The unofficial anthem of Iran’s ongoing anti-government protests is a soulful song, with lyrics strung together from tweets by demonstrators risking their lives to defy the country’s ruling clerics.

“Because of dancing in the streets,” the song begins. In Iran, dancing in public is banned.

“Because of every time we were afraid to kiss our lovers.”

“Because of the embarrassment of an empty pocket.”

“Because of yearning for a normal life.”

Other lyrics name corruption, censorship, gender discrimination, environmental degradation and national tragedies, such as the near extinction of the Persian cheetah and the downing of a Ukrainian passenger plane in 2020, in what Iran’s government has said was a military accident.

“Because of women, life, freedom,” the song concludes, echoing a popular protest chant: “Azadi.” Freedom.

Iranian singer Shervin Hajipour posted the song, “Baraye” — which means “for the sake of” or “because of”— to his Instagram account on Sept. 28. It accrued more than 40 million views, according to Amin Sebati, a London-based expert on Iranian cybersecurity, by the time authorities forced Hajipour to take it down and arrested him the following day.

The song, according to Iranians interviewed by The Washington Post, gives voice to sentiments that have driven widespread anger and the largest anti-government protests the country has seen in years, which began with the death of 22-year-old Mahsa Amini in police custody in Tehran last month, and which have come to encompass a broad range of frustrations uniting Iranians fed up with grinding poverty, repression, gender segregation and human rights violations.