June 17, 2022
Farmandeh,” the new pop tune being pushed by the regime.
The Islamic Republic, which is often falsely accused around the world of banning music, is now actually promoting a pop tune that has proven a big hit with regime supporters.
The song, “Hello, Commander” (Salaam, Farmandeh) was first aired on state television right after Supreme Leader Ali Khamenehi delivered his Now Ruz message March 20.
It proved to be a hit with regime adherents, although critics compared it to tunes like the Horst Wessel Song that were promoted by the Hitler movement in Nazi Germany. Horst Wessel was a member of the Nazi brown shirt militia and wrote the marching song in 1929, shortly before he was killed by two communists. The song fit in with the Nazi promotion of martyrdom.
“Hello, Commander” is grounded in the martyrdom of Maj. Gen. Qassem Soleymani, killed two years ago by an American drone.
State propaganda organizations have been promoting the song since Now Ruz while the Education Ministry has made sure it is widely sung in the nation’s schools.
On May 26, the regime managed to pack Azadi Stadium in Tehran with supporters assembled just to sing the song. (Only days earlier, a soccer match in the stadium had to be played before empty seats. The government said that was to avoid spreading coronavirus, though many suspected the regime feared the fans might break out in chants against the government over rising prices.)
The “Hello, Commander” song is dedicated to the Mahdi, the 12th Imam of Shia Islam who has been in occultation since 941 CE.
“Me, little me, will become your general,” children sing to the Imam, promising him that they will sacrifice their everything to him and become his Qassem Soleymani.
The song voices an ode to 313, the number of helpers the 12th Imam will have when he returns to earth in the second coming.
The song also mentions Khamenehi: “Hello, commander. Sayyid Ali [Khamenehi] has called on his children [to mobilize].”