Trinh Cong Son: The one who leaves, the songs that resonate forever

(Baonghean.vn) - On April 1, 2016, exactly 15 years have passed since the talented musician Trinh Cong Son passed away, but his name and songs will live forever in the hearts of Vietnamese audiences. What will never be lost is that all the songs he wrote exuded holiness; sometimes romantically resentful, sometimes honest and sincere, sometimes soaring.

Fifteen years after his passing, those songs still resound passionately in tea rooms every night, or coffee shops. Every time the lyrics are sung, everyone sings along, contemplating life. His love songs are closely linked to the fate of human life. That is a common talent that no other musician has reached that "threshold".

Talented musician Trinh Cong Son.

Messages of over 600 love songs

Before leaving this world, musician Trinh Cong Son left behind more than 600 love songs of many different genres, but mainly romantic lyrical light music. It can be said that almost all of the songs he composed focused on human fate, the fate of a specific life. But when singing, people found their own shadow in them.

So they think about how to live better, more humanely, more for the common good, less selfishly. And just by singing the first song, one can feel that he wrote from his heart. To be more precise, he wrote from the philosophy that lives in the soul of the musician. "Which dust particle will become my body/ so that one day I can grow into a big body/ oh wonderful dust/ the sun shines on a place of play" (Dust)

Audio: Listen to the song A World to Return to through Khanh Ly's voice:

[audio(47997)]

During his career, Trinh Cong Son left behind about 600 love songs. Some of these love songs have become symbols and the reason for living for many generations.

There are songs with a lively and vibrant rhythm, but it is like a passionate call to the community, regardless of class, religion, gender, rich or poor, to join hands to build a prosperous country, towards a bright future for the nation. "The mountains and forests spread their arms to connect the distant sea/ we go in a big circle to connect the mountains and rivers/ the vast land/ our brothers return/ meeting each other, happy as a storm, whirling in the vast sky/ our hands hold and spin around Vietnam".

The talent of musician Trinh Cong Son is not only shown in the sharpness of his lyrics, but also in his broad community spirit. With his musical talent, he has attracted the entire world community to join hands for the right to life of human beings with lyrics that are always hot and never fade with the flow of time. There are songs that are included in the list of "immortal songs".

The pinnacle of those songs is the song Diem Xua. Almost all generations of Vietnamese people born during the war, no one does not know this song. The generation born after the liberation day until the end of the 80s of the last century also many people like the song Diem Xua. Every time the lyrics are sung, a feeling of sadness lingers in the heart, remembering the memories of a time of wandering, or remembering the beautiful love that has passed in life.. "The rain still falls on the ancient tower/ How long are your arms, your eyes are pale/ Listening to the autumn leaves, the rain wears down your small heels/ The long road makes your eyes deeper".

Audio: Listen to Diem Xua through Hong Nhung's voice

[audio(47996)]

Poetry and music, two moments, one soul in tune

When Trinh Cong Son passed away, there were many seminars on his poetry and music. People concluded that his 40 years of writing were a communion between sound and language. Wrapped up in his soul was the fate of each person, each life filled with experiences. In his private corner, he could touch the deepest corners of the sensitive heart.

“Is the sun as rosy as your lips/Is the rain as sad as your eyes/Your hair, each strand, falls into the world, creating drifting waves” (Like a flying stork). From a collective perspective, he can appeal to the hearts and minds of all regions of the country, and even beyond, even abroad.

Trinh Cong Son's handwriting.

When he was alive, musicians knew Trinh as a romantic poet. He had hundreds of poems, including unfinished ones written before he passed away. Even contemporary poets and poets from the war period, few wrote “unique” poems with flexible free verse like him.

In the poem “Like a flying stork”, there are the words: “The wind will be happy because your hair is flying/Let the clouds sleep on your shoulders/Your shoulders are thin and small/Like a stork flying to a faraway place”. It is that uniqueness that he breathed the soul of the musician into, and then created a complete song, loved by many people.

In the composing career of musician Trinh, there are songs that make you cry just by listening to them. Those are songs that are evaluated beyond talent, just like the name of the song "Mother's Legend". "At night, sitting with the lamp on, remembering each story of the past, mother came back and stood in the rain/ covering each small cellar/ blocking each step of the enemy/ mother is the wind that winds around/ covering my life of sadness/ mother sinks under hardship"

The people of the capital silently thank musician Trinh Cong Son for letting Hanoians understand the land and people of a thousand years of culture. So that every time Hanoians go far away, they never forget their birthplace. Just by singing the first verse, people understand that it is Hanoi with its romantic golden autumn, with its elegant and proud people, with the ancient beauty imbued with the land of the thousand-year-old capital of all things: "Hanoi in autumn/The yellow rice tree/The red-leafed banyan tree/Lying side by side/The old streets and ancient houses/The dark brown tiled roofs..." (Remembering Hanoi's autumn)

Mai Thang