Protest song
Iran

Fereydoun Farokhzad 's "Sad Eastern" —which its title is referring to Iranian people— is considered as one of the first Iranian protest songs. Due to the free speech limitations at the time of the song was first sang (1969 or 1970), it is a light protest song talking about "freedom" and "not giving up of our land" Iran.

Since it is illegal to criticize the government and social issues in Iran after the 1979 Iranian Revolution, most of the Iranian artists who make protest songs live abroad. Protest songs in Iran have a long history due to the long history of Human rights violations by the Islamic Republic of Iran.

One of the most important protest songs of Iran is Hichkas 's "A Good Day Will Come" which is often considered as the most influential Iranian protest song. "A Good Day Will Come" was released a year after the 2009 Iranian presidential election protests, one of the most violent protests in Iran.

"Iran Iran" which is the debut single of rapper Fadaei, was also released a year after the 2009 Iranian presidential election protests mentioning the killing of Neda Agha-Soltan and the 2009 Kahrizak Detention Center disaster.

After the death of over 1500 protesters in the 2019–2020 Iranian protests —which is best known as Bloody November due to its massive brutality— Iranian artists who live abroad released many protest songs include Hichkas 's "Clenched His Fists" —which was released one month after the start of the protests— and "Hit", Fadaei's "Overthrow" (also mentions 2021 Sistan and Baluchestan protests) and "From Karaj to Langerud" (Inspired by the death of Pezhman Gholipour). As of now, Bloody November has been mentioned many times in protest songs.

After the death of Mahsa Amini on September 16, 2022, who was arrested for alleged wearing her Hijab improperly and later died after she had been —according to eyewitnesses— severely beaten by religious morality police officers, a massive global protests sparked all around the world and many Iranian artists released protest songs. Among all of the songs, Shervin Hajipour 's " For" —which was released twelve days after Amini's death— became an instant hit and immediately turned into the unofficial "anthem" of the uprising. It was widely used during gatherings, from schools and universities to streets, both nationwide and across the globe. It was broadly circulated in social media and foreign TV channels and radio stations as well. The song also served as the backdrop for several other forms of art such as video works, graphic design and performance art. On November 11, 2022, Roxana Saberi reported the song as "the most viral tune to ever come out of Iran". Since its release, "For" has become the single most covered protest song in Iran's history. Hajipour was later arrested for the song and released on bail five days later, banned from any musical activity.

Other Iranian notable protest songs which were released during Mahsa Amini protests includes Mehdi Yarrahi 's " Woman's Anthem ", "Life's Anthem" and "Cage is Enough", Hichkas 's "This One Is Also For", Fadaei's heavy political theme album " Righ t" —which includes "Tawaf" and "Blood" protest songs— and "Conquer" (Inspired by the execution of Majidreza Rahnavard), Shapur's "Death to the Whole System", Toomaj Salehi 's "Battleground" and "Omen", Ethnic Musician's "Freedom's Anthem", Koorosh and Sami Low's "Us", Shahin Najafi 's "Gen Z" and "The Morning of Revenge".

Majid Entezami 's "Khorramshahr Symphony" —which was re-released on October 13, 2022, and its title is referring to Khorramshahr's 1980 and 1982 battles— was also used multiple times on protest videos including women cutting their hair and calls for protests.

Many artists have been arrested in Iran after releasing protest songs following the 2022 Mahsa Amini protests includes Shervin Hajipour, Mona Borzouei (Lyricist of Mehdi Yarrahi's "Woman's Anthem") and Toomaj Salehi. Salehi was arrested on October 30, 2022, for his social awareness activities on his social media and releasing the two protest songs "Battleground" and "Omen" during the Mahsa Amini protests. On November 27, 2022, Iranian media revealed that Salehi was charged with " corruption on Earth ", an offense which could carry the death penalty.

In March 2023, rapper Fadaei released another protest song associated with the 2022–2023 Iranian protests titled "Black". The song was very controversial due to its Maddahi singing style mixed with pop music. It also contains heavy protest lyrics and Chaharshanbe Suri - Muharram - Nowruz themes.
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