 37.[6] "Yeha-Noha" remained for 11 weeks on the US Billboard Hot Dance Club Play chart, reaching number 13.[7]

Track listings

[edit]
  • CD single
  1. "Yeha-Noha" – 3:49
  2. "Dawa" – 4:18
  • European CD maxi
  1. "Yeha-Noha" (radio mix) – 4:29
  2. "Yeha-Noha" (Tribal Totem mix) – 6:54
  3. "Yeha-Noha" (Pow Wow mix) – 7:25
  4. "Yeha-Noha" (Peace Pipe mix) – 4:31
  • US CD maxi
  1. "Yeha-Noha" – 4:04
  2. "Yeha-Noha" (house mix with drop) – 8:17
  3. "Yeha-Noha" (Buffalo Bump mix) – 10:22
  4. "Yeha-Noha" (Pow Wow mix) – 7:25
  5. "Ly-o-lay ale loya" (Vanishing Race mix) – 11:12
  • 12-inch maxi
  1. "Yeha-Noha" (house mix with drop) – 8:17
  2. "Yeha-Noha" (Dancing Wolves mix) – 7:42
  3. "Yeha-Noha" (Tribal mix) – 7:30
  4. "Yeha-Noha" (Pow Wow mix) – 7:25

Charts

[edit]

Certifications

[edit]
Certifications for "Yeha-Noha"
Region Certification Certified units/sales
France (SNEP)[1] Gold 250,000*

* Sales figures based on certification alone.

Uses in the media

[edit]

"Yeha-Noha" was generally credited to "Indians Sacred Spirit" in France, or also just "(The) Indians". Produced by The Fearsome Brave (Claus Zundel), the song was used in a TV advert for the Häagen-Dazs ice-cream in France.[11]

This song, mainly instrumental with Native American vocals, was much aired on radio. The main tune, played the cello, was regularly presented on TF1, the first TV channel in France, as the future summer hit.[12] It also made an appearance in a 1995 British cinema advertisement for the Survival International charity, in which Richard Gere talked about the struggle to survive of the few remaining Native Americans.

In 2003, Cloud 9 Screen Entertainment Group used a section of the track in the official trailer for its smash-hit teen drama series The Tribe.

References

[edit]
  1. ^ a b "French single certifications – Indian's Sacred Spirit – Yeha-Noha (Souhaits De Bonheur Et De Prospérité)" (in French). InfoDisc. Retrieved 2 May 2022. Select INDIAN'S SACRED SPIRIT and click OK. 
  2. ^ a b "Yeha-Noha", in French Singles Chart Lescharts.com (Retrieved 30 April 2008)
  3. ^ a b "Yeha-Noha", in Belgian (Wallonia) Singles Chart Ultratop.be[dead link] (Retrieved 30 April 2008)
  4. ^ a b 1995 Belgian (Wallonia) Singles Chart Ultratop.be (Retrieved 30 April 2008)
  5. ^ "Yeha-Noha", in UK Singles Chart (first run) Official Charts Company (Retrieved 30 April 2008)
  6. ^ a b "Official Charts > Sacred Spirit". The Official UK Charts Company. Retrieved 10 December 2016.
  7. ^ a b "Dance Club Songs". Billboard. 22 July 1995. Retrieved 30 July 2023.
  8. ^ "The ARIA Australian Top 100 Singles – Week Ending 29 Jan 1995". ARIA. Retrieved 10 December 2016 – via Imgur.
  9. ^ a b "1995 Year-End Sales Charts: Eurochart Hot 100 Singles" (PDF). Music & Media. Retrieved 26 September 2020.
  10. ^ 1995 French Singles Chart Disqueenfrance.com Archived 7 March 2012 at the Wayback Machine (Retrieved 30 January 2009)
  11. ^ King, Alex P. (2004). Hit-parade — 20 ans de tubes (in French). Paris: Pascal. p. 347. ISBN 2-35019-009-9.
  12. ^ Habib, Elia (2002). Muz hit.tubes (in French). Alinéa Bis. p. 327. ISBN 2-9518832-0-X.
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