HÀ NỘI — Vietnamese composer Trịnh Công Sơn (1939-2001) was commemorated with a doodle on google.com on Thursday on the occasion of his 80th birthday anniversary.

“Sơn, with his contributions and influence on Vietnamese and international culture, especially his songs with profound messages of peace, deserves to be praised on the most popular page on the occasion of the second summit between Donald Trump and Kim Jong Un,” commented composer Trần Long Ẩn, vice chairman of Việt Nam Musicians’ Association.

Sơn passed away on April 1, 2001 leaving behind more than 6,000 songs, many of which have been widely popular among Vietnamese people both in and outside the country.

Most of his songs carry his distinctive ideology and lyrical style, expressing great love for the Vietnamese people and his homeland while praising peace and love.

“This is a meaningful birthday gift to Sơn and my family, also a joy to the community that loves Trịnh’s songs,” Trịnh Vĩnh Trinh, Sơn’s younger sister, told news.zing.vn.

He has been dubbed “Việt Nam’s Bob Dylan” by BBC and “Vietnam’s most beloved singer-songwriter” by the Washington Post.

He was the first Vietnamese composer to have his music distributed in Japan. More than two million copies of his album have been sold in Japan in the past years while many of his songs have been translated into Japanese and performed by leading Japanese singers like Tokiko Kato, Yoshimi Tendo and Aya Shimazu at various popular shows like Kohaku Uta Gassen and the annual NHK television New Year’s Eve show.

In his official visit to Việt Nam in 2016, US President Barack Obama recalled the song Nối Vòng Tay Lớn (The Great Circle of Việt Nam) as an example of peace and friendship.

“Songs by Trịnh Công Sơn bear features of mediation, of nothingness,” singer Giang Trang, who has performed a lot of Sơn’s songs, told Việt Nam News. “People need to have enough life experiences to understand the meaning of lyrics. Even as a singer, I have not dared to sing some songs as I feel I have not experienced enough in life to understand the lyrics and be brave enough to perform the songs.” — VNS