"No One Knows About Persian Cats" Soundtrack Lyrics

“No One Knows About Persian Cats (Music From the Motion Picture)” – Album Guide to Tracks and Key Scenes

Overview

Can a soundtrack double as a survival map — arrival → adaptation → rebellion → collapse? No One Knows About Persian Cats does exactly that. It’s a guided tour of Tehran’s underground scene where every song is a door: one opens to a rehearsal in a cow barn, another to a basement jam hidden behind a steel shutter. The album gathers that world into a compact, club-to-bedroom mix that feels illicit and intimate at once.

The film follows Ashkan and Negar — the duo Take It Easy Hospital — as they hunt for bandmates, visas, and a way out. On screen, rock, hip-hop, new wave, and blues bloom in improvised venues; on record, the curation spotlights the same breadth: Iranian rap landmark Hichkas beside the jangly art-rock of The Yellow Dogs, the dream-pop hooks of Take It Easy Hospital, and Rana Farhan’s jazz-blues setting of classical Persian poetry. The result is less a “score” than a portrait album of a scene finding its voice.

The set is distinct for its in-situ energy. Many cues play diegetically — we see bands performing — then drift non-diegetically into montage. It’s documentary pulse welded to narrative momentum. As reported around release, the movie was shot at speed and in secret; the soundtrack mirrors that urgency without losing clarity.

Genres & themes (phases): garage/indie rock — camaraderie and hustle; Persian hip-hop — social texture and defiance; blues/jazz settings of Hafez/Rumi — heritage reframed; post-punk/new wave — escape velocity; dream-pop — hope and heartbreak.

How It Was Made

Director Bahman Ghobadi built a semi-documentary fiction around real musicians from Tehran’s underground. Music is not accessory here; it’s subject. The credits list Ashkan Kooshanejad and producer/arranger Mahdyar Aghajani among the film’s music principals, while the release soundtrack compiles performances by multiple groups (Take It Easy Hospital, Hichkas, The Yellow Dogs, The Free Keys, Rana Farhan, and others).

The commercial album arrived via Milan Records to accompany the film’s 2010 international roll-out. The playlist leans heavily on songs actually performed or heard in the film — many captured in cramped studios, rooftops, or hidden rehearsal spaces across Tehran — preserving the movie’s field-recorded feel inside a clean, listenable sequence.

Tracks & Scenes

“Ekhtelaf” — Hichkas
Where it plays: A raw, street-level performance sequence: the camera rides close on the MC and cohort as the beat thumps in a makeshift studio; later fragments recur under city montage (timing varies by cut, ~first half). Mostly diegetic, with non-diegetic bleed into edits.
Why it matters: Cornerstone of Iranian hip-hop — plainspoken, clenched, alive to the city’s contradictions.

“Human Jungle” — Take It Easy Hospital
Where it plays: Early rehearsal-search montage; Ashkan & Negar test lineups in borrowed rooms, the lyric turning the city into a maze (~00:10–00:20 approx.). Starts diegetic, expands over travel shots.
Why it matters: States the film’s thesis: to make music here is to survive a labyrinth.

“Me and You” — Take It Easy Hospital
Where it plays: Apartment-gig intimacy — a hushed performance for a handful of friends and co-conspirators; later used in a planning montage (~mid-film). Diegetic performance that drifts to non-diegetic.
Why it matters: The duo’s softest song becomes the film’s heart — stubborn tenderness inside constraint.

“New Century” — The Yellow Dogs
Where it plays: Cramped-practice scene with spillover bodies and buzzing amps; later, an after-hours mini-show in a warehouse shell (~mid/late). Predominantly diegetic.
Why it matters: Anthemic title that frames the film’s dream: a new era, if they can cross the border.

“Dreaming” — The Free Keys
Where it plays: Night-drive montage after a rehearsal crawl — the band’s jangly pulse underscores maps, phone calls, and whispered logistics (~mid-film). Non-diegetic connective tissue.
Why it matters: Title-as-mission-statement; the groove keeps hope from stalling.

“Mast-e Eshgh (Drunk With Love)” — Rana Farhan
Where it plays: A club-like set where classical Persian verse rides a smoky blues arrangement; the camera takes time to breathe (~late mid-film). Fully diegetic performance.
Why it matters: Bridges heritage and modern sound — a reminder the scene isn’t only guitars and distortion.

“Scenarios and Starlights” — Take It Easy Hospital
Where it plays: Pre-escape planning sequence — visas, contacts, the phantom gig abroad (~late). Non-diegetic, with cutaways to instrument cases and alley doors.
Why it matters: Title winks at the film’s mix of fiction and reality; the band’s dream meets logistics.

