Trinh Cong Son: Vietnam's Bob Dylan (blurb and songs) [updated]
I was recently talking about how Vietnamese and Chinese people often feel towards one another and I mentioned the Vietnamese anti-war singer Trinh Cong Son whom I love. This got me thinking about him again. I grew up with this music. I never knew what it meant - I just knew it either sounded mournful or incredibly sad. It was when I grew older that I realised how important it was and how these songs tell the story of a people and a world that the rest of the world never cared about then and will probably never care about in the future.
At one point, I had a page dedicated to Trinh Cong Son on my website but decided to update it for my livejournal because it's easier to update. This definitely won't be of interest to everyone - actually to anyone except for dad and I probably - but as his music is a personal thing that I really love. I really wanted to write something. Anyone whose music was banned by the governments of both sides and made the soldiers of both sides homesick and want to put down their guns and stop fighting is definitely worth remembering.
Everyone says that they want world peace and I'm no exception. War and the resulting devastation makes me sick to the stomach. At this moment, I have two Big Wishes That Can Never Be Granted. One - that more singers crank out songs that make all soldiers want to stop fighting and killing people. Two - that all the impoverished children in China who cannot afford to go to school can one day get a basic education and thereby have a chance at having a life of meaning. I know that makes me sound like a dork. :)
Growing up, I never really knew how dark and frightening a place Vietnam was during the war - it always seemed like a very far away place that had little meaning to me. Later on, it was a cool tourist destination full of wonderful places to visit and things to eat. Then I started meeting the people my age whose families had failed to escape, the people who looked at me as though I was some kind of traitor because they stayed and suffered and I had a better life. I never, ever take for granted the sacrifice and suffering my parents went through to give us a better life. There's a post here about the ship that rescued us from the sea and this post here is a translation of my first essay in Chinese which describes how we came to Australia ... it reads simplistically in English but please remember that I wrote it first in Chinese so it was a translation :)
When I listen to these songs, it makes me incredibly sad/humble to think that my parents didn't just listen to these songs when they were young - they lived through the events and the songs tell a story of their lives that they could never themselves put into words because it was just too awful and too painful.
Trinh Cong Son: Vietnam's Dylan
"It is for nothing and it is idiotic."
.....- Trinh Cong Son on the Vietnam War
His Life
As is so often the way with the poets and artists of this world, true appreciation for the anti-war singer, songwriter and poet Trinh Cong Son was only openly acknowledged after his death on 1 April 2001 in Cho Ray Hopital, Ho Chi Minh City (Saigon) at the age of 62.
Tens of thousands of Vietnamese people lined the streets to pay tribute to the man who was known as the "Bob Dylan" of Vietnam.
Trinh Cong Son was born in Dac lac on 28 February 1939 and during his lifetime he composed more than 600 songs. During the sixties, he became known as an outspoken critic of the war. His openly anti-war songs angered the governments of both South Vietnam and North Vietnam but they touched a chord in the heart of the ordinary Vietnamese person (both North and South) during a long and tragic war which left no Vietnamese person unaffected. I am not talking about the portion of the war in which the United States was involved. The Vietnam War existed before the Americans came and it continued after the Americans left. I think most people have no idea how many Vietnamese died after the US withdrawal and the rest of the world regarded the war as being 'over'.
Wikipedia: Deaths after U.S. withdrawal
Up to 155,000 refugees fleeing the final NVA Spring Offensive were killed or abducted on the road to Tuy Hoa in 1975.[63] Sources have estimated that 165,000 South Vietnamese died in the re-education camps out of 1-2.5 million sent,[64][65] while somewhere between 50,000 and 250,000 were executed.[64][66][67][68] Rummel estimates that slave labor in the "New Economic Zones" caused 50,000 deaths (out of a total 1 million deported).[64][66] According to the United Nations High Commission for Refugees, between 200,000 and 400,000 Vietnamese boat people died at sea,[69] although Rummel cites estimates ranging from 100,000 to 1,000,000.[66] Including Vietnam's foreign democide, Rummel estimates that a minimum of 400,000 and a maximum of slightly less than 2.5 million people died of political violence from 1975-87 at the hands of Hanoi.[66] In 1988, Vietnam suffered a famine that afflicted millions.[70]
Under the leadership of Pol Pot, the Khmer Rouge killed 1-3 million Cambodians in the killing fields, out of a population of around 8 million.[71][72][73][74] The Pathet Lao killed some 100,000 Hmong people in Laos.[75][76]
Explosive remnants of war (ERW) continue to detonate and kill people today. The Vietnamese government claims that ordnance has killed some 42,000 people since the war officially ended.[77][78] In 2012 alone, unexploded bombs and other ordnance claimed 500 casualties in Vietnam, Laos and Cambodia, according to activists and government databases. The United States has spent over $65 million since 1998, trying to make Vietnam safe.[79]
Agent Orange and similar chemicals, have also caused a considerable number of deaths and injuries over the years, including the US Air Force crew that handled them. On the 9th of August 2012, The United States and Vietnam began a cooperative cleaning up the toxic chemical on part of Danang International Airport, marking the first time Washington has been involved in cleaning up Agent Orange in Vietnam. Danang was the primary storage site of the chemical. Two other cleanup sites the United States and Vietnam are looking at is Biên Hòa, in the southern province of Đồng Nai - a 'hotspot' for dioxin - and Phù Cát airport in the central province of Bình Định, says U.S. Ambassador to Vietnam David Shear. According to the Vietnamese newspaper Nhân Dân, the U.S. government is providing $41 million to the project, which will reduce the contamination level in 73,000 m3 of soil by late 2016.[80]
Criticism followed Trinh Cong Son throughout his life. During the war he was persecuted for his refusal to be silenced. Trinh Cong Son's immense popularity exceeded that of any South Vietnamese military or political figure. Students attended his concerts at universities, soldiers on both sides carried tapes of his songs and both North and South governments were unable to silence his anthems which called for peace and harmony.
In the South, the government banned Trinh Cong Son's public performances, distribution of his recordings as well as radio and television broadcasts of his music. He was even prohibited from entering Saigon. Notwithstanding this, black market tapes of his songs flourished. He was harassed by secret police as his songs which called for peace and one Vietnam were perceived as advocating reunification with the communist North.
