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website & blog of Tuan Hoang, Pepperdine University

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Anh Bằng

Song of war #2 – Đêm Nguyện Cầu (Night of Prayer)

Belief in God tends to be strong for people living amid warfare. It is hardly a surprise then that prayer finds its way into music written during war.  It was surely the case with popular music in South Vietnam.

Since this is the week of Christmas, it is worth mentioning that one the most popular South Vietnamese albums is filled with prayer.  It is the third album of the fine series Sơn Ca (Birdsong), and the title is simply Giáng Sinh: Tình Yêu và Hòa Bình: Christmas: Love and Peace.  It features some of the biggest names in the Saigon music scene at the time: Thái Thanh, Khánh Ly, Thanh Lan, Giao Linh, Lệ Thu, Anh Khoa, etc.  (A recording from Elvis Phương would have completed this A-list.)

Continue reading “Song of war #2 – Đêm Nguyện Cầu (Night of Prayer)”

Song of war #5 – Căn Nhà Ngoại Ô (The Suburban House)

Here is the list so far:

10. Quê Hương Chiến Tranh
9. Tám Nẻo Đường Thành
8. Đưa Em Về Quê Hương
7. Đó! Quê Hương Tôi!
6. Tình Thiên Thu của Nguyễn Thị Mộng Thường

The toughest choice for me is the fifth one.  It didn’t take me long to settle on the songs above – or the fourth, third, second, and top songs.  (Two of the top five belong to Trịnh Công Sơn; can you guess which songs?)   For the fifth spot, I wanted to continue on the theme of romantic love and loss from selection #6.  I thought of several possibilities.

kimloan3
photo courtesy khanhly.com

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