メコン河も泣いている [The Mekong River Is Crying]

Annotation — Japanese Songs

The B-side, "メコン河も泣いている" ("The Mekong River Is Crying") was a narration with background music, from 芥川隆行 [Takayuki Akutagawa], a well-known radio announcer in Japan. It presented the Vietnamese perspective under war: "sky is constantly roaring... bombardment was so intense". It argued "we are all human... we Vietnamese are the same ethnic group".

Annotation by Justin A. Brummer

Lyrics

Japanese: おれたちは石仏でも、鉄のロボットでもない 生きているんだ

Notes

a well-known radio announcer in Japan Minoru Phone KA-58, stereo, 45 rpm, red label, "Mfd. by Minoruphone Co., Ltd., Tokyo, Japan"; side PS-0145 ©'66 "一本の針" (words 中山正男 [Masao Nakayama], music 遠藤実 [Minoru Endo]), 4:00, sung by 北山和子 with the Minoruphone Orchestra; side PS-0146 ©'66 "メコン河も泣いている" (poem by 中山正男), 4:10, recited by 芥川隆行. The picture sleeve (¥330), headed "民族の歌声", shows the young singer with her head tilted back. The back sleeve (太平グループ ミノルフォンレコード) prints three verses of "一本の針" (the second not sung) with a melody line, and the full text of the recited poem with a photograph of the reciter; the poem speaks of Saigon, Hanoi, the Mekong and the bombing, ending "ガメロン鳴らして、躍る月夜が". A newspaper clipping shown with the record, headed "黒い皮膚の混血女性歌手 'ベトナムの平和'を訴える北山和子", describes her as a 19-year-old mixed-race singer making her debut with this social song praying for peace in Vietnam…

About the artist

Born 6 March 1919, Tokyo City, Tokyo, Japan. Died 2 October 1990, Suginami, Tokyo, Japan.

Themes

Anti-War · Saigon · Mekong Delta · VC · Ho Chi Minh · Self-Immolation · China (Cold War) · Buddhism · Vietnamese Perspective · Air War · Inflation · Reunification

In collections

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