of their imprisonment, American hiker Sarah Shourd released a music video last week to support her fiancé and friend who are still in Evin Prison.
Shourd, who was released in September after more than 13 months in jail, began composing during her long days of solitary confinement in Evin. “I wrote many songs in prison that helped me get through 410 days alone in a cell,” she said. While noting she has no formal musical training, she said, “It was really one of the things that kept me sane.”
Shourd would then sing the songs to her fiancé, Shane Bauer, and friend, Josh Fattal, during the hour they spent together in the prison’s yard. “I know they’re singing them now to keep our connection strong during this painful separation,” Shourd said.
Starting with the lines, “We walked across hard land/ Into a human trap/ They took us for one long ride/ You’re now in Iran, Iran,” the song “Piece of Time” describes their arrest and Shourd’s experience in prison.
A music video of the song along with an explanatory introduction by Shourd was posted online on youtube.com and has received nearly 19,000 visitors. The audio is being sold on Amazon.com to raise funds to cover such expenses as legal, translation and travel costs incurred in efforts to win the release of Bauer and Fattal.
“The reason I’m doing the song is for Shane and Josh and to help people understand what they’re going through and what I went through,” Shourd said.
Singing “was a way to connect with my past, present and future,” she said. “My greatest hope is that Shane and Josh can be in my next video.”
Bauer and Fattal are awaiting trial set for February 6.