The antiwar themes questioned the rightness of the war on both sides. Much as the song Lorena was banned during the American Civil War as it made soldiers on both sides so homesick that it made them unwilling to fight, Trinh Cong Son's songs were regarded as weakening the people's fighting spirit by the Southern regime and "defeatist" by the Northern regime. As his lyrics frequently suggested that "the American War" was a civil war between the North and the South, this clashed with the official Communist line which maintained that the war had been a fight of the Vietnamese people against American imperialism.
Trinh Cong Son's dream of "peace" was finally realised in 1975. Although most of his family and friends fled Saigon in the final days of the war, Tring Cong Son chose to stay: "If I leave my land, I am nothing," he said.
The consequence?
Trinh Cong Son spent four years in a "re-education camp".
In 1979, Trinh Cong Son was permitted to return to Ho Chi Minh City (Saigon) and began writing songs again which did not contain any political content but were purely love songs. These songs have introduced Trinh Cong Son to a new generation of Vietnamese.
Yet again, he was the subject of criticism from many Vietnamese who had fled Vietnam and settled abroad. He was condemned for not denouncing the the current Vietnamese government. Some called him "a communist stooge" and "a traitor."
For me, such denunciation is outrageous. If you read the lyrics to his songs, you will see that he never wanted to be a political spokesman. All he wanted was peace and a unified Vietnam where he could walk from North to South without fear. One has to respect him for he could have fled, but he chose to stay.
Although Trinh Cong Son said: "The young people now don't understand what was happening in the war .... It has no meaning for them", my favourite songs are his Ca khuc da vang - a common name for his war songs which are like a historical commentary on feelings of Vietnamese during the war years.
The beauty of these songs is that it is impossible to tell if they are supposed to be sung by Northerner or Southerner - their relevance, immediacy and message completely is blind to political affiliation. That in itself explains the appeal of Trinh Cong Son's music. I've met up with Vietnamese from both South and North who adore his Ca khuc da vang and I love that.
I recommend the PBS page Vietnam Passage. The Stories: Trinh Cong Son which is absolutely gorgeous.
Trinh Cong Son's singer of choice was a young female Vietnamese vocalist named Khanh Ly and a large number of the songs below are sung by her. She has a very unusual, drawling and languid voice. Some say it was coloured by opium.
In 1995 in a hand written note Trinh Cong Son wrote of Khanh Ly, "A friend of destiny, loving each other forever."
Khanh Ly on a BBC program described Trinh Cong Song in Vietnamese as follows:
"Two years ago I met with him. I had the premonition that it was the last.
Mr. Trinh Cong Son does not belong to anyone. He belongs to the people. His choice to stay with the fatherland and die there was the right choice because he loves the country and the Vietnamese people intensely.
I owe him a name and, more importantly, the best way to live meaningfully. I have lived for forty years with his name attached to mine and with what he told me. He taught me to live with a good heart to all. Mr. Trinh Cong Son has been half of my life."
Please note - the songs from the sixties and the 'sound' of Vietnamese may not be for everyone. For some people it might be best just to read the lyrics - Vietnamese is not the most accessible of languages at the best of times and these songs are from a time long past. The instrumentation in some cases is quite 'dated'. Like the movie Journey from the Fall, these songs are actually banned in Vietnam. The irony is that you can find them everywhere in Vietnam. First of all, songs are smuggled back from the US to Vietnam on CD and the Internet has made sure that they will never die.
In case it's helpful, the song titles in red are the songs which I think 'sound' the nicest'.
His Songs
Rose: Real folk singers write their own stuff - say what's on their mind. They're the ones who can make things happen.
Eddie: How's that?
Rose: Their music can change the world
Eddie: Well if you want to change the world Rose, why don't you join the marines and start shooting? Shooting changes things real quick.
Rose: I can't believe you just said that
Eddie: Well I just did.
Rose: that's ridiculous. Shooting doesn't solve anything. You shoot at people - what? You got people shooting back at you. When you sing to people, your message goes straight to the soul. You open up a whole new point of view - you disarm them.
.......................- Dogfight
Why do I like Trinh Cong Son's music? My Vietnamese is poor (incredibly crap!), I was only two at the time we left Vietnam ..... yet I grew up listening to the songs of Trinh Cong Son.
One of my earliest memories is singing along to Nguoi con gái Viet Nam da vàng (Girl with the Yellow Skin) even though I had absolutely no understanding of the meaning of the lyrics. After all, what would a little kid growing up in peaceful Australia know about war?
Khanh Ly version:
Version song by Trinh Cong Son
I always thought it was just a song that said that Vietnamese girls have yellow skin. I had no idea that it was a commentary on the war.
You've never known our land in peace.
You've never known Old Viet Nam.
You've never sung our village songs.
All you have is an angry heart.
For me, Trinh Cong Son's songs are a time capsule of a war in which more than a million Vietnamese soldiers and 2 million Vietnamese civilians died in the hostilities - a senseless war in which more than 2 million Vietnamese were disabled and which has scarred the country forever. Trinh Cong Son's lyrics spoke of a yearning for peace and healing in a divided country and called for an end to bloodshed and tragedy. We all know about the devastating effect that the Vietnam War had on the US, but the cost of this war on the Vietnamese themselves was also horrifying. Not a single family was untouched the war and the legacy of the war is still very much with the Vietnamese people, both in Vietnam and overseas.
You'll be able to tell from my quote from Dogfight that I do believe about the important role that music can play. I mentioned the American song Lorena above. This song which was one of the most beloved songs of Confederate soldiers during the American Civil War was actually written by a Northerner and first published in Chicago in 1857. It was reprinted in at least nine different pirated editions in the South, and virtually every pocket songbook carried by Southern soldiers included Lorena. Even Northern soldiers sang Lorena.
The song so affected soldiers of both armies so much that commanding officers ordered that it no longer be played as the it made the soldiers so homesick that they didn't want to fight. Naturally most soldiers sang it anyway.
The songs of Trinh Cong Son appeared to have had a similar effect. His lyrics are a strange mixture of tragic and joyful, morbid and light.
My father, who I constantly harass to translate the songs for me, tells me that they are very metaphorical and hard to understand. Trinh Cong Son liked to adopt extremely obscure and “poetic” terms which he regards as being almost "impossible to translate".
According to my father:
"One would need to be a poet, on his wavelength and armed with 2 thesauruses, one English and another Vietnamese to do the job".
