The first time I heard Duran Duran's song UMF I realized somewhere in the middle of it sounded familiar but I couldn't figure out what other song it sounded like. Years later I discovered it sounded like Andy Taylor's Don't Let Me Die Young but then I realized this couldn't have been the song it reminded me of as I had first heard UMF in 1994 while I didn't hear Don't Let Me Die Young until 1997.
"My parents, brother, and I left Iran in 1980, shortly after the revolution. After a brief stay in Italy, we packed all our belongings once again and headed west to the exotic and the unknown: Vancouver. We had recently been accepted as landed immigrants, meaning Canada graciously opened its doors and we gratefully accepted; we arrived at Vancouver International Airport on my 10th birthday, three suitcases and one sewing machine in tow. After respectful but intense questioning at immigration, we were dropped off at a hotel on Robson Street, which was then still a couple years shy of becoming the fashionable tourist hub it is today. We were jetlagged, culture shocked, and hungry, so that first night, my father and brother courageously ventured out into the wild in search of provisions. I fell asleep before they returned. The next morning, I woke up at 5 a.m. and ravenously feasted on a cold Quarter Pounder with cheese and limp French fries that had been left by my beds...

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