A curated selection of Iranian songs expressing the collective sorrow, hope, and resilience of a nation in despair during the January 2026 protests, viewed through Iran’s rich musical history and rare recordings from the mid-1960s to the late 1970s. All tracks digitised from original pre-revolution Iranian vinyl and cassettes in our archives.

The events of the uprising began as widespread demonstrations against economic hardship and widened into one of the country’s most significant anti-government movements in years, met with a heavy crackdown, one of the largest digital blackouts ever recorded globally, and widespread loss of civilian life.