Musician Phu Quang 'And love remains forever'

PV: Musician Phu Quang, what do you think when you are called a musician of Hanoi?

Author and musician Phu Quang. Photo: Van Khanh

I think I have lived my whole life in Hanoi. I always long for Hanoi when I am in Hanoi, the nostalgia is always there. I miss my mother, a woman of the old generation, disciplined and always strict with her children. My mother is a true Hanoian woman, she is very elegant, polite and intelligent. My mother taught my siblings and I a lot. I love this land because this is where I was born, grew up and spent my whole life. During the years I lived in Saigon, I felt empty. I missed Hanoi so much and you know, as a man, I used to cry. I wrote songs about Hanoi with all my feelings, all my longing and memories flooding back. Later, I often shared with my friends that I would have to return. And I did return. This is home.

PV: "Em oi Ha Noi pho" - a song associated with your name that almost everyone knows by heart. Are you truly happy that you have contributed to painting a beautiful Hanoi in the eyes of international friends?

I must be grateful to poet Phan Vu, he and his poems have given me an endless source of emotions, a feeling like a child returning, being comforted. Hanoi in me is always tolerant like that. I myself am truly satisfied with the songs I composed. The voices of Hong Nhung, Ngoc Anh or Bang Kieu all make me like them, each with their own style but the spirit is to love Hanoi passionately.

Another song about Hanoi is "Hanoi on the Day of Return" which I also like. When my heart is broken and sad, there is nothing better than returning to the place where I was born and grew up. Hanoi gives me everything. In other words, I am who I am today thanks to Hanoi.

Reporter: Poet and musician Nguyen Trong Tao has a poem that he composed, "A foolish man, a me", which is profound, poignant and intense. Is it the souls of the two musicians who always yearn for love that met and harmonized into this song?

I must say that I really like Mr. Tao's music and poetry, sensitive and unique. He is a man from Nghe An, muscular, generous and passionate. His poetry and music are very soaring and talented. I composed his poem and sent it to Ngoc Anh to sing, it really impressed me. The man's love is very profound.Where is my passion? / The sky is so hot that you have withered away / Sharing with you a lifetime of poetry", share everything, share until the last breath. Men's way of loving is also different. Love to the end and hurt to the end. During my concert, I played the guitar and sang this song as a sincere sharing to Mr. Tao.

PV: Speaking of your life, you once said that if you hadn't become a musician, you would have been a writer. Is that true?

That's right. Because my passion since childhood was studying literature, reading literature and my mother was a very influential person. She taught me a lot about poetry, folk songs, proverbs. I know a lot. From childhood to adulthood, I still have a passion for reading books, reading literature. My soul becomes clearer, more open thanks to those pages of books, it has been absorbed without me knowing. Later, when I make music, the lyrics I write must be beautiful, refined, and delicate. I do not allow myself to be careless because I am doing art and culture, those are the most beautiful, most quintessential spiritual values. I also teach my children the same. When I start writing a song, I must put the criteria of Beauty first, must bring those values ​​to life.

PV:Is it his strict and serious personality in his work that makes many singers afraid? There are many stories they tell that he is too strict!

(laughs) I am so strict, but they still come to me. Why is that? Because they understand my wishes. I don't allow anyone to do anything carelessly or carelessly. Maybe I'm quite picky, so there are very few singers who sing my music, but those who have followed me have all become famous. Thanh Lam, Ngoc Anh, Hong Nhung, Tan Minh, Bang Kieu... they are singers who work seriously, passionately and with fire. I think that in any profession, you have to be serious to be successful.

PV: People also know you as a talented, polite, gentle man, loved by many women. Is that true?

Love is their right, to refuse or accept is up to you. But to refuse a smart and sincere woman is difficult. I have met some people like that. I choose to stay silent. I like privacy, quiet. This is my own story. Private matters should be kept quiet, "Why is love still in your eyes/ Tell me about a time of youth"That's it. You have to love to make good music, to write about love you also have to live in love. People are similar in that when love speaks, gentleness, trust and hope come. My music is loved because of the deep love in it, it is in the breath, in life, in all the vibrations that whoever touches it, feels as if they are there, in it.

PV: What do you fear most about old age? Are you afraid of death?

Fear of being forgotten. During my concert, I still played the guitar and sang a song. Even though it was difficult to move around. I wanted to be healthy enough to work, but illness and old age kept coming. I couldn’t resist. My friends always encouraged me by coming to visit, chatting, or taking me out to the street to distract me. I think that later, when I can’t move around by myself, I will be very sad. Sadness that can’t be hidden. I’m not afraid of death, I’m just afraid of being forgotten. I’m also afraid of meeting people when I’m not healthy anymore. Because if I don’t have any energy, it’s really sad (laughs).

PV: How can we forget him when his music is so closely associated with this life, everyone has heard his songs from their youth to old age.

Trinh Cong Son wrote:Living in life, we need a heart/ For what purpose do you know? Let the wind blow it away", I think so too. The most important thing in life is kindness. A heart for each other, for everyone will make this life more meaningful, more worth living. I have brought music as my own way to life, just with the desire to make this life more beautiful. Human love is to know how to dedicate to the homeland, to the family, to the bloodline. I still want to write about this life until I can no longer think, but I always think, still think a lot, so I still write because love will last forever.