Additional textures (heard across the film/album): Ash Koosha’s guitar/production fingerprints on several cues; Darkoob’s percussion heat in rehearsal spaces; “Opening Title” and short instrumental tags that stitch scenes without breaking tone.

Notes & Trivia

• Shot largely in secret and at speed; the movie functions as both fiction and field report on Tehran’s DIY scene.
• The album centers real bands: Take It Easy Hospital, The Yellow Dogs, The Free Keys, Hichkas, Rana Farhan, and more.
• Key creatives behind the film’s music include Ashkan Kooshanejad (on-screen lead) and producer-arranger Mahdyar Aghajani.
• The Yellow Dogs later emigrated and became fixtures in Brooklyn’s indie circuit; their “New Century” appears on the album.
• Several performances are recorded where the bands actually rehearsed — apartments, basements, improvised studios — not on built sets.

Music–Story Links

When Hichkas lands “Ekhtelaf,” the film stops to let language do the fighting; it’s the social weather report between rock detours. Take It Easy Hospital’s songs chart the duo’s inner life — “Human Jungle” as map; “Me and You” as vow; “Scenarios and Starlights” as blueprint. The Yellow Dogs supply propulsion — “New Century” turns a roomful of bodies into a future tense. Rana Farhan reframes tradition as modern oxygen, proving this isn’t just a youth scene — it’s a continuum. The soundtrack is the argument for the characters’ choices.

Reception & Quotes

Critics praised the music’s presence — it’s not wallpaper but the film’s bloodstream. Festival notes highlighted the album’s function as a sampler of a scene the movie risked a lot to show. The U.S./U.K. roll-out paired screenings with live sets by featured bands when possible, blurring the line between cinema and showcase.

“Secretly shot, urgently cut, and bristling with songs — the soundtrack is the story.” festival/press capsules

“A freewheeling, semi-documentary portrait of musicians trying to breathe.” UK broadsheet reviews

“It opens a door on a city you think you know — then the music kicks and redraws the map.” feature profiles

Interesting Facts

• Milan issued the official compilation in April 2010 to coincide with the film’s North American release window.
• Streaming editions list 15 tracks (various-artist program), while some regional uploads show a shorter 10-track variant.
• “Ekhtelaf” became a gateway track for non-Persian speakers discovering Iranian hip-hop in 2010.
• The Yellow Dogs played a NYC after-party the week of the U.S. opening — a rare case of a soundtrack coming alive immediately off-screen.
• Rana Farhan’s “Mast-e Eshgh” sets classical poetry to blues — a sonic throughline many viewers flagged as the film’s most unexpected color.

Technical Info

• Title: No One Knows About Persian Cats (Music From the Motion Picture)
• Year / Type: 2010 — Various-artists soundtrack (with performances captured in-film)
• Film: 2009 Iranian release; international rollout 2009–2010
• Director: Bahman Ghobadi
• Music (film credits): Ashkan Kooshanejad; Mahdyar Aghajani
• Featured artists (select): Take It Easy Hospital; Hichkas; The Yellow Dogs; The Free Keys; Rana Farhan; Darkoob
• Label: Milan Records (digital/CD)
• Album notes: Common streaming edition ~15 tracks; includes “Ekhtelaf,” “Me and You,” “Human Jungle,” “Mast-e Eshgh,” “New Century,” “Dreaming,” “Scenarios and Starlights.”
• Availability: Major platforms (Spotify/Apple Music); physical releases vary by territory.

Questions & Answers

Is the soundtrack mostly score or songs?

Songs. It’s a scene sampler — real bands recorded in the film, sequenced for album listening.

What track best represents the film’s ethos?

“Ekhtelaf” (Hichkas) for grit; “Me and You” (Take It Easy Hospital) for heart; “New Century” (The Yellow Dogs) for propulsion.

Are the performances in the movie live?

Many are performed in situ (diegetic) — in basements, rooftops, tiny studios — then blended into the film’s montage grammar.

Was there an official label release?

Yes, via Milan Records; the widely available streaming edition has ~15 tracks from the film’s artists.

Where can I start if I’m new to Iranian indie?

Play the album front-to-back, then dive deeper into Take It Easy Hospital, Hichkas, and The Yellow Dogs’ separate releases.

Canonical Entities & Relations

Sources: Milan Records album page; Spotify/Apple Music streaming editions; Wikipedia (film page & band list); Wired feature on the film’s clandestine shoot; reviews noting featured artists; The Yellow Dogs profile (release notes).

November, 18th 2025