Here's a section I deleted from Languages & Life Lessons during the editing phase:
When I was eleven, a year after I had arrived in Iran, I didn't know the first thing about Iranian music. I was familiar with English, French, and even Arabic songs and singers, but I had never listened to Iranian songs. One day, I came across my dad's box of tapes. The name and face of each singer was on the cover of each tape. I saw one that said Ebi on it. What an unusual name! At the time, I didn't know it was short for Ebrahim. My curiosity made me take the tape out of its cover and put it in the player. The very first song that played was Pichak. I listened to it from beginning to end and understood all of it. I fell in love with the music, the lyrics, and the voice of the singer, Ebi. His voice was clear and beautiful. That was the beginning of my love for several Iranian singers: Ebi, Dariush, Googoosh, ...
Here's Pichak... in case I've piqued your interest:
https://youtu.be/B40_mMBp6S4
Ebi (playlist)
https://youtube.com/playlist?list=OLAK5uy_nY6Bc9JsUv99pigRdCDflfDZcoyLU3iws
Dariush (playlist)
https://youtube.com/playlist?list=OLAK5uy_no-Bvw9_xPGaUJs13hxkaw7JbUC92Pox0
Googoosh (playlist)
https://youtube.com/playlist?list=OLAK5uy_nlt_OE-3QpkAN_uCM9VYiph1fpi2IcVbk
