Music as a power player
10/10/22 09:17
Music is often the soundtrack to our lives. Sometimes its wallpaper, sometimes its art on the wall, decorative and lovely. We forget it does have power. Why would a regime try to ban a song unless they were afraid of its power?
We see this in Iran as the regime tries to silence the voices singing the song “Baraye” by Shervin Hajipour as it is seen as a threat to their authority.
The song lyrics are a collective of words that sing for ‘for woman, life, freedom following the death of a young woman in custody following arrest by the morality Police for not wearing her hajib “correctly.” This has stirred a massive response across Iran with protests, arrests and state sanctioned violence against its own people.
The song has been spread across Iran and the rest of the world by the internet and is being sung as a challenge to the Iran regime. It has demonstrated the power of music as an art form that can mobilise people towards common goals.
In other art sectors there are similar frontlines forming. The current right wing Republican moves in the USA to ban books they do not like finds them strangely aligned with the Taliban. That is just weirdly dangerous for American children. There has been pushback by authors and publishers as they realise that it is the fear of their power that makes them a danger to those who would ban things that do not fit within narrow personal views.
The fear of a song and its power can be seen in the arrest of the musician who wrote and recorded “Baraye” the attempts to ban, remove and shut down the singing of voices for women, life. freedom.
The ability to sing is one of life’s greatest freedoms. It is something we all do in our own way, It cannot be easily caged or stifled. The singing for women, freedom, life, is a musical rebellion against repression. The more the Iranian regime try to silence the voices the louder they will sing.
The song lyrics are a collective of words that sing for ‘for woman, life, freedom following the death of a young woman in custody following arrest by the morality Police for not wearing her hajib “correctly.” This has stirred a massive response across Iran with protests, arrests and state sanctioned violence against its own people.
The song has been spread across Iran and the rest of the world by the internet and is being sung as a challenge to the Iran regime. It has demonstrated the power of music as an art form that can mobilise people towards common goals.
In other art sectors there are similar frontlines forming. The current right wing Republican moves in the USA to ban books they do not like finds them strangely aligned with the Taliban. That is just weirdly dangerous for American children. There has been pushback by authors and publishers as they realise that it is the fear of their power that makes them a danger to those who would ban things that do not fit within narrow personal views.
The fear of a song and its power can be seen in the arrest of the musician who wrote and recorded “Baraye” the attempts to ban, remove and shut down the singing of voices for women, life. freedom.
The ability to sing is one of life’s greatest freedoms. It is something we all do in our own way, It cannot be easily caged or stifled. The singing for women, freedom, life, is a musical rebellion against repression. The more the Iranian regime try to silence the voices the louder they will sing.