When mentioning this song, many people remember Xuan Mai, because she sang Mot con vit when she was only 3 years old, in 1998. But the child singer only had the merit of reviving the song, in fact Mot con vit has had a long life and vitality. Unfortunately, people remember the person who sang the song successfully but forget the person who created the song.
The author of A Duck was briefly introduced: Musician Kim Duyen. But who is Kim Duyen? Where is the musician now? What is she doing?…
Image taken from MV "A duck" reaching billion views.
Are you an amateur musician?
The reporter knocked on the door of musician Nguyen Thuy Kha. He revealed a few things: “Kim Duyen is a teacher. It is not clear whether she is still alive or dead. The song “A Duck” was written a long time ago, she must have been over 70, if not then she must have been 65, because I knew this song when I was a child.” Why was a teacher able to write a long-lasting hit song? Musician Nguyen Thuy Kha explained simply: “ In the past, people studied carefully. That is why many female teachers knew how to compose music.”
Some famous artists “pointed” reporters to the poet once known as “child prodigy” Tran Dang Khoa. The author of “Hat gao lang ta” confidently introduced: “Regarding music , if you ask me about any song that has been around for a long time, I will immediately know the year it was composed and who was the first person to sing it.”
When the reporter asked about the children's song A Duck , Tran Dang Khoa happily said: " In 1962, when I was only 4 years old, I heard my sister sing this song. My sister at that time often hummed: "A duck spread out its two wings...". The second song my sister often sang was "Chasing Birds": "The bean garden my mother planted/ Sprouted so beautifully/ In the morning I went out to look/ Saw a flock of birds coming to destroy...".
Like musician Nguyen Thuy Kha, poet Tran Dang Khoa confirmed that Mot con vit is very old, because “when I was still a lisp, I already knew it by heart.” Poet Tran Dang Khoa speculated that the writer of Mot con vit is not a professional musician: “I guess she is a kindergarten teacher, because the lyrics are in the voice of a kindergarten teacher. Only a kindergarten teacher can understand children’s psychology like that. She probably made up this song to teach children.”
The poet who wrote many famous children's poems commented: " The song "One Duck" has nothing profound, the music is nothing special, the lyrics are even more... nonsense. But it especially understands children's psychology. Children sing "One Duck" and then follow the movements of the duck. When singing "One Duck spreads its two wings", they spread their arms. When they get to the next line "It says cach cach cach, cach cach cach" they pat their butts. It's that simple, any child can do it."
At this point, Tran Dang Khoa reaffirmed: “The author of “A Duck” can only be a kindergarten teacher. Professional musicians do not write such silly things. But this song has lived a long life thanks to its silly nature.”
Musician Pham Tuyen’s daughter, journalist Pham Hong Tuyen, who was associated with the TV show Little Flowers that once attracted audiences, also said that A Duck has a very long life: “In kindergarten, when I was 4-5 years old, I sang that song. It has been 50 years since then. The song must have been released even before that.”
She also confirmed that the author of Mot con vit was named Kim Duyen: “Later, when the program “Thung hoa nho” (Little Flowers) often had a song quiz, the answer to the question “Who is the author of Mot con vit” was always Kim Duyen. Kim Duyen was a teacher, an amateur author. She lived in a province in the North, not Hanoi . Perhaps Kim Duyen composed the song Mot con vit for students, and then it spread. That’s all I know about the author of Mot con vit”.
An anonymous Vietnamese music lover expressed: “ Maybe Kim Duyen is not a member of the Vietnam Musicians Association. Someone can have a famous song but is not necessarily a member of the Association. In children's music, many famous songs are composed by professional musicians such as Tan Huyen with "The brown bee and the baby"; "The little frog" by Phan Nhan; "The little elephant in Ban Don" by Pham Tuyen... But there are also famous songs written by non-professional authors such as "A duck" by Kim Duyen or "The fruit" by Xanh Xanh for example: "What kind of fruit is so sour? I would like to say it is a star fruit...".
Musician Do Hong Quan, Chairman of the Vietnam Union of Literature and Arts Associations , former Chairman of the Vietnam Musicians Association, also does not know who the author Kim Duyen is: “I know the song “A Duck” but I do not know who the author is. That song was popular in the 60s and 70s of the last century. If the author was a professional musician, a member of the Vietnam Musicians Association, I would have known immediately. But Kim Duyen is a strange name. Could it be a woman? If the name Duyen was an amateur composer, there would be another person. This person was a Youth Union official in Hai Duong province. At that time, she wrote 1-2 songs. Is that Ms. Duyen the same Ms. Duyen who wrote the song with a billion views on YouTube?”.
