POL

Here I begin:

Today, a warm, actually a very hot sunny summer day which is unusual for us, here in the Netherlands, for many known as Holland, I am at home and well, yes off course, listening to Googoosh’s voice. I have always had this great passion and love for two great famous singers of all ages and modern human era, both born in the Middle-East, in yet two countries both suffering from different wars, conflicts and revolutions during the last 80 years and they are and for sure so much into the hearts of many of us, our beloved unique Pop artist, singer, song-writer, actress Googoosh from Iran and the legendary singer Fairuz from Lebanon who is called neighbour to the moon, Ambassador to the stars and I am sure the same will suit Googoosh’s personality and is a good match for her as she nowadays struggles for the freedom of voice and above all to improve the lives of many Iranian wives, sisters and women as she, herself has suffered the most and being obliged not to perform her art or use her talent for many decades, and yes, she has always sang and still sings in hope to reach out for women like me, for all of us actually, male or female, hoping and willing to help us moving on with our lives. Yes, Googoosh, You did that, you do so and you will do that as far as I am concern.  It was YOU, who did help me, to get over those moments of joy and happiness as well as pain and unbelievable yet true frustrations, hesitations and disappointments. You did help me, you did help many other girls like me and certainly men as well, with your voice, your lyrics and your way of expressing them in your songs. The look in your eyes and the way of performing your songs on your video-clips, dvd’s etc etc is your secret, you are able to talk to us, while you are singing. You are able to catch our hearts and never let it go and make us believe we are not alone, that there is someone out there, in real flesh and blood who is feeling what we feel, who is dealing with the same problem or matter and who is trying to tell us, listen to me and let go! Filling us with joy and hope and providing us a great mood in which we feel again alive and kicking and yes, then we again carry on.

I am now listening to you, to your words, to your old songs, from the great 1970’s during which people were much happier than they are now and you know what your secret is, that it is You with these songs, who has given us the power and strength to move on during the war, 1980’s and 1990’s, in Iran or abroad and cope with the daily life, as good or bad it was or is and yes, you did help us to walk onto our new lives, the changes of time and environment, wherever on this planet, with pride, keeping our heads cool and telling everybody who we are, what we are and never forget about our past and present and keep the faith in walking towards the near future, a better future towards which we still are heading and luckily, this time, we are doing that together with you and the good news is off course, that you are now providing us with new songs, new words, refreshed and full of love and hope and that is what we need, what I need! What girls like me, need to hold on to and get along with.

Each song of you is a whole story on itself. I, a 32 year old young Iranian woman, have a lot to say by hearing each one of these old or new songs of you. And to be honest, I do not know where to start with! There are so many memories, so many feelings.

In 1970’s I was still a child, not knowing what was happening around me and I was off course too young to get you know better and that is really what I do envy, still to this day, I wish I was older back then so I could listen to your music, fall in love and move on with my daily life with you in my own home, in my home land, Iran. Unfortunately and maybe fortunately I was too young to realize that and why fortunately, cause it will have hurt me a lot knowing Iran was changed, you were not there any longer. I was too young to see all that and I can say that your music did help me a many years later. When living in Iran, not having any kind of expression of my youth and among a very few ways of to cope and get used to that, was to listen to your music and that was then, when I discovered you.

Each song brought me a whole luggage of feelings and moments in which I did live with back then and wherever I went, it was nice and oh so unnatural to listen to them and get the power to move on. It is funny, I also did grow up with other singers and like many of my age in those days, I also did like to listen to Madonna, WHAM!, Culture Club, Whitney Houston, you name it, but each time I felt really down or confused or frustrated, I had to play your songs and there were so many of them I did like and I could use as a translation of the situation at the moment!!! I cried, I did laugh and I did enjoy and the very next moment I was again myself, emptied of negative emotions and filled up with positive energy and could again carry on and each time a song was finished, I immediately was brought back to reality! So magical, and that is what I have always wondered of, how do you manage to do that!? Really, to within a second bring each one of us to a world of memories, youth, feelings and joy and put a mirror in front of us in which we can see the reflection of the daily life in a way that we are the hero’s and can manage it very well and then next moment, once the song is finished, we are back in the present time! With one big big difference, yes!!! And what that is? Well, that this time, that imaginary hero or heroin, is real! And will go outside to fulfil his/her mission properly and bring it all to a good end! And yes, I did, I myself, did turn all that negative emotions onto positive ones and used it immediately to change my life, to improve the situation and strengthen my position. Therefore, I do THANK YOU!

