HCM CITY —  Anti-war songs on the album Ca Khúc Da Vàng (Yellow-skinned People’s Songs) written by late songwriter Trịnh Công Sơn have been released for the first time in Việt Nam by young singer Nguyễn Hồng Ân.

The album features eight songs, including popular works Người Mẹ Ô Lý (Mother of Ô Lý), Chờ Quê Hương Sáng Chói (Waiting for the Country in Bright Future), Dựng Lại Người-Dựng Lại Nhà (We Rebuild Our Home) and Ta Thấy Gì Đêm Nay (What I See Tonight), written by Sơn between 1967 and 1968, bringing the composer’s sense of peace. 

Singer Ân performed the songs accompanied by skilled guitarists Dũng Đà Lạt, Cao Minh Bảo, Minh Thủy and Đăng Hoa.

The album, Tiếng Hát Hòa Bình (Voice of Peace), is part of a music charity programme called Ánh Sáng Từ Tâm ( Light from the Heart), which aims to raise funds for poor children.

Ân received support from Sơn’s younger sister, singer Trịnh Vĩnh Trinh, who sent all of the copyright payments for the album to the programme. 

Born in the former royal city of Huế in 1939, Sơn became popular in 1957 with his first song, Ướt Mi (Crying Eyes).

His lasting legacy includes albums of romantic love songs in blues and slow ballads, such as Diễm Xưa (Diễm, My Cherished Memory), Ru Tình (Lullaby to Love), and Tự Tình Khúc (My Lyric Songs), which were released in the 1960s and 1970s. 

These songs are still loved by legions of Vietnamese and foreign fans.

One of his most popular love songs, Diễm Xưa, are popular in Japan, where they were first introduced through the voice of Khánh Ly, who now lives in the US, recognised as the singer born to perform Sơn’s songs.

Ly performed Diễm Xưa in Osaka in 1970. Later, the song was written in Japanese, Utsukushii Mukashi, and was listed among Japan’s top 10 favourite love songs.

Sơn went on to become southern Việt Nam’s most famous songwriter and composer of several anti-war collections including Ca Khúc Da Vàng, Kinh Việt Nam (Vietnamese Prayer) and Ta Phải Thấy Mặt Trời (We Must See the Sunlight).

These albums were highly popular among students and young people in Sài Gòn (now HCM City) in the 1960s and 1970s as the Vietnamese people fought to liberate the country from American imperialists.

After 1975 Sơn continued to write songs and enjoyed great success with both his lyrics and melodies.

He died in HCM City in 2001 after a prolonged illness. VNS