Être mère au Vietnam [Being a Mother in Vietnam]

Annotation

Chanson artist, born on 2 March 1932 in Périgueux, France.. As the title displays, this was a Vietnam War themed-LP, with 12 songs. The title track "Être mère au Vietnam" ("Being a mother in Vietnam") makes a comparison between mothers in Vietnam, "teaching them to go down in the trenches", and the rest of the world, "teaching children to pick flowers", a startling comparison, highlighting the suffering of those living through an ongoing conflict.

Annotation by Justin A. Brummer

Annotation — European Songs

Chanson artist, born on 2 March 1932 in Périgueux, France. As the title displays, this was a Vietnam War themed-LP, with 12 songs. The title track "Être mère au Vietnam" ("Being a mother in Vietnam") makes a comparison between mothers in Vietnam, "teaching them to go down in the trenches", and the rest of the world, "teaching children to pick flowers", a startling comparison, highlighting the suffering of those living through an ongoing conflict.

Annotation by Justin A. Brummer

Lyrics

English: Being a mother in Vietnam is not easy / Elsewhere, it's teaching children to pick flowers / At home, it's teaching them to go down in the trenches / Other mothers teach them bird concerts / And of music / Our task, to us, is to teach them / To distinguish the roar of a B52, of an AD, of a Phantom with a terrible roar / O holy Mary, one thousand nine hundred and sixty-nine years, you held your child in your arms / Do you know that the mothers of Vietnam, month after month, wither / To watch so many nights far from their evacuated child? / There are times when the only task is to teach one's children to become men / There are times when more must be done: to teach them to become heroes / Such is the task of mothers in my country A single cry, a single voice "Freedom" / Save the South! Let's save the South! / The boiling oil rises to the feet of Buddha / Living torches, the monks offer themselves as witnesses / O my homeland of mountains and rivers so great, so beautiful / Land of heroism, flower of this twentieth century / Be proud in the front line against the US / You hold on, land of the South, sublime in your bravery, under bullets and bombs / Shining with all your light __________ French: Être mère au Vietnam n'est pas chose facile / Ailleurs, c'est apprendre aux enfants à cueillir des fleurs / Chez nous, c'est leur apprendre à descendre dans les tranchées / Les autres mères leur apprennent les concerts d'oiseaux / Et de musique / Notre tâche, à nous, est de leur…

About the artist

born on 2 March 1932 in Périgueux, France

Themes

Anti-War

In collections

European Songs · Peace, Protest, & Anti-War Songs [War Years]