Ey Iran

Ey Iran ( _fa. ای ایران) (O Iran) is a famous and popular anthem in Iran. The lyrics were written by Hossein Gol-e-Golab in 1946, the music was composed by Ruhollah Khaleghi, and it was first performed by Gholam Hossein Banan.

Gol-e-Golab was inspired to write the song by patriotism. He has been quoted to have said: "In 1944, the footsteps of the invading armies in the streets were enough to rattle any patriot and inspired me to write this anthem. Professor Ruhollah Khaleghi wrote the music and despite all the political opposition, it found its way into the heart and soul of the people."

Ey Iran is often mistaken for being a present or previous Iranian national anthem. It has only briefly had the de-facto national anthem status; however, it occupies a place in Iranian popular culture similar to that of "Men of Harlech" in Wales. It was unofficially used in the transitional period between the time of the Shah (deposed February, 1979) until the adoption of the national anthem of the Islamic Republic. But still, critics and supporters of the Islamic republic alike adopt the song as an alternative to the current and previous anthems. With the anthem of Imperial Iran praising the Pahlavi and the anthem of the Islamic Republic praising the revolution, they tend to prefer "Ey Iran" as its about Iran with political affiliations aside. Although today's Persian language has many Arabic loanwords there are only three words of Arabic origin in this poem, highlighting the Persian patriotism.

Lyrics

External links

* [http://www.iranian.com/Music/Patriotic/Audio/EyIran.mp3 "Ey Iran"] , MP3 audio. Ruhollah Khaleghi (music), Hossein Golgolab (lyrics), Golnoosh Khaleghi (arrangement, 1990)
* [http://www.persiandna.com/tra_eyiran.htm "PersianDNA - Ey Iran"] Original version of Ey Iran national anthem with the complete lyrics in Persian.
* [http://www.iranian.com/Music/Patriotic/Audio/EyIranZoroa.mpga "Ey Iran" performed by Zoroastrian Gatha Group] , MPEG audio.
* [http://www.iranian.com/ram/Patriotic/eyiran.ram "Ey Iran" performed by Andy] , RealPlayer audio.
* [http://www.iranian.com/ram/Iran/eyiran.ram "Ey Iran" performed by The Boys] , RealPlayer audio.
* [http://www.iranian.com/ram/Kiki/eyIran.ram "Ey Iran" performed by KiKi] , RealPlayer audio.
* [http://www.parstimes.com/eyiran.mid "Ey Iran"] , Midi audio.