Moroccan riad Moroccan riad A riad () is a type of traditional Moroccan house or palace with an interior garden or courtyard. The word riad originates from the Arabian term for garden, , ryad. The ancient Roman city of Volubilis provided a reference for the beginnings of riad architecture during the Idrisid Dynasty. When the Almoravids conquered Spain in the 11th century they sent Muslim, Christian and Jewish artisans from Spain to Morocco to work on monuments. The Riad is the Moroccan traditional house, normally with two or more stories around an Andalusian-style courtyard that contained a fountain. Riads were the stately
A House Is Not a Motel song begins with a 12-string guitar playing a riff in E minor. An electric guitar comes in after the second verse, playing a phrase on the top two strings. After the third verse, there is a drum break and twin guitar solo with strange vocal noises. It is one of the sparsest arranged songs on the album. Allmusic's Matthew Greenwald called "A House Is Not a Motel" " another one of Arthur Lee's meditations of his own personal world, and it's both beautiful and brutal at the same time." He praised the "acid-magnified imagery" and considered it to be one