How Music Plays a Role in the Iranian Uprising

How Music Plays a Role in the Iranian Uprising Iranian students Mahya Hamedi and Barbad Bakan discuss how the death of Mahsa Amini sparked a revolution their homeland.

By

Alicia Taylor Bard

December 16, 2022

Berklee student Barbad Bakan

Image courtesy of Barbad Bakan

Iran has been gripped by anti-government protests since the death of a young woman, 22-year-old Mahsa Amini, in police custody in Tehran on September 16. Her death ignited nationwide demonstrations, mobilizing Iranians fed up with years of repression and economic neglect.

Berklee students from Iran are anxiously following the events unfolding in their country. Shortly after Amini's death, some Berklee students held a candlelight vigil on campus to show their solidarity with protestors around the world. We spoke with two of those students: Barbad Bakan, 23, a third-semester songwriting major who says he wants to be a voice for the voiceless, and Mahya Hamedi, 23, a sixth-semester performance and professional music major. These students, who are both from Tehran, told us how important music is to this movement and how it has helped them during these troubling times.

The tragic death of Mahsa Amini sent shock waves across the world. Where were you when you heard about it, and what was your initial reaction? Hamedi: The correct word is brutal murder rather than tragic death. A brutal murder is what sent shock waves around the world and sparked a revolution in a big country like Iran with 80 million people living in it. I just woke up and heard the news that Mahsa Jina Amini was in a coma due to the beatings of the Guidance Patrol, and to be honest I wasn't shocked. I just felt devastated and helpless and didn't know what to hope for. I had a strong feeling that she would stay alive, but when I heard that she didn't make it, I broke apart. I fell into pieces. I was 14 when the Guidance Patrol stopped me, harassed me, handcuffed my family for speaking up, and threw me savagely in their van. Unlike Mahsa, I do have preexisting conditions and I couldn't stop thinking about what would've happened to me if I simply weren't lucky! Everyone has had some experience with them; if you get away with it it just means you're lucky. It doesn't mean that they are reasonable-no, mere luck it is!

I couldn't stop thinking about the other women who were in that van with me. What happened to them? How many of them suffered from injuries, PTSD, and an exacerbated medical condition? The regime thought they could get away with the obvious lie that she had preexisting conditions, but what difference would it make? Had she had a medical condition and gone into a random coma because of the Guidance Patrol, that is still called murder. And I couldn't stop thinking about all others who have gone through it. It replayed in my head every single time my friends and I would take our veils off, first of all, because we don't believe in hijab and secondly for resistance. Everything started to unravel once again.

Bakan: Im pretty sure that I heard about it later in the day, when I was home, and I was outraged. I was angry but I was not shocked, unfortunately. This is something that I believe everybody, regardless of where theyre from, should be upset and outraged about because its a human rights issue.

If you speak to Iranians right now, they don't want someone to do a heart-wrenching Kamancheh solo that makes them tear up; they want artists to reflect their emotions, the strongest of which is rage.

Mahya Hamedi

People worldwide have taken to the streets to protest against the Islamic Republic. How have you been expressing your feelings about what is going on back home? Hamedi: At first I was ashamed, enraged, and felt like there was nothing I could do that would remotely be of any importance. I wanted to sing so badly, but I believe as important as it is for artists to react to social injustice, it's crucial to take a minute to reflect and be aware of what you're doing with your art. It is so important not to spread sentimentality around enraging topics such as this, and rather use art to inform people and evoke the right emotions in them. Mere sentimentality could be very misleading. If you speak to Iranians right now, they don't want someone to do a heart-wrenching Kamancheh solo that makes them tear up; they want artists to reflect their emotions, the strongest of which is rage.

I fell sick with bad bronchitis exactly after Jina's murder, so I couldn't sing or make music. After a month, I recovered briefly and recorded a Berklee Two Track video in which I arranged a medley of two songs from two different centuries against mandatory hijab and the misogynistic Islamic laws that the regime conducted.

Bakan: Its really, really hard for me because I feel like I've been living this double life. My life is going great here, and I'm surrounded by everything that Ive always wanted, but on the other side my family is in absolute danger. And there is a third side for me to this story, which is the truth is being overlooked and, in some cases, denied; however, we are not voiceless as individuals. So, what I did was talk about it and I made a simple Instagram video and posted it and the support was so overwhelmingly beautiful. It reached nearly 50,000 views in two days, so it means that people really care about this issue. That's all we need to do, in my opinion-to continue to talk about it.

A de facto anthem of this uprising has emerged. It's sung by teenage girls in classrooms and played at protests. The song is called Baraye and its written by a 25-year-old singer. Why do you think that song has resonated with so many people?

Mahya Hamedi

Hamedi: Baraye eloquently portrayed the pain and injustice that Iranians have been facing for over 40 years. The lyri

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