It's true that there are lots of little things that you need to know to be able to appreciate the songs. I once asked my father why "hai muoi nam" (twenty years) was such a significant period of time in so many of Trinh Cong Son's songs. His response was that Trinh Cong Son wrote the songs in the sixties and seventies; the Vietnam war started from either the later 40s (French war) or the fifties (American war).
Sad Songs
In Ngu Di Con ("Lullaby"), a mother mourns her soldier son, contrasting the sleep of a baby with the sleep of death.
"Rest well my child, my child of the yellow race.
Rock gently my child, I have done it twice.
This body, which used to be so small, that I carried in my womb, that I held in my arms.
Why do you rest at the age of 20 years?"
In Ngu Ngon mua deng, we hear about a man who "dies twice". What does that mean? It is referring to the fact that the cart which carries his coffin containing the corpse blows up - so he in effect dies twice. WARNING - distressing scenes in the video below.
I remember feeling a bit appalled and slightly disbelieving when my father first told me about the lyrics to Bài ca dành cho những xác người (Ballad to the Dead (Hue 1968)) which is basically a song about corpses.
Would anyone really write songs with such stark and tragic lyrics? It seemed a bit morbid to me.
The bodies of the dead lie floating in the river
They lie in the field,
On the rooftops of the city
And in the winding streets
The bodies of the dead lie lost
Under the eaves of the pagodas
In the churches of the city
At the doorsteps of the deserted houses
Oh Spring - the bodies of the dead bring a scent to the rice paddies
Oh Vietnam - the bodies of the dead add breath to tomorrow's soil
The way there, though full of obstacles (literally - spikes)
Because around here - here were humans
The bodies of the dead lied all around here
In this cold rain
Near the bodies of the old and weak
Lie the bodies of the young and innocent
Which body is the body of my brother
In this cave
In those burnt out areas
Next to the maize and sweet potato field
Which body is the body of my brother
In this cave
In those burnt out areas
Next to the maize and sweet potato field
Then there are the lyrics of Tình ca nguoi mat trí (Love Song of a Madman):
I had a lover who died at the Battle of Pleime
I had a lover in the Tactical Zone D
died at the Battle of Dongxoai
died out there in Hanoi
died in haste along the border
I had a lover who died at the Battle of Chu Bruang
I had a lover whose body was floating in the river
died in the paddy field
died in the thick jungle
died cold and lonely, his body charred
I want to love you, love Vietnam
On a windy day, I would go calling quietly
Calling your name, the name of Vietnam
Feeling closer in the voice of the yellow skin
I want to love you, love Vietnam
The day I have just grown, my ears are used to bullets and mines
My hands between my lips
As of today I have forgotten the languages of humans...
I had a lover who died at the Battle of Ashau
I had a lover who died curled in the foetal position
died in a ravine
died near the bridge pylon
died in an anguish with not a rag on his body
I had a lover who died at the battle of Baza
I had a lover who died last night
died all of a sudden
died without any warning / any appointment
no hatred, died peacefully as if in a dream
I really love the chorus in this song:
I want to love you, love Vietnam
In a windy day, I go, calling quietly
Calling your name, the name of Vietnam
feeling closer in the voice of yellow skin
There's something really chilling about the refrain without any warning - no hatred, died as in a dream which then fades away into an uneasy silence. Spooky.
Defiant Songs
Then there are the songs with a touch of anger and defiance in them. Gia tài cua me (Mother's legacy)
One thousand years enslaved by the Chinese
One hundred years dominated by the French
Twenty years of Civil war
Mother’s legacy, left for her children
Mother’s legacy, is a sad Viet Nam
One thousand years enslaved by the Chinese
One hundred years dominated by the French
Twenty years of Civil war
Mother’s legacy, a jungle filled with dry human bones
Mother’s legacy, a mountain filled with graves
Teach your children to speak the truth
Mother wishes for you to remember the color of your skin
Don’t forget the color of your skin, ancient Viet Nam
Mother wishes for you to hurry home
Mother wishes for all her children from far away
The children of one common father, forget your hatred
One thousand years enslaved by the Chinese
One hundred years dominated by the French
Twenty years of fighting each day
Mother’s legacy, dried-up rice fields
Mother’s legacy, houses burned by the row
One thousand years enslaved by the Chinese
One hundred years dominated by the French
Twenty years of civil war
Mother’s legacy, a gang of traitors
Mother’s legacy, a band of ingrates.
Khanh Ly version
Trinh Cong Son version:
Joyful Songs
The songs I like most though are the joyful ones, filled with hope and aspirations for the future. Sadly though, even joyful songs like Cho nhìn quê huong sáng chói (Wait to see the brilliant father land), sung by Khanh Ly) contain an element of sadness.
Here I wait, there you wait,
In a small house, mother sits and waits too,
The soldier waits on the deserted hilltop;
The prisoner waits in total darkness
How many years have we been waiting?
How many years have we been waiting?
How many years have we been waiting?
Waiting for ever when we all awaken with a large shout of joy
Waiting for the heart of hatred to sink deep
Waiting for the peace to come, waiting for the sound of the three regions
Waiting for the steps to be made on roads with no mines and spikes
Waiting for the roads to be reconnected and vehicles to travel through all three regions
Waiting for the good news that the whole nation has been waiting for
Waiting for mother's forehead to lighten with the dawn
Waiting for the tears to dry,
waiting for the stones to sing
Waiting for foods and clothes for the children without homes
Waiting for the day Vietnam reunites for the love without borders
Waiting for the bugle to sound to bring home all the boys
Waiting for hearts to no longer hold any hatred and grudges
Waiting for nights without curfews and mornings with comfort
Waiting for the aromatic rice to grow under the hands of our own people
Waiting for the hearts that love the country and are determined to build the peace
Waiting for the hearts that are happy throughout the villages
Waiting for the land to resound of songs of freedom
Waiting for trees to change leaves; waiting for flowers to blossom
Waiting for us to go around streets that are not strange
Waiting for a bright country and the mothers' eyes are no longer blurred with tears
Waiting for the bugle to sound to bring home all the boys
Waiting for hearts to no longer hold any hatred and grudges
Waiting for nights without curfews and mornings with comfort
Waiting for the aromatic rice to grow under the hands of our own people
Waiting for the hearts that love the country and are determined to build the peace
Waiting for the hearts that are happy throughout the villages
Waiting for the land to resound of songs of freedom
Waiting for trees to change leaves; waiting for flowers to blossom
Waiting for us to go around streets that are not strange
Waiting for a bright country and the mothers' eyes are no longer blurred with tears
Then there is also Tôi se di tham, sung by Khanh Ly)(I shall go visiting) which was my initial re-discovery of Trinh Cong Son and Khanh Ly. I watched a documentary about Vietnam and when they were talking about Vietnam's slow and gradual steps towards recovery, they played this song.
