It is not easy at all to choose a couple of songs from Trịnh Công Sơn for any list of ten songs about the Vietnam War. The first of his five albums in the Sing for the Vietnamese Country series – Hát Cho Quê Hương Việt Nam – is a masterpiece that must be listened from top to bottom. It is not a surprise that both of my selections come from that album.
Hãy Sống Giùm Tôi – Live for Me or Please Live For Me – is perhaps the simplest composition in the entire album: musically, perhaps; linguistically, definitely. It took me, what, all of six or seven minutes to translate the lyrics – half of the time on two or three lines.
The lyrics thrive on triplets. “Live for me, speak for me, breathe for me!” “For hatred, for violence, for ambition…” “Why waiting, why sitting, why being still…” If there could one song without any need for commentary, this is it.
Hãy sống giùm tôi, Live for me,
Hãy nói giùm tôi, Speak for me,
Hãy thở giùm tôi. Breathe for me.
Thịt da này dành This body has been used
Cho thù hận, For hatred,
Cho bạo cường, For violence,
Cho tham vọng For ambition
Của một lũ điên Of a mad gang.
Hãy sống giùm tôi, Live for me,
Hãy nói giùm tôi, Speak for me,
Hãy thở giùm tôi. Breathe for me.
Quả tim này dành This heart is reserved
Cho lửa hồng, For fire
Cho hòa bình, For peace
Cho con người For people
Còn chờ đấu tranh Waiting to struggle.
Ai có nghe Who have heard?
Ai có nghe Who have heard
Tiếng nói người Việt Nam, The voices of Vietnamese,
Chỉ mong hòa bình Longing for peace
Sau đêm tăm tối, after the dark night
Chờ mong một ngày Longing for a day
Tay ấm trong tay? when hands hold warm hands?
Hãy sống giùm tôi, Live for me,
Hãy nói giùm tôi, Speak for me,
Hãy thở giùm tôi. Breathe for me.
Đã lâu rồi làm For so long
Sao chờ đợi, Why waiting?
Sao còn ngồi, Why sitting?
Sao im lìm Why being still,
Ngủ hoài các anh? Sleeping with no end?
Hãy sống giùm tôi, Live for me,
Hãy nói giùm tôi, Speak for me,
Hãy thở giùm tôi. Breathe for me.
Còn thấy gì What do you see
Ngoài bom lửa đạn? Other than bombs and bullets?
Anh chị này, Brothers and sisters,
Sao vui mừng Why should we accept
Làm người cúi xin? being the oppressed?
It’s long known that this song was inspired by the self-immolation of Nhất Chi Mai, a thirty-something school teacher during the week of Buddhist Vesak celebrations in 1967. Legend has it that although she was a devout Buddhist, she placed two statues in front of her – one of Guanyin, the Buddhist female saint of mercy, and one of the Virgin Mary – and prayed to both of them before self-immolating in protest of war and the hope for peace.
Like most songs in this album, the arrangements for Live for Me is just about perfect. The acoustic guitar opens the recording, plays the instrumental break, and comments on the lyrics through and through. The rest of instrumentation comes from the bass, the snare drum, and a light and non-intrusive sound from the organ.
Khánh Ly’s voice is steady without emoting: an impressive accomplishment for a song that invites easy emotionalism. It’s a vocal performance always in control of itself. I remember reading somewhere that Khánh Ly considers it either her favorite song of this album or, possibly, of all songs by Trịnh Công Sơn. (I think it’s the latter.) I don’t know her reasons, but should guess that it may have something to do with the lyrical prowess deriving from the simplicity of composition and arrangements.
tuannyriver 
December 16, 2015 at 4:06 pm
At least to some extent, this song is a make-over (I would almost say hi-jacking) by Khánh Ly. The published title was “Hãy nói giùm tôi.” (“Dùm” is even an anachronistic spelling). She sings it in a lilting 3/4 meter, but Trịnh Công Sơn wrote it in 4/4.
http://www.tcs-home.org/songs/titles/hay-noi-gium-toi/image1.jpeg/image_view_fullscreen
http://www.tcs-home.org/songs/titles/hay-noi-gium-toi/image2.jpeg/image_view_fullscreen
Trịnh Công Sơn professed to like Khánh Ly’s sung versions better than his own (thus no hi-jacking is possible), but she frequently strays far from the rhythms he notated.
This song doesn’t move me as much as most of the other songs on the cassette. I like Richard Fuller’s rendition better – https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hOeUcJqH2sI – although he’s very influenced by Khánh Ly’s version, which must be considered the standard version.
“Một lũ điên” is pretty strong and direct language for Trịnh Công Sơn. I would translate “thịt da” as flesh, and “dành” translated as used doesn’t seem accurate. You translate it more accurately below as “reserved.” “Thịt da này dành / Cho thù hận …” to me should be “This flesh is consecrated / to hatred …”
I didn’t realize that this song was a reaction to Nhất Chí Mai’s self-immolation. That makes the notion of consecration more sensible. I think Phạm Duy and Phạm Thiên Thư’s Nhất Chí Mai song is a stronger work – and also a fitting song of the war.
http://taybui.blogspot.com/2010/09/mot-canh-mai-plum-branch-pham-duy-pham.html
and also
http://taybui.blogspot.com/2010/09/chap-tay-toi-quy-xuong-hands-pressed-i.html
December 16, 2015 at 5:08 pm
Thanks for the correction on giùm, which has been retyped. I copied the lyrics from an online and completely forgot it, as the video shows the more common spelling. Didn’t realize he wrote it 4/4; your comment makes me wonder how they decided to record as is…
Even though I like more than you do, I think it must be listened in the intended sequence of the album for full impact. It indeed pained me slightly to pick only a couple of songs. Yes, the connection to Phạm Duy was well known too.