Condolences to musician Nguyen Trong Tao: "Lyrics squeezed from the heart..."

The author interviewed Poet and musician Nguyen Trong Tao. Photo: VK

The first time I asked him for permission to come to my house for an interview, he happily accepted. I asked him about the poem “Lullaby for the Children Growing Up on Their Mothers’ Backs” by Nguyen Khoa Diem, and about his memories of the poet Nguyen Khoa Diem. He answered enthusiastically, his eyes sparkling with joy when talking about Hue, about mountainous places like A Luoi, Nam Dong, where the Ta Oi ethnic mothers are brave and resilient.

He said: “Besides the knowledge provided by textbooks, what do students need? It is the emotions and feelings that the author conveys in the work. With poems that have been set to music, if you want to make the children's program really attractive, let the children listen to the songs, they will absorb them more than ever. A good reporter is someone who knows how to detect problems and boldly innovates.”

When referring to the poem “The Scholar”, he pondered and thought: “A beautiful cultural feature has been lost and forgotten. That is the pain of the old Confucian scholars. When students today learn this poem, can they imagine the current situation at that time? Now people have restored that old feature but it is somewhat too modern and forced. Therefore, when providing additional things beyond the text, the children's art program needs to supplement knowledge about the culture and history of Vietnam in the late 19th century so that students can gain more understanding.”

What he shared was truly valuable, he showed me how to approach problems in a different way, always with discovery and creativity. He said that we must add things that students do not know or have not heard...

After the interview, he told me that the skill of a reporter is to know how to provoke questions so that the interviewee can answer honestly and deeply, intelligently and simply. What he taught stuck with me, I listened as if I was absorbing every word, I silently thanked him because he made me understand that, to be able to do well in the job I am pursuing, I must truly love and be passionate about it.

Journalist Van Khanh (far right) during a visit to Poet and Musician Nguyen Trong Tao. Photo: VK

Another time, I sent him some articles I wrote about artist portraits, asking him to review them. A few days later, he sent me a very detailed and meticulous email reply.

He praised and criticized me, and showed me how to write about portraits or memoirs. He commented on the use of words, sentences, and writing style. Writing must be refined and truly touching so that readers will come to you and wait for you. Writing cannot be sloppy, it must be careful. Writing is a manifestation of a person, of personality and talent. When you are young, you must learn, constantly learn to progress. Write, a little each day, you will get used to it, you will mature. Those are the things he wrote to me, truly profound and profound.

He was so busy but still arranged time to read, comment and respond promptly when I asked him to. He was keeping some poems I wrote 4 years ago, he said "There is a very good poem about mother, I will set it to music". That poem will not become a song, that musician has passed away.

I would like to pay my respects to him with the poem "The Last Time" that I just wrote after hearing the news of his death, as a stick of incense to mourn and express my gratitude to him - Poet, musician Nguyen Trong Tao:

"I'm back to burying my face in the river of my hometown
Oh river is as abundant as mother's heart
"protect me through lightning, sea, rain and spring"
silently looking at him, he did not recognize
sing to hear the song of the central region
he cried
The last time he heard singing
not on stage
no wine no flowers
no laughter

Holding hands with tears
"give you my life"
one bitter, one happy, one sad"
I sing
and i cried
The room was filled with sad voices.

The last time he heard singing

lyrics squeezed from my heart