GOOGOOSH: Iranian Pop Star (Until the Revolution)

For this portion of the course I chose to listen to the Googoosh song گوگوش بمون تا بمونم. I have no idea what the title is, or what it is about. But let me take a stab at some of the musicology.

Here it is so you know which one I'm talking about:



The music starts off with a full compliment of aerophones, membranophones, and even an idiophone, in a western jazz-like style in triple meter. Googoosh sings the melody, which is highly ornamented with melisma type vocal trills. This gives the melody it's distinct Middle Eastern character, while creating a very pop music like sound against the western band style backdrop.

When vocal melody begins, an aerophone, most likely a flute, plays a slightly different version of the melody in heterophonic fashion for a short time into the performance. Googoosh also performs a dance before singing the melody; a rythmic series of hand gestures, hip and head movements, and clapping.