A Look at Three Decades of Social and Human Rights Songs “Sandy”

Every time I hear about mandatory military service, the voice of Shahram Azar, our own Sedi, rings in my ear: “Yaghloui with your hands in line for Sachmeh Polo…”. For several years now, the hashtag #SayNoToMilitaryService has been seen on social media. But the song Sedi was not in recent years and with modern social networks, but in 1376 and on cassette tapes. In those years, there was no news of so many human rights activists and colorful media and advertising wars over narratives. It was the tape that played traditional music, pre-revolution songs, elegies and eulogies, foreign songs, post-revolution pop songs, or songs we know as Los Angeles. In those years, the voice of Sedi seemed to be the cry of generations who had to go to the military even nine years after the end of the war and waste their lives.

In this article, military service is not my main focus. I want to write about a document. A group that, with only one medium at their disposal, was dealing with social issues. The music of those years that we review, whether we hear it from love (in this regard, there is no difference between traditional and Los Angeles music), or from the mystical and modern poems. Social issues seemed to not be a serious concern for our music. Human rights were also a neglected gift in the hands of a few writers and intellectuals. Until the relative freedom of the media in 1997 and the election of Mohammad Khatami as president (coincidentally the same year that the song “My Military Service Document” was released), Iranian intellectuals did not have much to do with human rights.

Sandy reads Los Angeles and at the same time doesn’t read Los Angeles. His work form could be heard in “foreign songs”, its essence had a view of Iranian society, they were also hitting the port! The strange combination of Sandy’s work could be a commercial failure for him. Those who paid money to listen to Sandy’s works were not the same people who were experiencing the society that Sandy was talking about at the same time. For Iranian immigrants who had gone to Europe or America, divorce, unemployment, addiction, domestic violence, military service, or similar issues were not a problem as Sandy portrayed it; although they were well aware of it in the context of Iranian society. A young person who could hear his voice from Sandy’s throat could not have a role in Sandy’s art economy. The only thing he could do was to copy Sandy’s tape onto a blue Sony cassette and listen to a few minutes of his relatively bitter life with joy.

There is a social issue present in the first two albums of Sandy. However, the themes of human rights are explicitly addressed in the third album, “Ding Dong” (1994). The song “Bi Taghsir” (Innocent) which is about addiction, depicts a similar atmosphere to the movie “Gozanha” (Deer). The singer talks about her own fate as a victim of society, which led her towards addiction. The confusion and aimlessness, as well as the changing values of society, have pushed her towards a kind of nihilism where she feels like a stranger even after being out of prison for ten years. The peak of the narrator’s mental illness is shown in the chorus; the soup of social context, lacking coherence, but very eloquent in expressing what the narrator wants us to understand: “We have been eating corpses our whole life, our bodies are ruined, we have a few pieces of bread, nowhere to go, forgive me sir

Another song from this album, targets unemployment; reminds us of the right to work and sees unemployment as the precursor to other problems. In addition to work itself, it also raises the issue of the dignity of work; a matter that was later recognized by the International Labour Organization as part of the human rights system. The document mocks, saying: “You want to become rich, but you don’t know what to do, so you go and smuggle drugs, make moonshine at home, consume it all to get high, gather with your friends at home, set up a hookah, watch forbidden movies, and say, “Damn it! You’re unemployed.”

The title of this album is “Sigh”. It has a fast rhythm, a happy melody, humorous lyrics, and a heart-wrenching theme: a father arrives and introduces his temporary wife to his family. The narrator is the son of the family, but Shohram Azar sings in his place. Violence erupts, the smell of sweat and blood, bruises, and the sound of chaos and screams can be heard behind the cheerful beat and beautiful melody. When I listen to this song on the verge of middle age, I feel like it may be memories that a man is telling from his childhood for a psychoanalyst. Melancholia and trauma may have created psychological defense mechanisms that make such bitter memories sound so joyful and playful. The mother, who is left at home and is powerless, has only “sarcasm and a broom” as her weapons to defend herself, her children, and the boundaries that she must now share with “Mrs. Shamsi”.

The next album by Sedi, titled “Kabri”, which was released in 1375, had a song that was not very playful, it was angry and wished: “Break those hands that beat children.” It depicted the difficult lives of children who are beaten at school or at home. The interesting point of this song is the mention of freedom of expression and opinion for children, which may not be well known in our society yet; although it is explicitly mentioned in Article 15 of the Convention on the Rights of the Child (1989). The liberation of children from physical abuse is also mentioned in the same convention in Article 19. Regarding physical violence against children, there is no humorous tone in this angry document. It only repeats one wish: “Break their hands.”

The next album, titled “Top Singer”, which was released in 1376 (1997), is where the present text begins: Inequality in higher education opportunities and stories of months wasted as a conscript. The humorous tone and the mixture of rock and Arabic music, with the help of a Sindhi, create a work that is still fresh after twenty-four years. For me, who did not go to the military and have only heard memories of those who have, the thick-necked sergeants, heavy boots, and military coats, punishment, crow-filled toilets, and being deprived of earned leave have always been a part of my imagination. He himself says that apparently the memories described by “Asghari” come to life in the barracks. It narrates the suffering that has been going on since the beginning of compulsory conscription and shows the “forced labor” and “misery” during that time.

But one of the most important works in terms of addressing human rights issues is in this album: “Mard-e Salari”. With the same humor, it attacks the patriarchal order of society and uses colloquial terms in a contextually appropriate way: “If you talk too much, I’ll call you a whore, go to your father’s house and stay there until your hair turns as white as your teeth!” It portrays the inequality between men and women in the home and society and exaggerates in a way that may even convince its opponents. Women’s work at home and outside must benefit men, and a woman’s job is to be a housewife, a mother, and a wife. It even says, “A woman’s right is also the property of men!” We may hear such voices from extremist subcultures today, but we should not compare this year to twenty-six years ago. At that time, gender equality movements and uprisings were not as widespread in Iran

“Baba” was the title of a song that was released in the album “Raghse Javona” in 1378 (1999). The narrator is once again a child who complains about his father. The father is an alcoholic who is “full of pain and violence”, has a difficult past and takes it out on his wife and child. The narrator still feels the need for his father and asks him to stop the violence and support him and his mother. The dark atmosphere of the song is very well matched with the melody and rhythm, making it more effective and mature than previous works.

It was previously mentioned that documentary works generally have a social theme. These few examples were just some of the works of this group that specifically addressed human rights issues. In other documentary works, there are references to housing problems, street harassment, marriages without recognition of future spouses, superstitions, telephone harassment, and the like. Even in the famous song “Ahvazi (Amsho Sho Shah)” which could be considered a symbol of Bandari music, there is a reference to the indigenous culture of the people of Khuzestan as the main theme of the work; unlike many other songs in this style that only have a Bandari rhythm and tell a story of love for someone from the city of Ahvaz, named Jonoob.

If today we stand in a place where concerns for human rights have become a part of life, at least for a wide range of people in our society, we recognize ourselves (to some extent) based on our rights and responsibilities in society; not imposed norms. Our daughters face new obstacles every day on the streets and we remain silent, undoubtedly there are countless factors. The purpose of this text was to remind us that artists have been trying in recent years and have built a brick wall with their limited resources. Regardless of the differences I have with Mr. Shahram Azar, with the little knowledge I have of him through his Facebook page, I want to thank him for fulfilling his role.