ホー・チ・ミンのバラード (Ballad of Ho Chi Minh)

Annotation

A mixture of songs, speeches, and poems about and by Hồ Chí Minh, the Vietnamese revolutionary leader. He died in 1969, a few years before the release of this record in 1976 - one year after the collapse of South Vietnam and the reunification of the country, a key objective of Ho Chi Minh. Paredon Records issued the LP (P-1033), aimed at the US music market. The song "The Ballad of Ho Chi Minh", written by Ewan MacColl, and performed by Barbara Dane, the song recalled the activities of the Vietnamese leader, training the workers and the farmers, building an army, and achieving Vietnamese independence.FTA!: Songs of the GI Resistance (1970) (# P-1003) by Dane, Cancion Protesta: Protest Songs of Latin America (1970) (# PAR01001) by various artists (VA), Cuba va! Songs of the New Generation of Revolutionary Cuba (1971) (# P-1010) by Grupo de Experimentación Sonora del ICAIC, Vietnam: Songs of Liberation (1971) (# PAR01008) by VA, Vietnam Will Win! Liberation Songs of the Vietnamese People (1971) (# PAR01009) by VA, We Say No to Your War! (1972) (# P-1015) by the Covered Wagon Musicians, I Hate the Capitalist System (1973) (# P-1014) by Dane, The Force of Life (1974) (# P-1023) by The Red Star Singers, Cuba: Songs for Our America (1975) (# P-1018) by Carlos Puebla, What Now, People? (1975) (# P-2001) by VA, The Legacy of Ho Chi Minh (1976) (# P-1033) by VA, What Now, People? Vol. 2 (1977) (# P-2002) by VA, Viva Puerto Rico Libre (1978) (# P-1035) by VA, What Now, People? Vol. 3 (1978) (# P-2003) by VA, Puerto Rico: Como el filo del machete (1978) (# P-1040) by Andrés Jiménez.

Annotation by Justin A. Brummer

Annotation — Japanese Songs

Double-sided Vietnam War single (URC # 0014) by Tomoya Takaishi, born on 9 December 1941 in Uryu, Hokkaido, Japan. The first song "ホー・チ・ミンのバラード" ("Ballad of Ho Chi Minh") was a Japanese adapted version of the well-known and widely covered song by Ewan MacColl. Japanese lyrics by Hidaka Yoshi. It praised the development of the North Vietnamese army to resist occupation, with an emphasis on its farm worker composition: "The Liberation Army was born... trained, a hoe in the evening, a rifle in the morning... the soldiers are all peasants".

Annotation by Justin A. Brummer

Lyrics

English: Far across the sea / Across the eastern sea / Called the father of Indo-China / That man's name is Ho Chi Minh / In the mountains, in the delta / Young and old alike / Fight for freedom / Together with Ho Chi Minh / Young Ho Chi Minh / Boarded a ship and crossed the sea / What he learned after leaving his country / Decided his future too / When he came back / What he saw there / Was hunger, poverty and foreign soldiers / The heavy tramp of boots echoing / Calling out to the people / He climbed into the mountains / The Liberation Army was born there / He was tempered / In the evening holding a hoe / In the morning a rifle / The soldiers are all peasants / Those are Ho Chi Minh's soldiers / On the plains, in the jungle / In the mountains and on the seashore / The soldiers of Indo-China advance / Men and women advance / Peace and freedom / And Ho Chi Minh / Waving the flag of Indo-China / The Viet Minh soldiers advance __________ Japanese: とおい海のむこう / 東の海のむこう / インド・シナの父とよばれる / その人の名はホーチミン / 山に デルタに / 若者も年よりも / 自由のためにたたかう / ホーチミンとともに / わかいホーチミン / 船に乗り海をこえ / 国をでてまなんだことが / 彼も未来をきめた / 彼が帰ってきて / そこに見たものは / うえと貧乏と他国の兵士 / おもい靴音ひびく / ひとに呼びかけて / 山にのぼった / 解放軍がそこにうまれた / 彼はきたえられた / 夕べにくわをもち / 朝にはライフル / 兵士たちはみんな百姓 / それがホーチミンの兵士 / 平野にジャングルに / 山にも海辺にも / インド・シナの兵士はすすむ / 男も女もすすむ / 平和と自由と / そしてホーチミン / インド・シナの旗をなびかせ / ベトミンの兵士はすすむ

Notes

Japanese adapted version of the well-known and widely covered song by Ewan MacColl. Japanese lyrics by Hidaka Yoshi. URC URS-0014, monaural, 45 rpm, black-and-silver URC label; side 1 (44-1200M-881S) "ホー・チ・ミンのバラード", 3:50, words and music イワン・マッコール [Ewan MacColl], Japanese translation and vocal 高石ともや; side 2 (44-1200M-882S) "ベトナムの空", 2:50, words and music 日高義 [Yoshi Hidaka], sung by 高石ともや. The picture sleeve (¥370) is a collage of Ho Chi Minh in cap and glasses with two smiling men, clapping children and silhouetted figures carrying rifles and foliage. The notes insert says "ホー・チ・ミンのバラード" was recorded live on 6 September 1969 at Osaka Festival Hall (Osaka Rōon), with banjo by 岩井宏, and "ベトナムの空" live on 24 December 1968 at Osaka Sankei Hall at Takaishi's third recital; jacket design 河村要助, photographs courtesy of the Japan-Vietnam Friendship Association, producer 秦政明. It also pays tribute…

About the artist

born on 9 December 1941 in Uryu, Hokkaido, Japan

Themes

Anti-War · Ho Chi Minh · China (Cold War) · First Indo-China War · Vietnamese Patriotic · Vietnamese Perspective · Freedom & Liberty · Peace · Jungle

In collections

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