When my country is at peace, I shall go visiting
I shall go visiting, a district full of caves
Visiting a road with many holes
When my country is no longer at war
A few of my friends will have their graves covered with grass
When my country is at peace, I shall go visiting
I shall go visiting, bridges broken by mines
Go visiting traps with barbed pickets and machetes
When my country has no more killing (each other)
Children will go out and sing nursery rhymes in the streets
When my country is in peace, I shall go non-stop
From Sai Gon to the Centre and from Ha Noi to the South
I shall go amid the collective joy
And hope will forget
My country's story/saga
When my country is in peace, I shall go visiting
I shall visit many sad graveyards
To see tombstones as numerous as mushrooms
When my country is no longer at war
Old mothers will climb up to the mountain, to look for her son's remains
When my country is in peace, I shall go visiting
I shall visit, villages and hamlets that are now plains
To see bamboo-forests that are now charred
When my country has no more killing (each other)
Everyone will go out cheering each other with broad smiles
Hue Sài Gòn, Hà Noi (Hue Saigon Hanoi), sung by Khanh Ly) was my original inspiration for wanting to visit Vietnam again. Admittedly, I did do it in slightly different order from the song - going from Saigon, Hue to Hanoi.
Oh, Hue Saigon Hanoi, my country,
why are you so far away still?
Hue Saigon Hanoi, so many years have gone by,
why are you still so indifferent?
Oh Vietnam, for how much longer
Must people still sit missing one another?
Millions my feet, millions your feet,
All those people who rise for the call of revolution
It's time for linking our hearts together,
All us youths, let's be the pioneers
All over Central South and North, waiting eagerly,
all those bundles of rice are symbols of freedom
The roads now lead to the prisons
tomorrow let us build schools and market places
Our people shall return to cultivate and ensure all are well clothed and fed.
All hands will work for the nation,
All hands will build, let the memory of hatred and pain fade away
We will keep building our houses, our gardens will prosper,
Let me go up the hill to sing with joy
North, South and Centre, let us unite and be one region again
All three frontiers open, roads built and peace returns to the country
Hue Saigon Hanoi, for 20 years, the cries of misfortune,
Hue Saigon Hanoi, in our hands, the heart of Vietnam
Bullets and bombs, human greed, what war machines destroy our kind
Oh Vietnam, stop dreaming, look forward and get rid of hatred
Let's wipe off all past sadness,
Tomorrow, all roads linking South and North covered with flowers
Loving hands and hearts with no frontiers
Brothers let's listen to all the love
The big joy shall pass hundred of bridges
The mother will enjoy the betel nuts
Watching the two regions sharing the peace with hearts filled with warmth
Day in the South, night in the North,
Eyes taking in all the changes, seeing the sweet dawn breaking
Horses flying past with the wind, hearts beating with the galloping noises
Let us stand up in freedom
North South and Centre in deep love;
Stepping out together jointly building our shared thatched house.
Do wipe off all signs of past sadness,
Tomorrow all South North roads will be covered with flowers
Hands of love, hearts of no frontiers, brothers lets listen to the love,
The big joy shall pass hundred of bridges
Mother will enjoy the betel nuts
Watching the two regions sharing the peace with hearts filled with warmth
Day in the South, night in the North,
Eyes taking in all the changes, seeing the sweet dawn breaking
Horses flying past with the wind,
Hearts beating with the galloping noises
Lets us upraise in freedom
North South and Centre in deep love;
Stepping out together jointly building our shared thatched house
My favourite line in that song is cho em ra dau núi ca tình vui (let me go up the hill to sing with joy).
My favourite song is probably Ðong dao hòa bình, sung by Khanh Ly)(Nursery Rhyme of Peace). I searched all over for this. It makes me smile that it's now so readily available on the Internet :) The version I had of it was at the end of a crappy pirated cassette and cut off after the first verse.
Twenty years of hardship is now over
Today I see the sun shining brightly
In everyone’s heart - our heart, your heart
In the heart of the paddy field
Twenty years of hardship is now over
Today sees the radiant smiles
On everyone’s lips, on our lips
On the lips of little children and the old mothers
The way we go is expansive/abundant - full of houses and shops of acquaintances
Our feet walking comfortably, our hands clasped in happiness
Returning to all mountains and forests, returning to all villages and hamlets
Singing together for the new land, let the sky join in to share our hearts’ happiness
Twenty years of hardship is now over
Today sees the renewed faces of people
We love the sky (heaven), we love us, we love you (or children)
We love the warmth of the newly arrived peace
Twenty years of hardship is now over
Today sees each drop of tears flowing softly in the heart of the fathers and the heart of the children
In the heart of the nice beautiful babies
Twenty years of hardship is now over
Today sees the strange warmth of the sunlight
On the yellow skin, on the fragrant skin
On your skin, on the skin of all Vietnamese who have been waiting
Twenty years of imprisonment shall be forgotten
Today bowls of happy wine will be drunk for the joy of the mothers and the fathers
For the joy of the children and the wives and husbands
The roads in Vietnam today will be the free paths
We Vietnamese today will live a genuine life
From every corner, there will be the sound of roaring (?) footsteps
The flags stand tall in the wind; the flags are high at the houses’ doors
Twenty years waiting every minute and second
Today we see the sound of peace
On everyone’s lips on our lips
On the children’s lips on the lips of the poverty-stricken Vietnamese
Twenty years of waiting, now the vital force has rushed back through the veins
Nourishing the hearts of the mothers and the heart of the fathers
Nourishing each other’s heart and the country now well-enriched.
Favourite line? "trong tim bé hien hòa" (in the heart of the nice beautiful babies).
Web Links
Salon.com People | What war?. Salon.com article on Trinh Cong Son.
Trinh Cong Son: The Bob Dylan of Vietnam
In Memory of Trinh Cong Son. An online collection of Trinh Cong Son's music, poem and paintings.
