Grammy-Winning Song of Courage from Iran

In an inspiring and heartfelt moment at this year’s Grammy awards, Jill Biden announced that Shervin Hajipour had won the Grammy’s new song for social change special merit award with his song “Baraye.”

When the award was announced Shervin was seen wiping away tears in a room in Iran. When he first wrote and released the song, which lists the reasons Iranians have been protesting against the ruling theocracy, Shervin was arrested on charges that can lead to a six-year prison sentence. He was released later on bail and he is forbidden to leave Iran.

Shervin Hajipour

After hearing that he won the Grammy award, Hajipour wrote on Instagram two simple words that embody his incredible courage: “We won.”

Some of the most moving lyrics reveal the unity that Shervin was striving for when he wrote this song:

For my sister, your sister, our sisters. For yearning of just a normal life. For the dumpster diving boy and his dreams. For these never-ending tears. For the girls wishing they were boys. For women, life, freedom. For freedom.

His song reminded me of a woman I met a couple of months ago on a frigid, Christmas Day in New York.* All our flights had been canceled due to the arctic storm that swept across the country, and we were standing on line to try to get onto another flight home. The man in front of us was screaming at the stressed-out agent, and we could see security beginning to weave their way towards him.

So powerful… The moment #ShervinHajipour learns that he won #GRAMMYs for his song “Baraye.” he wrote on his page @HajipourShervin: “we won.” for #WomanLifeFreedom. This means a lot. A lot! #MahsaAmini #مهسا_امینی #شروین_حاجی‌پور pic.twitter.com/nffihlJCdm

— Omid Memarian (@Omid_M) February 6, 2023

She asked me if she was on the right line to get on another flight, and I could hear her subtle accent. “Where are you from?” I asked her.

“I’m from Iran,” she said quietly, wiping away the sudden tears that came to her eyes. “I am scared for my family. They are all still there.”

The story she told me as we waited in line was heartbreaking. She spoke of a childhood lived in fear and an education hard won in secret. Her mother hid all of the children’s musical instruments because the government had laws forbidding them. She cried again when she spoke about her sister’s suicide a few years ago.

“You cannot imagine what it is like to live in a place where you can go to prison just for saying or writing the wrong thing. This here,” she declared as she lifted her gaze across the crowded expanse of JFK airport, “this is paradise.”

In his beautiful book about courage, author Ryan Holiday writes: “If you fear that there isn’t anything you can do, chances are you will do nothing. The coward waits for the stairs that will never come. They want to know the probabilities. They want time to prepare. They want assurances. They hope for a reprieve. They’re willing to give up anything to get these things, including this moment of opportunity that will never, never come back.”

When our freedom is threatened we can be silent. Or we can lash out in violence and anger at those who oppress us. But Shervin Hajipour chose another way. A way of courage by making his voice heard in a country determined to silence it. By giving words to others to help them make their own voices heard. By channeling so much pain and suffering into a song that can inspire people across the world. By risking his life to sing for freedom.

I can still see the wistful look in that woman’s eyes as she looked around JFK airport seeing paradise. This song is for her. And for the sister she tragically lost. For the fear-filled childhood she can never get back. And for the family she prays for still fearfully living in Iran.

It’s for her and for the stranger standing beside you in line carrying his own story of pain. It is a song for all of us, giving us a glimpse into one of the harshest, darkest places where the light of freedom and hope still finds a way through.

*Details have been changed to protect privacy