| Yassassin | |
| Cover: | Yassassin by David Bowie Netherlands vinyl single.png |
| Type: | single |
| Artist: | David Bowie |
| Album: | Lodger |
| Released: | July 1979[1] (Netherlands) |
| Recorded: | Mountain, Montreux, September 1978; Record Plant, New York City, March 1979 |
| Length: | 3:06 (single version) 4:10 (album version) |
| Label: | RCA PB-9417 (Netherlands) 79.014 (Turkey) |
| Prev Title: | D.J. |
| Prev Year: | 1979 |
| Next Title: | Look Back in Anger |
| Next Year: | 1979 |
"Yassassin" (Bowie's pronunciation ; also known as "Yassassin (Turkish for: Long Live)", and released in Turkey as "Yassassin (Yaşasın)") is a song written by English singer-songwriter David Bowie for the 1979 album Lodger. "Yassassin" is an incongruous reggae song with a Turkish flavour.[2]
The title of the song is derived from the Turkish verb used to wish someone a long life, spelled yaşasın (pronounced as /tr/), from the verbal root yaşa- 'live' with the third-person imperative ending; therefore yaşasın literally means 'may he/she live'. The phrase “Yaşasın” is in most cases used as “Hurray!” in Turkish.
"Yassassin" was released as the third single from Lodger, but only in the Netherlands and Turkey. The Dutch single edit of the song was included on Re:Call 3, part of the A New Career in a New Town (1977–1982) compilation (2017).[3]
According to Chris O'Leary:
Technical