BBC News | MUSIC | Vietnam mourns its 'Dylan'
Encyclopædia Britannica - Trinh Cong Son
[sixties-l] Obit: Trinh Cong Son, Vietnam-era Antiwar Singer
Bob Dylan Who's Who: Trinh Cong Son
Vietnam Passage. The Stories: Trinh Cong Son | PBS
wikipedia entry
Site with articles and music
At one point, I had a page dedicated to Trinh Cong Son on my website but decided to update it for my livejournal because it's easier to update. This definitely won't be of interest to everyone - actually to anyone except for dad and I probably - but as his music is a personal thing that I really love. I really wanted to write something. Anyone whose music was banned by the governments of both sides and made the soldiers of both sides homesick and want to put down their guns and stop fighting is definitely worth remembering.
Everyone says that they want world peace and I'm no exception. War and the resulting devastation makes me sick to the stomach. At this moment, I have two Big Wishes That Can Never Be Granted. One - that more singers crank out songs that make all soldiers want to stop fighting and killing people. Two - that all the impoverished children in China who cannot afford to go to school can one day get a basic education and thereby have a chance at having a life of meaning. I know that makes me sound like a dork. :)
Growing up, I never really knew how dark and frightening a place Vietnam was during the war - it always seemed like a very far away place that had little meaning to me. Later on, it was a cool tourist destination full of wonderful places to visit and things to eat. Then I started meeting the people my age whose families had failed to escape, the people who looked at me as though I was some kind of traitor because they stayed and suffered and I had a better life. I never, ever take for granted the sacrifice and suffering my parents went through to give us a better life. There's a post here about the ship that rescued us from the sea and this post here is a translation of my first essay in Chinese which describes how we came to Australia ... it reads simplistically in English but please remember that I wrote it first in Chinese so it was a translation :)
When I listen to these songs, it makes me incredibly sad/humble to think that my parents didn't just listen to these songs when they were young - they lived through the events and the songs tell a story of their lives that they could never themselves put into words because it was just too awful and too painful.
Trinh Cong Son: Vietnam's Dylan
"It is for nothing and it is idiotic."
.....- Trinh Cong Son on the Vietnam War
His Life
As is so often the way with the poets and artists of this world, true appreciation for the anti-war singer, songwriter and poet Trinh Cong Son was only openly acknowledged after his death on 1 April 2001 in Cho Ray Hopital, Ho Chi Minh City (Saigon) at the age of 62.
Tens of thousands of Vietnamese people lined the streets to pay tribute to the man who was known as the "Bob Dylan" of Vietnam.
Trinh Cong Son was born in Dac lac on 28 February 1939 and during his lifetime he composed more than 600 songs. During the sixties, he became known as an outspoken critic of the war. His openly anti-war songs angered the governments of both South Vietnam and North Vietnam but they touched a chord in the heart of the ordinary Vietnamese person (both North and South) during a long and tragic war which left no Vietnamese person unaffected. I am not talking about the portion of the war in which the United States was involved. The Vietnam War existed before the Americans came and it continued after the Americans left. I think most people have no idea how many Vietnamese died after the US withdrawal and the rest of the world regarded the war as being 'over'.
Wikipedia: Deaths after U.S. withdrawal
Up to 155,000 refugees fleeing the final NVA Spring Offensive were killed or abducted on the road to Tuy Hoa in 1975.[63] Sources have estimated that 165,000 South Vietnamese died in the re-education camps out of 1-2.5 million sent,[64][65] while somewhere between 50,000 and 250,000 were executed.[64][66][67][68] Rummel estimates that slave labor in the "New Economic Zones" caused 50,000 deaths (out of a total 1 million deported).[64][66] According to the United Nations High Commission for Refugees, between 200,000 and 400,000 Vietnamese boat people died at sea,[69] although Rummel cites estimates ranging from 100,000 to 1,000,000.[66] Including Vietnam's foreign democide, Rummel estimates that a minimum of 400,000 and a maximum of slightly less than 2.5 million people died of political violence from 1975-87 at the hands of Hanoi.[66] In 1988, Vietnam suffered a famine that afflicted millions.[70]
Under the leadership of Pol Pot, the Khmer Rouge killed 1-3 million Cambodians in the killing fields, out of a population of around 8 million.[71][72][73][74] The Pathet Lao killed some 100,000 Hmong people in Laos.[75][76]
Explosive remnants of war (ERW) continue to detonate and kill people today. The Vietnamese government claims that ordnance has killed some 42,000 people since the war officially ended.[77][78] In 2012 alone, unexploded bombs and other ordnance claimed 500 casualties in Vietnam, Laos and Cambodia, according to activists and government databases. The United States has spent over $65 million since 1998, trying to make Vietnam safe.[79]
Agent Orange and similar chemicals, have also caused a considerable number of deaths and injuries over the years, including the US Air Force crew that handled them. On the 9th of August 2012, The United States and Vietnam began a cooperative cleaning up the toxic chemical on part of Danang International Airport, marking the first time Washington has been involved in cleaning up Agent Orange in Vietnam. Danang was the primary storage site of the chemical. Two other cleanup sites the United States and Vietnam are looking at is Biên Hòa, in the southern province of Đồng Nai - a 'hotspot' for dioxin - and Phù Cát airport in the central province of Bình Định, says U.S. Ambassador to Vietnam David Shear. According to the Vietnamese newspaper Nhân Dân, the U.S. government is providing $41 million to the project, which will reduce the contamination level in 73,000 m3 of soil by late 2016.[80]
Criticism followed Trinh Cong Son throughout his life. During the war he was persecuted for his refusal to be silenced. Trinh Cong Son's immense popularity exceeded that of any South Vietnamese military or political figure. Students attended his concerts at universities, soldiers on both sides carried tapes of his songs and both North and South governments were unable to silence his anthems which called for peace and harmony.
In the South, the government banned Trinh Cong Son's public performances, distribution of his recordings as well as radio and television broadcasts of his music. He was even prohibited from entering Saigon. Notwithstanding this, black market tapes of his songs flourished. He was harassed by secret police as his songs which called for peace and one Vietnam were perceived as advocating reunification with the communist North.
The antiwar themes questioned the rightness of the war on both sides. Much as the song Lorena was banned during the American Civil War as it made soldiers on both sides so homesick that it made them unwilling to fight, Trinh Cong Son's songs were regarded as weakening the people's fighting spirit by the Southern regime and "defeatist" by the Northern regime. As his lyrics frequently suggested that "the American War" was a civil war between the North and the South, this clashed with the official Communist line which maintained that the war had been a fight of the Vietnamese people against American imperialism.
