Swiss-Iranian woman stunned Swiss stars sing protest song - no radio plays it

Shiva Arbabi has joined forces with ten Swiss musicians in the "Swiss Artists for free Iran" project to show solidarity with the people of Iran. But the radio stations don't want to play "Woman, Life, Freedom".

"When the song was finished, I thought the radios would surely pick up on it," says Shiva Arbabi to blue News. Together with ten Swiss artists - Sina, To Athena, Adrian Stern, Heidi Happy, Tim Freitag, Panda Lux, Wolfman, Esmeralda Galda, Lord Kesseli and Reponaut - she produced the song "Frau, Leben, Freiheit".

This is the German cover version of "Baraye". "The original song became the anthem of the protests demanding an end to the Islamic regime," explains Arbabi.

"First feminist revolution"

But the song can hardly be heard anywhere. Despite the star line-up, radio stations do not include it in their programs. Shiva Arbabi can't understand why: "There has never been a music project like this before. It's something unique with such an important message. Swiss musicians are supporting the first feminist revolution in history, how can that not be honored?" Only Roger Schawinski's Zurich Radio 1 has presented the work in an interview.

Arbabi is particularly disappointed with SRF. She spoke to a music editor there. "He said to me that he hadn't even heard the song to the end and snippily said it wasn't for her." She found this statement "arrogant" and "disrespectful". Arbabi herself worked as a radio presenter for various stations. She has been running her own internet radio station piratenradio.ch since 2010.

SRF does not want to play the song

But why won't SRF play the song?

When asked by blue News, Tamara Steffen, Head of Tagesaktuell Musik Pop & Rock, said: "We discussed the request in the editorial team and decided not to play the song on SRF 3 radio." It would not fit in with SRF 3's music concept. In addition, the realization of the cover version was not convincing.

"If the reply to Ms. Arbabi was perceived as arrogant and disrespectful by our employee, we apologize. The aforementioned statement by the music editor refers to the fact that he realized right at the beginning of the song that it did not fit perfectly into our music program." Steffen emphasizes: "The decision not to present this song in the program is based on the musical assessment of the song and not on a content-related component."

Singer Sina praises the project

Nevertheless, the artists involved are behind the song. Shiva Arbabi is particularly pleased about their support.

Dialect singer Sina emphasizes: "The need for freedom and a self-determined life doesn't just stop at a national border. The fact that this civil rights movement is being led by women and girls to end violence against women and discrimination is courageous and strong."

She continues: "Expressing solidarity with an Iranian song translated into German is the least I can do from here." Sina says that she rarely comments on political issues. But: "Here I felt the need to be a part of it."

The original protest song was written by the Iranian musician and composer Shervin Hajipour. He compiled the lyrics from Persian tweets that express the suffering, anger and hope of the Iranian civilian population. Last September, there were nationwide uprisings in Iran against the authoritarian regime, which has been in power for 44 years.

"When I heard the song for the first time, it really touched me. I wanted people to understand the lyrics," says Arbabi, who will also be releasing a remix of "Woman, Life, Freedom" soon. The original song won the first special prize for social change at this year's Grammy Awards.

Shiva Arbabi continues to fight

"At times I thought I couldn't bear to deal with the issue any more. But luckily I regained my strength," says Arbabi.

The protests in Iran were triggered by the murder of 22-year-old Iranian Kurdish woman Jina Mahsa Amini on September 16, 2022. She was arrested by the Iranian morality police because her headscarf allegedly did not fit properly. She died in custody.

Shiva Arbabi wants to use her song to shake people up and raise awareness, because: "It can't go on like this. The international community has a responsibility to support the human rights they propagate."

Sina as a guest on "Lässer"