Child singer Xuan Mai performed many famous children's songs, including "A Duck".
Who benefits from the song with billion "views"?
Xuan Mai contributed to reviving the children's song Mot con vit in 1998, but she was not the one who made the achievement of billion "views" on YouTube. Heo Con TV channel made this achievement through the MV Mot con vit with vivid 3D animation images. Released on August 31, 2019, after nearly 5 years, up to now, Heo Con TV's MV Mot con vit has reached the milestone of more than 1 billion "views". We must mention the efforts of parents with young children and the children. One parent commented: "Every time my child eats a bowl of rice, he plows 5 views for this song con vit".
The achievement of 1 billion "views" on YouTube makes many people curious about how much revenue Heo Con TV has earned from this MV? It is difficult to find the real number because revenue from views depends on many factors, but a social network expert said that the owner of the YouTube channel above can receive about 2 to 3 billion VND. Many songs on YouTube do not have the author's name. The same goes for a duck on Heo Con TV. Will Heo Con TV go find the author Kim Duyen to share the profits from this huge achievement?
Journalist Pham Hong Tuyen, daughter of musician Pham Tuyen, said: “ My family still entrusts a unit to monitor the copyright of my father's songs in the digital environment. As for song copyrights, one unit cannot be enough to monitor. My father signed with the Vietnam Copyright Center, then the family still had to authorize another unit to monitor all of my father's children's songs in the digital environment, the internet environment.
Copyright issues are very complicated, with many platforms and scopes… At the beginning of the year, my family’s colleagues at the digital copyright monitoring unit that my family signed a contract with asked me: Do you know the author Kim Duyen so we can contact them to request copyright? Because they wanted to produce the video A Duck but wanted to pay copyright to the author so they could use the work properly. But I was helpless because what I knew about the author Kim Duyen was too little, and I also didn’t know if she was still alive or not?”.
Even if author Kim Duyen were still alive, it would not be easy for her to accept her famous, "prosperous" brainchild.
“Kim Duyen is not a professional writer, and certainly not a famous name like musician Pham Tuyen. After many years of silence, she suddenly appeared one day and claimed the song "A Duck" as her own. Who would believe that?
Over the years, we have witnessed many copyright disputes in the country, such as the copyright dispute over the lyrics of the song "Carrying Mother" between poet Truong Minh Nhat and singer Quach Beem. When author Kim Duyen wrote "A Duck", how could the musician register the copyright? So now, demanding the author's legal interests will be difficult" , commented an anonymous Vietnamese music lover.
Poet Tran Dang Khoa said that the writer of "A Duck" was an amateur musician.
There are people who write songs, poems, stories... just want to hide themselves. Regarding poetry, until now, domestic readers are still curious about who the author of the love poem "Two colors of Tigon flowers" is? Maybe not knowing the author makes "Two colors of Tigon flowers" more attractive? But literary royalties are meager. The profit from songs is completely different.
In the past, when writing Sad City, musician Lam Phuong bought a villa. Nowadays, musician Dong Thien Duc buys a house and a car thanks to Ai Trung Tinh Duoc Mai and his “hit” songs. Where is author Kim Duyen now?
Children's songs easy to get "views"?
Son Tung M-TP's MV Lac troi also has to admit defeat to Bong bong bang bang performed by little Bao Ngu, which was released on YouTube about 8 years ago and has now had more than 609 million views. Love you so much, teachers, performed by little Phan Hieu Kien, about ten years ago, has had more than 500 million views.
Journalist Pham Hong Tuyen, daughter of musician Pham Tuyen: The author of "A Duck" lives in a northern province, not Hanoi.
There are familiar children's songs that suddenly become popular thanks to social networks. For example, the case of Ms. Brown Bee and the Baby by the late musician Tan Huyen once became a cover trend with different versions, the Western version, the broken-heart version... But the trend quickly passed, Ms. Brown Bee ... returned to the children.
Source: https://vtcnews.vn/di-tim-tac-gia-bai-hat-ty-view-ar878808.html
![[Photo] Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh chairs the first meeting of the Central Steering Committee on housing policy and real estate market](https://vphoto.vietnam.vn/thumb/1200x675/vietnam/resource/IMAGE/2025/9/22/c0f42b88c6284975b4bcfcf5b17656e7)
![[Photo] General Secretary To Lam presents the First Class Labor Medal to the Vietnam National Energy and Industry Group](https://vphoto.vietnam.vn/thumb/1200x675/vietnam/resource/IMAGE/2025/9/21/0ad2d50e1c274a55a3736500c5f262e5)
Comment (0)