Trinh Cong Son's dream of "peace" was finally realised in 1975. Although most of his family and friends fled Saigon in the final days of the war, Tring Cong Son chose to stay: "If I leave my land, I am nothing," he said.
The consequence?
Trinh Cong Son spent four years in a "re-education camp".
In 1979, Trinh Cong Son was permitted to return to Ho Chi Minh City (Saigon) and began writing songs again which did not contain any political content but were purely love songs. These songs have introduced Trinh Cong Son to a new generation of Vietnamese.
Yet again, he was the subject of criticism from many Vietnamese who had fled Vietnam and settled abroad. He was condemned for not denouncing the the current Vietnamese government. Some called him "a communist stooge" and "a traitor."
For me, such denunciation is outrageous. If you read the lyrics to his songs, you will see that he never wanted to be a political spokesman. All he wanted was peace and a unified Vietnam where he could walk from North to South without fear. One has to respect him for he could have fled, but he chose to stay.
Although Trinh Cong Son said: "The young people now don't understand what was happening in the war .... It has no meaning for them", my favourite songs are his Ca khuc da vang - a common name for his war songs which are like a historical commentary on feelings of Vietnamese during the war years.
The beauty of these songs is that it is impossible to tell if they are supposed to be sung by Northerner or Southerner - their relevance, immediacy and message completely is blind to political affiliation. That in itself explains the appeal of Trinh Cong Son's music. I've met up with Vietnamese from both South and North who adore his Ca khuc da vang and I love that.
I recommend the PBS page Vietnam Passage. The Stories: Trinh Cong Son which is absolutely gorgeous.
Trinh Cong Son's singer of choice was a young female Vietnamese vocalist named Khanh Ly and a large number of the songs below are sung by her. She has a very unusual, drawling and languid voice. Some say it was coloured by opium.
In 1995 in a hand written note Trinh Cong Son wrote of Khanh Ly, "A friend of destiny, loving each other forever."
Khanh Ly on a BBC program described Trinh Cong Song in Vietnamese as follows:
"Two years ago I met with him. I had the premonition that it was the last.
Mr. Trinh Cong Son does not belong to anyone. He belongs to the people. His choice to stay with the fatherland and die there was the right choice because he loves the country and the Vietnamese people intensely.
I owe him a name and, more importantly, the best way to live meaningfully. I have lived for forty years with his name attached to mine and with what he told me. He taught me to live with a good heart to all. Mr. Trinh Cong Son has been half of my life."
Please note - the songs from the sixties and the 'sound' of Vietnamese may not be for everyone. For some people it might be best just to read the lyrics - Vietnamese is not the most accessible of languages at the best of times and these songs are from a time long past. The instrumentation in some cases is quite 'dated'. Like the movie Journey from the Fall, these songs are actually banned in Vietnam. The irony is that you can find them everywhere in Vietnam. First of all, songs are smuggled back from the US to Vietnam on CD and the Internet has made sure that they will never die.
In case it's helpful, the song titles in red are the songs which I think 'sound' the nicest'.
His Songs
Rose: Real folk singers write their own stuff - say what's on their mind. They're the ones who can make things happen.
Eddie: How's that?
Rose: Their music can change the world
Eddie: Well if you want to change the world Rose, why don't you join the marines and start shooting? Shooting changes things real quick.
Rose: I can't believe you just said that
Eddie: Well I just did.
Rose: that's ridiculous. Shooting doesn't solve anything. You shoot at people - what? You got people shooting back at you. When you sing to people, your message goes straight to the soul. You open up a whole new point of view - you disarm them.
.......................- Dogfight
Why do I like Trinh Cong Son's music? My Vietnamese is poor (incredibly crap!), I was only two at the time we left Vietnam ..... yet I grew up listening to the songs of Trinh Cong Son.
One of my earliest memories is singing along to Nguoi con gái Viet Nam da vàng (Girl with the Yellow Skin) even though I had absolutely no understanding of the meaning of the lyrics. After all, what would a little kid growing up in peaceful Australia know about war?
Khanh Ly version:
Click to viewVersion song by Trinh Cong Son
I always thought it was just a song that said that Vietnamese girls have yellow skin. I had no idea that it was a commentary on the war.
You've never known our land in peace.
You've never known Old Viet Nam.
You've never sung our village songs.
All you have is an angry heart.
For me, Trinh Cong Son's songs are a time capsule of a war in which more than a million Vietnamese soldiers and 2 million Vietnamese civilians died in the hostilities - a senseless war in which more than 2 million Vietnamese were disabled and which has scarred the country forever. Trinh Cong Son's lyrics spoke of a yearning for peace and healing in a divided country and called for an end to bloodshed and tragedy. We all know about the devastating effect that the Vietnam War had on the US, but the cost of this war on the Vietnamese themselves was also horrifying. Not a single family was untouched the war and the legacy of the war is still very much with the Vietnamese people, both in Vietnam and overseas.
You'll be able to tell from my quote from Dogfight that I do believe about the important role that music can play. I mentioned the American song Lorena above. This song which was one of the most beloved songs of Confederate soldiers during the American Civil War was actually written by a Northerner and first published in Chicago in 1857. It was reprinted in at least nine different pirated editions in the South, and virtually every pocket songbook carried by Southern soldiers included Lorena. Even Northern soldiers sang Lorena.
The song so affected soldiers of both armies so much that commanding officers ordered that it no longer be played as the it made the soldiers so homesick that they didn't want to fight. Naturally most soldiers sang it anyway.
The songs of Trinh Cong Son appeared to have had a similar effect. His lyrics are a strange mixture of tragic and joyful, morbid and light.
My father, who I constantly harass to translate the songs for me, tells me that they are very metaphorical and hard to understand. Trinh Cong Son liked to adopt extremely obscure and “poetic” terms which he regards as being almost "impossible to translate".
According to my father:
"One would need to be a poet, on his wavelength and armed with 2 thesauruses, one English and another Vietnamese to do the job".
It's true that there are lots of little things that you need to know to be able to appreciate the songs. I once asked my father why "hai muoi nam" (twenty years) was such a significant period of time in so many of Trinh Cong Son's songs. His response was that Trinh Cong Son wrote the songs in the sixties and seventies; the Vietnam war started from either the later 40s (French war) or the fifties (American war).