Your greatest contribution to all of us who had to start up a whole new life abroad was and is the fact that you did give us the possibility not to forget Iran or the past, to keep our memories and moments alive and to use them as a weapon in order to promote our heritage, personalities and not to lose our identity. I have been living abroad for many years meanwhile and all these years, I have been experiencing the worst imaginable moments of which we all can talk about for hours and hours or even write books on it and each time I felt down, I ran up to my Googoosh’s collection and had to listen to your voice, had to hear what you say and then had to feel what my heart was telling me.

During these years, you will realize who you are and what your heart desires and what you actually do miss! Yes, what we all are missing and have this hunger and urge to get to! What we all want, is like Googoosh is beautifully translating in her famous song, called “ Pol ‘…when I miss my family and friends, when I feel alone and when I want the rest of the world around me to help me and understand me, is a moment to listen to Pol. Yes,I have put many efforts to get over that bridge and to help myself, herself, himself and all the others to be together, not to forget about ourselves and yet each time I did or tried, I failed! Failure after failure, with no result!? And that is Googoosh singing Pol, and as she is the only one who will manage to do this, she talks to that fictive person again asking to try to reconnect to her consciousness, obtaining a new source of energy and to keep attempting in the future. And you know what? Result? When I met my partner, who is not born in Iran and have never been there and was actually a big fan of this Hard-Rock band with their very rough and savage music, I used this song to explain to him who I am and where I am coming from and who is my Idol! I did manage to translate this song to him and asked him whether he is able to put his hands, literally off course, in mine and help me to cross over the bridge I am trying to build between myself and the humanity and guess what? not only he did so and we are since then living happily ever after together, he is now so much in love with Googoosh that he hasn’t listen to that band and has only Googoosh on his mind! And to be honest, each time we sit in the car, Googoosh is playing and even I, sometimes, have no intention what so ever to listen to music and maybe just want to listen to radio and be updated of news from around the world, but each time I press the button to switch over to the Radio, he turns it back to Googoosh! And well yes, I have to surrender as he is the one who finally will win the war on whether or not to listen to Googoosh during the drive!?

One thing is for sure, Googoosh and “Pol” did find me a partner and made me believe that I will not be alone in this world and can also have someone to hold on to or to cry or laugh with by building the so called bridge between myself and that fictive personage which in this case turned to be a real man, but it also did help my partner to understand the meaning of life, of begin there when he is needed and opening the doors of his hearts to each one of us and all those who are feeling alone and perhaps like me still from time to time, homeless, hopeless, confused and scared and to let them know he is there, he understands and they can talk to him and that all due to Googoosh, to her support and many efforts. Googoosh is not only a singer to me, but a fighter, a human loving person. I wish she could sing all these songs in English so there were more who could understand what is her message and what is the truth behind all our faces and what can help us to manage the daily life better and cope with it on a pleasant way.

Yes, Googoosh, you are my heroin and this little peace of memory and letter is going to be dedicated to you as the first lady of Iran of all times and having said that, to your beautiful song, “ Pol”.

Googoosh, I did listen to you, I did build that bridge and now me, my partner and some really wonderful friends I have met through the website, dedicated to you and made for you, are all listening to your message and are building this bridge to understand each other better and to help others to understand the world around them better.

Thank you dear Googoosh!

Charlotte Najafi