Your Words Will Echo Forever

Annotation — North Vietnamese Songs

Released on the Dihavina record label (# 6602), originally the state label of North Vietnam (Democratic Republic of Vietnam) before reunification in 1975. The song "Lời anh vọng mãi ngàn năm" ("Your Word Will Echo Forever") fits into the Nhạc đỏ ("Red Music") genre - which developed at the beginning of the 20th century, containing elements of Western Classical Music, while lyrically focusing on socialism and independence, as well as containing anti-imperialist / colonialist sentiment. It's also influenced by revolutionary music from China and the USSR. The narrator praises the "hero... the worker of Saigon City" who are "blazing and fighting" to "drown the heads of American invaders". The narrator said that the "entire South is boiling", and that their exploits are renowned throughout the world: "our name spreads.. echoes to Venezuela..." and "Latin America guerrillas... millions of people following your path". It concluded, "long live Vietnam... The nation's words shines forever". The song "Thanh Hóa anh hùng" ("Heroic Thanh Hoa Province"), composed by Hoang Dam, is difficult to translate through Google translate, as it contains the local Vietnamese dialect of the area, Thanh Hóa. Here is a partial translation provided by Nguyên Đinh, via YouTube. Musically, this one also contains some elements of Vietnamese Folk Music. It contained patriotic sentiment, of spreading news of victory throughout the countryside to the small villages: "give message of victory", there is "happiness in the villages and the hamlets". It referenced several specific locations, noting "the flag of Uncle Ho flared" - of course a reference to the North Vietnamese leader Hồ Chí Minh. It also contained combat and war references: "thousands of gunmen, rifles are ready... fight the enemy... the American bandits will be wrecked this time".

Annotation by Justin A. Brummer

Lyrics

English: "Your name shines forever / A son of this land / Mountains and rivers sing your praise / An indomitable hero, a bastion of steel / Nguyen Van Troi, Nguyen Van Troi / A worker from the city of Saigon / Your final words, before the enemy’s guns / Still burn with the fire of combat / Your name has spread across the globe / Reaching as far as Venezuela / Stirring the hearts of countless people / Including the guerrillas of Latin America / You lived a life / Radiant as the sun / You spent your vibrant youth / Forged into steel amidst the smoke and fire of war / Millions now follow in your footsteps / All of the South is stirred to its very core / Rising like a tempest / To crush the American invaders / The wind carries your song / The words you once proclaimed / 'Long live Vietnam! Long live Vietnam!' / Your words echo through the ages / A testament to a nation that shines eternally" __________ Vietnamese: "Sáng mãi tên anh / Người con của đất nước / Sông núi reo ca / Người anh hùng thành đồng bất khuất / Nguyễn văn Trỗi, Nguyễn văn Trỗi / Người công nhân Thành Phố Sài Gòn / Mà lời anh trước súng giặc thù / Vẫn cháy lửa chiến đấu / Ôi tên anh truyền khắp hoàn cầu / Vọng về Vê-nê-du-ê –la / Cuồn cuộn sôi trong muôn con tim / Người du kích Châu Mỹ La tinh / Anh đã sống cuộc đời /Sáng rực ánh mặt trời / Anh sống tuổi thanh xuân đẹp tươi / Trong khói lửa luyện nên thép gang / Noi gương anh còn có triệu người / Cả Miền Nam đang sôi tim gan / Cuồn cuộn dâng lên như phong ba /…

Notes

Dihavina (Đĩa Hát Việt Nam) 6602, 45 rpm, three tracks. Side CK 3: "Heroic Thanh Hoa Province" by Hoang Dam, solo tenor Ngoc Huong with the Vietnamese Opera, Ballet and Music Theatre's Choir and Orchestra, conductor Cao Việt Bach; and "The Handkerchief" by Xuan Hong, sung by the Vietnamese Opera, Ballet & Music Theatre's female vocal group. Side CK 4: "Your Words Will Echo Forever" by Vu Thanh, solo soprano Anh Dao, piano Hoang My. The front of the picture sleeve shows a drawn portrait of a young man within a flame on a dark red ground, titled "Your Words Will Echo Forever / Lời anh vọng mãi ngàn năm"; the back lists the three songs with their Vietnamese titles ("Thanh Hóa anh hùng", "Chiếc khăn tay", "Loi anh vọng mãi ngàn năm") and distributors Xunhasaba, 32 Hai Bà Trưng, Hanoi, D.R. Vietnam. [From the record sleeve and labels]

About the artist

North Vietnamese singer who recorded 'Your Words Will Echo Forever' (Loi Anh Vong Mai Ngan Nam, Vu Thanh's elegy for Nguyen Van Troi) with pianist Hoang My on a 1966 Dihavina EP from Hanoi, shared with the Vietnamese Opera, Ballet and Music Theatre choir. [Source: Discogs]

Themes

Vietnamese Perspective · Vietnamese Patriotic

In collections

North Vietnamese Songs