"We are fed up with humiliation": the singer was arrested and forced to apologize, but his protest song conquered Iran
The song "For" created by the young singer Sharvin Hajipour combines all the frustration and anger of the citizens in Iran, and despite his arrest it continues to spread on social networks and be heard in hijab protests in the country and around the world.
"For all the times we were afraid to kiss our loved ones"
Guy Ulster
16/10/2022
Sunday, October 16, 2022, 09:37
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The song may even win a Grammy.
Demonstration of support for protests in Iran in Washington, yesterday (Photo: Reuters)
Every successful protest needs an anthem, and the one taking place in Iran in the last month has already been crowned with one that conquered the streets and social networks and may end up at the prestigious "Grammy" awards ceremony.
The song was created by 25-year-old singer Sherwin Hajipour, who put together the lyrics from posts by protesters challenging the Islamic regime, and since sweeping the crowds he has already managed to be arrested by the authorities.
He was released on bail, and accused of "propaganda against the system" and "incitement to violence".
The protests erupted following the death of the young Kurdish woman Mehsa Amini, who was arrested by the morality police in Tehran on September 13 for not wearing her headscarf "properly".
Her death a few days later ignited tremendous outrage across Iran, which is now experiencing the largest wave of protest since the 2019 fuel protest.
According to human rights organizations, at least 200 people have been killed and thousands arrested, but the unrest has not subsided.
The protest song called "Brai" (Brai, "for" in Persian) touches on the difficulties experienced by the citizens - social, economic and political" - and basically explains all the reasons that led to the current explosion. "For the sake of dancing in the streets", says the first line of the song (the authorities in Iran prohibit dancing in the streets). "For all the times we were afraid to kiss our loved ones, for the embarrassment of empty pockets, for a normal life.
For my sister, for your sister, for our sister," sang Hajipour from Mazandaran province in northern Iran.
protest song
The song also goes on to deal with issues of corruption, gender discrimination and even damage to the environment, such as the almost complete disappearance of the Persian cheetah from the Iranian landscape.
He does not miss the disaster of the downing of the Ukrainian plane in 2020, which was mistakenly identified by the regime as an American plane and crashed near Tehran killing all 176 passengers.
The families of the victims - most of them Iranians and Canadians - are still seeking justice from the regime that evades responsibility and delays the investigation.
"For the women, life, freedom", ends the poignant song, a line that became the protestors' slogan.
The song managed to gain more than 40 million views since it was posted on Hajipour's Instagram account on September 28 until the authorities forced him to remove the song from his account the next day.
After being released on bail last week, the singer published a new post on Instagram, in which he thanked his supporters and expressed his love for Iran, while criticizing the "political exploitation" made in the song outside of Iran.
The song was also re-registered under a different author, so copyright infringement complaints could be filed, so it was removed from Instagram and other platforms.
Demonstrators in Isfahan shout "women, life, freedom"
Hajipour is believed to have been forced to do this during his arrest.
This is a well-known tactic of the police in Iran, who use violence to extract forced confessions from suspects and sometimes, in high-profile cases, even broadcast them on official television.
"For the forced confessions," some responded to the young singer's "apology" post, after which an unidentified man suspected of being a security guard flashed for a moment.
However, in today's age, such a viral song cannot be eliminated in one fell swoop, and it continues to spread like wildfire.
"For the Forced Paradise"
"We are defenseless. Nobody cares about us but ourselves"
"The song expresses decades of oppression, pain and rage in simple words," Sara, a 32-year-old fashion designer from Tehran who runs her business on Instagram, told the Washington Post.
Like many protesters who spoke to foreign media, she identified herself only by her first name out of fear for her safety.
She said that she hears Hajipour's "Lullaby of Hope" everywhere.
on cell phones during the demonstrations, from cars, by passers-by, from rooftops, in schools and workplaces.
Saeed Suzangar, a 34-year-old technology company executive from Tehran, said the singer's arrest only increased the song's popularity, "because this injustice made people angry."
According to him, "This song is eternal and the mass of the revolution, and the more the regime tries to prevent it from being played, the more you will hear it. My generation did not get to live a free life in this country. I want future generations to be spared the psychological and emotional torture we experienced. "This time, small concessions (of the regime) are not going to work.
All the different groups in Iran have now become one, and they have one demand," he said, referring to the demand for a change of government.
Despite the optimism in his words, the young manager was himself arrested by the authorities like thousands of other young protesters throughout Iran.
Tina, a 29-year-old protester who lives in Tehran, mentioned the line that touched her heart the most - "for the forced paradise", which refers to the strict rule under Islamic law.
"It symbolizes all the years of oppression, violence and humiliation that we women lived with in Iran, when we were forced to obey laws that we don't even believe in."
Tina, who works in a private company, said that she and her colleagues play "Brai" several times a day.
Alongside the feeling of strength and unity she felt while participating in the demonstrations, she aches for the many victims.
"We are defenseless. No one cares about us except ourselves. Most of the dead are so young. We are fighting this alone and with all our strength. Every 'for' speaks of the pain and frustration that the Iranians suffer from."
Students in Tehran shout the protest slogan
Meanwhile, the song has already crossed the borders of Iran and the censorship of the regime.
The words of the song "Brai" also emanate from the throats of the supporters of the protest in Iran in large cities in Europe and the United States, who took to the streets as a sign of solidarity with the oppressed young people in the Islamic Republic.
In addition, thanks to an extensive campaign on TikTok, the song received 95 thousand recommendations for winning a new category at the prestigious Grammy Award - out of 115 thousand in total.
According to the campaign page that promoted the song's nomination, "Iranians all over the world use it as a protest anthem."
The special category is designed to honor a song that has "profound social impact", and the first winner will be announced at the next Grammy ceremony to be held in February.
The president of the National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences, which hands out the Grammy Awards, said he was "very moved" by the Iranian activists' online campaign.
"While we cannot estimate who might win the award, we are humbled to know that the Academy is a platform for people who want to express support for the idea that music is a powerful catalyst for change," he said.
"The most viral song in the history of Iran, which will probably be remembered in the coming decades, is not about opposition to America or Israel or anywhere else. It is a song about the Iranian dreams of a normal life"
Winning the prize will be meaningless if the current situation in Iran remains as it is and the current protest also dies down.
But Hajipour's poem and his words full of frustration have already established their position in the lexicon of the regime's opponents, whatever the results of the hijab protests.
"The best way to understand the uprising in Iran is not through any book or article, but through Shervin Hajipour's 'Brai'," wrote Karim Sadjadpour of the Carnegie Institution for American Studies.
"Its depth requires a thorough examination. No matter what happens to the protests, it is worth noting that the most viral song in the history of Iran, which will probably be remembered in the coming decades, is not about resistance to America or Israel or anywhere else. It is a song about the Iranian dreams of a normal life."
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