Yesterday I saw an anonymous comment from someone calling himself "Faramarz Aslani". My first thought was that it HAS to be a fake name. If you read the comments you know what I mean: People pick the oddest names for their anonymous comments. Besides why would a huge pop star leave a comment here?

Although I must say the real Faramarz Aslani is no stranger on this site. His most famous songs [1] have been available in the music section (without his permission, of course) and his English translation of Shokooh Mirzadegi's short story "Blue writing on tarnished yellow papers [2]" appeared here 7 years ago.

The comment [3] from this "Faramarz Aslani" was about a charming rendition [4] of "his" hit song "Ag e Yeh Rooz" by "DarvishJo", an American fan on YouTube. I read the comment a bit more carefully than I usually would (I usually scan text, but this one I had to read) and my doubts about the identity of the author started to disappear. He really IS Faramaraz Aslani (90% certainty :o)

(Well... Welcome sir! I'm a big big fan. Who isn't?)

Now 24 hours after Aslani's first comment, the exchange between him, DarvishJo and well-informed (and well-behaved) fans has been quite remarkable.

Join in the discussion or enjoy reading a rare exchange [5] with a living legend.

***

The embarrassing thing is that I discovered Aslani more than 20 years after he became a huge star in Iran. Seemed like everybody knew him before I did. I came to the U.S. for high school in the summer of 1976 and went back in 1980, after the revolution. In those 4 years, a lot happened in the pop-culture scene which I completely missed... like Aslani, or Fereydoun Foroughi, or even "Daie Jan Napoleon"...

Aslani's songs are timeless. Three decades later I hear people singing it from the top of their lungs at virtually every party I go to when someone starts playing the guitar.

***

Oh and I know who DarvishJo is! Well, indirectly through a friend. Let me just say he knows a lot more about Iran and the Persian language (and music apparently) than most of us Iranians :o)