Sad Songs
In Ngu Di Con ("Lullaby"), a mother mourns her soldier son, contrasting the sleep of a baby with the sleep of death.
"Rest well my child, my child of the yellow race.
Rock gently my child, I have done it twice.
This body, which used to be so small, that I carried in my womb, that I held in my arms.
Why do you rest at the age of 20 years?"
In Ngu Ngon mua deng, we hear about a man who "dies twice". What does that mean? It is referring to the fact that the cart which carries his coffin containing the corpse blows up - so he in effect dies twice. WARNING - distressing scenes in the video below.
I remember feeling a bit appalled and slightly disbelieving when my father first told me about the lyrics to Bài ca dành cho những xác người (Ballad to the Dead (Hue 1968)) which is basically a song about corpses.
Would anyone really write songs with such stark and tragic lyrics? It seemed a bit morbid to me.
The bodies of the dead lie floating in the river
They lie in the field,
On the rooftops of the city
And in the winding streets
The bodies of the dead lie lost
Under the eaves of the pagodas
In the churches of the city
At the doorsteps of the deserted houses
Oh Spring - the bodies of the dead bring a scent to the rice paddies
Oh Vietnam - the bodies of the dead add breath to tomorrow's soil
The way there, though full of obstacles (literally - spikes)
Because around here - here were humans
The bodies of the dead lied all around here
In this cold rain
Near the bodies of the old and weak
Lie the bodies of the young and innocent
Which body is the body of my brother
In this cave
In those burnt out areas
Next to the maize and sweet potato field
Which body is the body of my brother
In this cave
In those burnt out areas
Next to the maize and sweet potato field
Then there are the lyrics of Tình ca nguoi mat trí (Love Song of a Madman):
I had a lover who died at the Battle of Pleime
I had a lover in the Tactical Zone D
died at the Battle of Dongxoai
died out there in Hanoi
died in haste along the border
I had a lover who died at the Battle of Chu Bruang
I had a lover whose body was floating in the river
died in the paddy field
died in the thick jungle
died cold and lonely, his body charred
I want to love you, love Vietnam
On a windy day, I would go calling quietly
Calling your name, the name of Vietnam
Feeling closer in the voice of the yellow skin
I want to love you, love Vietnam
The day I have just grown, my ears are used to bullets and mines
My hands between my lips
As of today I have forgotten the languages of humans...
I had a lover who died at the Battle of Ashau
I had a lover who died curled in the foetal position
died in a ravine
died near the bridge pylon
died in an anguish with not a rag on his body
I had a lover who died at the battle of Baza
I had a lover who died last night
died all of a sudden
died without any warning / any appointment
no hatred, died peacefully as if in a dream
I really love the chorus in this song:
I want to love you, love Vietnam
In a windy day, I go, calling quietly
Calling your name, the name of Vietnam
feeling closer in the voice of yellow skin
There's something really chilling about the refrain without any warning - no hatred, died as in a dream which then fades away into an uneasy silence. Spooky.
Defiant Songs
Then there are the songs with a touch of anger and defiance in them. Gia tài cua me (Mother's legacy)
One thousand years enslaved by the Chinese
One hundred years dominated by the French
Twenty years of Civil war
Mother’s legacy, left for her children
Mother’s legacy, is a sad Viet Nam
One thousand years enslaved by the Chinese
One hundred years dominated by the French
Twenty years of Civil war
Mother’s legacy, a jungle filled with dry human bones
Mother’s legacy, a mountain filled with graves
Teach your children to speak the truth
Mother wishes for you to remember the color of your skin
Don’t forget the color of your skin, ancient Viet Nam
Mother wishes for you to hurry home
Mother wishes for all her children from far away
The children of one common father, forget your hatred
One thousand years enslaved by the Chinese
One hundred years dominated by the French
Twenty years of fighting each day
Mother’s legacy, dried-up rice fields
Mother’s legacy, houses burned by the row
One thousand years enslaved by the Chinese
One hundred years dominated by the French
Twenty years of civil war
Mother’s legacy, a gang of traitors
Mother’s legacy, a band of ingrates.
Khanh Ly version
Trinh Cong Son version:
Joyful Songs
The songs I like most though are the joyful ones, filled with hope and aspirations for the future. Sadly though, even joyful songs like Cho nhìn quê huong sáng chói (Wait to see the brilliant father land), sung by Khanh Ly) contain an element of sadness.
Here I wait, there you wait,
In a small house, mother sits and waits too,
The soldier waits on the deserted hilltop;
The prisoner waits in total darkness
How many years have we been waiting?
How many years have we been waiting?
How many years have we been waiting?
Waiting for ever when we all awaken with a large shout of joy
Waiting for the heart of hatred to sink deep
Waiting for the peace to come, waiting for the sound of the three regions
Waiting for the steps to be made on roads with no mines and spikes
Waiting for the roads to be reconnected and vehicles to travel through all three regions
Waiting for the good news that the whole nation has been waiting for
Waiting for mother's forehead to lighten with the dawn
Waiting for the tears to dry,
waiting for the stones to sing
Waiting for foods and clothes for the children without homes
Waiting for the day Vietnam reunites for the love without borders
Waiting for the bugle to sound to bring home all the boys
Waiting for hearts to no longer hold any hatred and grudges
Waiting for nights without curfews and mornings with comfort
Waiting for the aromatic rice to grow under the hands of our own people
Waiting for the hearts that love the country and are determined to build the peace
Waiting for the hearts that are happy throughout the villages
Waiting for the land to resound of songs of freedom
Waiting for trees to change leaves; waiting for flowers to blossom
Waiting for us to go around streets that are not strange
Waiting for a bright country and the mothers' eyes are no longer blurred with tears
Waiting for the bugle to sound to bring home all the boys
Waiting for hearts to no longer hold any hatred and grudges
Waiting for nights without curfews and mornings with comfort
Waiting for the aromatic rice to grow under the hands of our own people
Waiting for the hearts that love the country and are determined to build the peace
Waiting for the hearts that are happy throughout the villages
Waiting for the land to resound of songs of freedom
Waiting for trees to change leaves; waiting for flowers to blossom
Waiting for us to go around streets that are not strange
Waiting for a bright country and the mothers' eyes are no longer blurred with tears
Then there is also Tôi se di tham, sung by Khanh Ly)(I shall go visiting) which was my initial re-discovery of Trinh Cong Son and Khanh Ly. I watched a documentary about Vietnam and when they were talking about Vietnam's slow and gradual steps towards recovery, they played this song.
