Lyrics:
In the streets of Tehran, September fire
A girl of sixteen set her hijab to the pyre
Flames licked the night like a desperate prayer
They dragged her screaming through the poison air Nika, little flame, they took you in the dark
Batons kissed your skin till the bones came apart
Three shadows in the van, no mercy, no name
Left you broken on the floor like a discarded flame
Woman, Life, Freedom — cries that turned to dust
They rape the daughters in the name of God and trust
Veils of blood are falling, the regime’s iron hand
Crushes every flower blooming in this stolen land
Oh, Mahsa… Oh, Nika… hear us in the wind
The dead are singing louder than the living ever did
Mahsa in the van, morality police
A loose strand of hair brought the devil’s release
They beat the life from her body, twenty-two years old
Told the world she fell, but the bruises told the truth they sold In the basements they drag the girls who dare to speak
Strip the courage from their flesh, make the strong ones weak
Leaked papers in the dark, IRGC’s cold decree
Three men, one child, and the screams nobody sees
Woman, Life, Freedom — cries that turned to dust
They rape the daughters in the name of God and trust
Veils of blood are falling, the regime’s iron hand
Crushes every flower blooming in this stolen land
Oh, Mahsa… Oh, Nika… hear us in the wind
The dead are singing louder than the living ever did
They hide the bodies for ten days, wash the evidence clean
Call it suicide, a fall, another broken dream
But the mothers know the truth when they kiss the marble stone
There’s a graveyard growing where their little girls once roamed
Woman, Life, Freedom — let the fire never die
Burn the veils, burn the lies, under blood-red sky
From the graves they whisper, from the cells they scream
Every daughter stolen feeds the coming reckoning
Nika… Mahsa…
The hijab burns eternal
In the dark folk of Iran
The dead refuse to fall
Background:
In September 2022, 22-year-old Kurdish woman Mahsa (Jina) Amini was arrested in Tehran by Iran’s morality police for allegedly wearing her hijab too loosely.
Witnesses reported she was severely beaten in a police van. She fell into a coma and died three days later on September 16. Authorities claimed a heart attack, but evidence pointed to head trauma.Her funeral in Saqqez ignited nationwide protests as women removed their headscarves and chanted “Zan, Zendegi, Azadi” (“Woman, Life, Freedom”), sparking one of Iran’s largest uprisings.
Days later, 16-year-old Nika Shakarami joined the Tehran protests. Captured on video burning her hijab atop a dumpster, she was chased by security forces that night. She vanished after sending a final text. Her family later identified her brutally beaten body.
Leaked IRGC documents revealed she was abducted, sexually assaulted, and beaten to death with batons. Authorities stole her body to prevent further protests and secretly buried her.
