Iran’s spiritual leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, has just banned music saying ‘it should not be practiced or taught’ in Iran because it is ‘not compatible with the highest values of the sacred regime of the Islamic Republic’. Because he is the supreme leader, the government has to comply with his orders.
How do you ban music? I understand they can control TV and radio waves, but how do you remove all CDs, all Vinyls, all K7s? And what about satellite TV? And what about the musical instruments? How is it possible?
This is insane as everything that comes out of the mouth of these people. Music has been played for thousands of years in Iran, it’s part of the Persian culture and mentally ill Ayatollahs are not going to erase it by a declaration.
On the other hand, two musician brothers Sepp and Sohl, whose parents fled Iran for Canada in the 80’s have reworked the famous Pink Floyd’s song as ‘Another Brick in the wall’ (Hey Ayatollah, Leave those kids alone!), the video was filmed by Iranian director Babak Payami and became a protest against the regime’s brutality.
It can be watched here:
and downloaded on iTunes, with half of the sales going to Amnesty International.
The Pink Floyd’s version of the song was released in 1979 during the Islamic Revolution which banned rock’n’roll, but the song managed to be transmitted through shortwave radios to become a sort of anthem: a proof you can never ban music.