To You, This Letter Left Unfinished (Gửri anh lá thư viềt dở)
1972 · Dihavina 7202 · Hanoi, North Vietnam
- Artist
- Dur An & Dao Thang
- Title
- To You, This Letter Left Unfinished (Gửri anh lá thư viềt dở)
- Release
- Sai Gon on the March (Sài Gòn Tiền Quân)
- Year
- 1972
- Label
- Dihavina # 7202
- Format
- LP · Album
- Language
- Vietnamese
- Country
- Hanoi, North Vietnam
- Genre
- Vietnamese Music · Nhạc đỏ
- Primary theme
- Vietnamese Patriotic
Annotation — North Vietnamese Songs
Released on the Dihavina record label (# 7202) in 1972, originally the state label of North Vietnam (Democratic Republic of Vietnam) before reunification in 1975. This LP very much focuses on the battle front and the soldiers, as seen in the title "Gủri anh chiển sĩ pháo binh" ("To Our Brothers, the Gunners"), and of course the South Vietnamese capital, as seen in the title track "Sài Gòn tiền quân" ("Saigon on the March"). Also note the focus on the female soldier, not just the role of men, in the song "Em là nữ tự vệ Sài Gòn" ("We, the Militiawomen of Saigon"). This is also seen in the artistic front cover, which appears to show a woman holding a gun, ready for battle. Two songs focus on the famous Vietnamese highway, National Route 9 (Quốc lộ 9 or Đường 9) which runs along the West-East 17th parallel. During the war, this was alongside the Vietnamese Demilitarized Zone (DMZ). The US and the South Vietnamese Army of the Republic of Vietnam (ARVN) build-up bases along the DMZ, including the well-known Khe Sahn. (1) The North Vietnamese Army (NVA) was able to cut and ambush Route 9. The two relevant pieces are the song "Bài ca gủri ra Đường 9" ("Song of the Fighters on Highway…
Annotation by Justin A. Brummer
About the artist
Unknown - the title is a Vietnamese nhạc vàng song. 'Dur An' is most likely a transcription corruption of a Vietnamese given name such as Duy Ân or Dương An; no artist entry under either the printed or the corrected spelling has been located in an admissible source. [Source: Discogs (negative search); RateYourMusic (negative search); Vietnamese-language discography searches (negative)]