When my country is at peace, I shall go visiting
I shall go visiting, a district full of caves
Visiting a road with many holes
When my country is no longer at war
A few of my friends will have their graves covered with grass
When my country is at peace, I shall go visiting
I shall go visiting, bridges broken by mines
Go visiting traps with barbed pickets and machetes
When my country has no more killing (each other)
Children will go out and sing nursery rhymes in the streets
When my country is in peace, I shall go non-stop
From Sai Gon to the Centre and from Ha Noi to the South
I shall go amid the collective joy
And hope will forget
My country's story/saga
When my country is in peace, I shall go visiting
I shall visit many sad graveyards
To see tombstones as numerous as mushrooms
When my country is no longer at war
Old mothers will climb up to the mountain, to look for her son's remains
When my country is in peace, I shall go visiting
I shall visit, villages and hamlets that are now plains
To see bamboo-forests that are now charred
When my country has no more killing (each other)
Everyone will go out cheering each other with broad smiles
Hue Sài Gòn, Hà Noi (Hue Saigon Hanoi), sung by Khanh Ly) was my original inspiration for wanting to visit Vietnam again. Admittedly, I did do it in slightly different order from the song - going from Saigon, Hue to Hanoi.
Oh, Hue Saigon Hanoi, my country,
why are you so far away still?
Hue Saigon Hanoi, so many years have gone by,
why are you still so indifferent?
Oh Vietnam, for how much longer
Must people still sit missing one another?
Millions my feet, millions your feet,
All those people who rise for the call of revolution
It's time for linking our hearts together,
All us youths, let's be the pioneers
All over Central South and North, waiting eagerly,
all those bundles of rice are symbols of freedom
The roads now lead to the prisons
tomorrow let us build schools and market places
Our people shall return to cultivate and ensure all are well clothed and fed.
All hands will work for the nation,
All hands will build, let the memory of hatred and pain fade away
We will keep building our houses, our gardens will prosper,
Let me go up the hill to sing with joy
North, South and Centre, let us unite and be one region again
All three frontiers open, roads built and peace returns to the country
Hue Saigon Hanoi, for 20 years, the cries of misfortune,
Hue Saigon Hanoi, in our hands, the heart of Vietnam
Bullets and bombs, human greed, what war machines destroy our kind
Oh Vietnam, stop dreaming, look forward and get rid of hatred
Let's wipe off all past sadness,
Tomorrow, all roads linking South and North covered with flowers
Loving hands and hearts with no frontiers
Brothers let's listen to all the love
The big joy shall pass hundred of bridges
The mother will enjoy the betel nuts
Watching the two regions sharing the peace with hearts filled with warmth
Day in the South, night in the North,
Eyes taking in all the changes, seeing the sweet dawn breaking
Horses flying past with the wind, hearts beating with the galloping noises
Let us stand up in freedom
North South and Centre in deep love;
Stepping out together jointly building our shared thatched house.
Do wipe off all signs of past sadness,
Tomorrow all South North roads will be covered with flowers
Hands of love, hearts of no frontiers, brothers lets listen to the love,
The big joy shall pass hundred of bridges
Mother will enjoy the betel nuts
Watching the two regions sharing the peace with hearts filled with warmth
Day in the South, night in the North,
Eyes taking in all the changes, seeing the sweet dawn breaking
Horses flying past with the wind,
Hearts beating with the galloping noises
Lets us upraise in freedom
North South and Centre in deep love;
Stepping out together jointly building our shared thatched house
My favourite line in that song is cho em ra dau núi ca tình vui (let me go up the hill to sing with joy).
My favourite song is probably Ðong dao hòa bình, sung by Khanh Ly)(Nursery Rhyme of Peace). I searched all over for this. It makes me smile that it's now so readily available on the Internet :) The version I had of it was at the end of a crappy pirated cassette and cut off after the first verse.
Twenty years of hardship is now over
Today I see the sun shining brightly
In everyone’s heart - our heart, your heart
In the heart of the paddy field
Twenty years of hardship is now over
Today sees the radiant smiles
On everyone’s lips, on our lips
On the lips of little children and the old mothers
The way we go is expansive/abundant - full of houses and shops of acquaintances
Our feet walking comfortably, our hands clasped in happiness
Returning to all mountains and forests, returning to all villages and hamlets
Singing together for the new land, let the sky join in to share our hearts’ happiness
Twenty years of hardship is now over
Today sees the renewed faces of people
We love the sky (heaven), we love us, we love you (or children)
We love the warmth of the newly arrived peace
Twenty years of hardship is now over
Today sees each drop of tears flowing softly in the heart of the fathers and the heart of the children
In the heart of the nice beautiful babies
Twenty years of hardship is now over
Today sees the strange warmth of the sunlight
On the yellow skin, on the fragrant skin
On your skin, on the skin of all Vietnamese who have been waiting
Twenty years of imprisonment shall be forgotten
Today bowls of happy wine will be drunk for the joy of the mothers and the fathers
For the joy of the children and the wives and husbands
The roads in Vietnam today will be the free paths
We Vietnamese today will live a genuine life
From every corner, there will be the sound of roaring (?) footsteps
The flags stand tall in the wind; the flags are high at the houses’ doors
Twenty years waiting every minute and second
Today we see the sound of peace
On everyone’s lips on our lips
On the children’s lips on the lips of the poverty-stricken Vietnamese
Twenty years of waiting, now the vital force has rushed back through the veins
Nourishing the hearts of the mothers and the heart of the fathers
Nourishing each other’s heart and the country now well-enriched.
Favourite line? "trong tim bé hien hòa" (in the heart of the nice beautiful babies).
Web Links
Salon.com People | What war?. Salon.com article on Trinh Cong Son.
Trinh Cong Son: The Bob Dylan of Vietnam
In Memory of Trinh Cong Son. An online collection of Trinh Cong Son's music, poem and paintings.
BBC News | MUSIC | Vietnam mourns its 'Dylan'
Encyclopædia Britannica - Trinh Cong Son
[sixties-l] Obit: Trinh Cong Son, Vietnam-era Antiwar Singer
Bob Dylan Who's Who: Trinh Cong Son
Vietnam Passage. The Stories: Trinh Cong Son | PBS
wikipedia entry
Site with articles and music