There are songs that are both deeply filled with tragic memories and at the same time brighten up the faith and aspirations of not only the generation that made history in the war of national defense and anti-Americanism.
Are there joys and sorrows that are unique to everyone, as musician Pham Minh Tuan sang with all his heart, singing for his homeland, for his teammates and his closest loved ones.
Few people probably know that Pham Minh Tuan is still considered a Southern musician with a voice as well as The “distinctive” compositions of the Southern style were born in Cambodia: paternal hometown – Nam Dinh, maternal hometown – Hung Yen.
During the movement towards the Fatherland in the late 50s, a wish grew with him day by day. Overseas Vietnamese teenager born in Cambodia is: return to fight! The return trip in 1960, when the resistance war against the US entered a fierce phase, lasted for months with nights of secret marches, blistered feet, a hungry stomach, and sore shoulders.
Accepted a job at the Van delegation. Liberation effort at base R in Tay Ninh province, the young man became acquainted with all the activities of war zone life: cutting wood, building houses, digging wells, farming, loading rice, guarding… and even malaria! From here begins the life of a soldier and also begins the career of a musician named Pham Minh Tuan – a codename operating in a war zone that has become a pseudonym for a life of music.
Even though he “doesn’t sing well and doesn’t act well” as Pham Minh Tuan “self-assessed”, the musician still takes on all roles from guitarist to singer to actor, including a reluctant reformed “double” when there is no one else to play. main role.
Continuously during those unforgettable years were urgent art programs serving the campaign, nights of marching with blood and sweat, but with a warm sense of camaraderie and love between soldiers and people. This is also the “debut” phase of “rookie” Pham Minh Tuan on the music front. That rookie still remembers the sweet feeling of shock during the march in the forest on New Year’s Eve 1965 when he suddenly heard the song “Crossing the River” on the Voice of Vietnam.
In that moment A moment of silence in the middle of the battlefield, he pressed his ear close to the small radio so as not to miss every lyric. The musician, in his early twenties, had never once seen the capital city of Hanoi. He could not believe that his handwritten song had followed his brother. ventured across Truong Son to the North to give wings to a completely new name in the revolutionary song industry. “Crossing the River” was awarded the Nguyen Dinh Chieu Award, the author used all the prize money to buy green beans and sugar to cook a pot of sweet soup for the whole unit to celebrate.
Those unforgettable times were not just about Beautiful memories of human love but also painful memories of loss. Loss in war is indescribable. How many times did musicians have to dig graves to send off their friends in the middle of the jungle and how many other comrades lost their bodies after the rain of bombs. The biggest wound that will never heal is the pain of losing my first daughter when a group of cadres fell into an enemy ambush.
The baby was only five – six months old, an age worthy of miracles. should be able to laugh and cry naturally, but the little angel was forced to stay silent to save many other lives. When the danger passed, the baby had been suffocated for so long that he could never cry or laugh again.
< p>In the midst of suffering and turbulence, a series of songs filled with faith and spiritual strength were still sung on every path of the campaign. Witnessing firsthand the innocent and brave images of Saigon’s young women loading bullets, providing first aid, and leading the way for the liberation army during the Mau Than Spring Offensive. Pham Minh Tuan truly flourished in the melody of “Song of Women’s Self-Defense”. Saigon.
The lyrics were assigned to Le Anh Xuan, but before they could be completed, the poet died. The remaining lyrics were written by the musician and immediately after being broadcast on the Liberation Radio Station in 1968, the song was popular throughout the North and South.
After the Paris Agreement, Pham Minh Tuan was nominated went to Hanoi to study at the Vietnam School of Music (now Hanoi Conservatory of Music). On the morning of April 30, 1975, musicians and friends who had been on the battlefield gathered in front of the Music School gate, waiting for the historic moment, and when the news of Saigon’s liberation was broadcast through the Voice of Vietnam, they hugged each other with joy and tears. .
The bustling atmosphere of the spring water day is filled with the joyful mood of every Vietnamese citizen filled with Pham Minh Tuan’s song. The image of the train carrying the youth of spring traveling south and north brought the author Spring Train A prize in the creative competition on the theme of unity. most of the country.
The country today has no gunfire but still echoes with the echoes of a time of bombs and bullets. There is still the pain of the mother “three times sending her children away, two times crying silently, the brothers did not return, the mother remained silent” (“Country” – Ta Huu Yen poem). The war has passed, but people’s hearts are not yet at peace. They still remember the days of marching in haste with sweet forest vegetables and bowls of soup. They remember the time when they dreamed of the sounds of birds singing between two battles, making friends with the moon and holding guns to watch the stars at night.</p >
The past creates depth in life. The past brings smiles today. After moments of indifference to the past, we sadly ask ourselves: “How could I forget…” – how could I forget those who have fallen, how could I forget the tragic songs of yesteryear. And “Unforgettable Song” has set a milestone for Pham Minh Tuan’s mature creative stage.
Being heavy with the past is not to be sad or regretful, but to keep our mind. Always worthy of the good things that have passed. An optimistic and positive concept of life, like a guiding light, sparkles in Pham Minh Tuan’s lyrics: live responsibly with life, with yourself, with the past, present and future. The author of Unforgettable Song still constantly wishes for a pinnacle in life as well as in creativity. The music creator’s meaning of life was expressed in a song: “Tomorrow, the day I die, I will offer my lover the eternal song” (“Eternal Love Song” by Pham Minh Tuan)
LTS Dan Tri – “Who has lived without Looking back at the past, especially the heroic past of the anti-American period to save the country and fully regain the unified country.
Immerse yourself in that resilient and indomitable fight of many nations. The soldier – artist wrote “unforgettable songs” for today and future generations. Those songs will live forever in the hearts of every Vietnamese child, always reminding them to live worthy of their ancestors’ generations.
Today our country is progressing. Stepping on the path of integration and promoting industrialization and modernization, besides proud achievements, we are facing many difficulties and challenges to overcome, especially the price inflation of many essential goods that has been controlled but has still continues to increase…
But if we compare today’s difficulties and challenges with the extremely difficult fight of the period against America to save the country, we have enough basis to believes that: With the resilient and indomitable spirit of the Vietnamese people, there is no difficulty that cannot be overcome; There is no “enemy” that cannot be defeated. That is everyone’s belief and responsibility to strive to not disappoint the soldiers who heroically sacrificed their lives to regain the integrity of our country so that we can all have a happy life today.
