'Forever dedicated to life, a love song of the Southern land'

1.

"Though through ups and downs,
through many ups and downs,
forever dedicated to life,
Southern love song

Those are the heartfelt words in the song Song of the Southern Land by musician Lu Nhat Vu, a kind person, a great tree of Vietnamese music, who has just left us for the land of white clouds.

Indeed, in the past few days, during the journey, amidst the chaos of thoughts and work, my heart still reserved a large part for this farewell. Because, many years ago, by chance, I was a close friend of both the musician and poet couple Lu Nhat Vu and Le Giang.

Musician Lu Nhat Vu and his wife, poet Le Giang

Photo: Document

I remember back then, whenever I had some free time, I often climbed up to the 6th floor of the apartment building at 190 Nam Ky Khoi Nghia (District 3, Ho Chi Minh City) to visit my aunt and uncle.

"House 190 Nam Ky Khoi Nghia/the sound of geckos dripping in the night/the sound of rain dripping in the forest in memory" , those are some lines of poetry by Nguyen Duy, quoted from the poem Ten years of counting fingers, in the time of longing, "house 190" cannot be erased. House 190 was also the residence of most famous Southern artists after 1975, such as Nguyen Quang Sang, Trang The Hy, Diep Minh Tuyen, Anh Duc, Chim Trang, Le Van Thao...

The 6th floor is the highest floor of the apartment building, next to the apartment of Le Giang - Lu Nhat Vu is the poet Hoai Anh, also a kind person. But in contrast to the free-spirited style of poet Hoai Anh, the couple Le Giang - Lu Nhat Vu live very orderly. I still remember the balcony surrounding the apartment where the couple planted many vegetables and flowers. The collard greens were grown in large pots, lush green, just like being cared for in the garden. Every time I came, if it was lunchtime, the couple always forced me to stay and eat with them. When I left, there were always gifts, sometimes a few dried fish, sometimes a dozen duck eggs, a bunch of young choai vegetables... Poet Le Giang is an "expert" in country dishes, a person who knows the markets in Saigon by heart.

Walking with folk songs, they had long field trips, roaming the countryside, then returning to their apartment, working hard. Just like that, enduring over time.

Talking about the character of the South or this Southern land, I think, there is no more valuable illustration than the couple Le Giang - Lu Nhat Vu.

Director Nguyen Vinh Son said that he personally is extremely grateful to musician Lu Nhat Vu for composing the wonderful song Bai Ca Dat Phuong Nam . The success of the TV series Dat Phuong Nam was probably inspired and lifted by that song.

The interesting thing here is that although he was very talented and extremely famous, musician Lu Nhat Vu was extremely simple and humble. Ms. Le Giang and I often talked to each other on the phone, but the first person to pick up the phone was always Mr. Lu Nhat Vu, he connected the call and then transferred it to her. He was like her assistant in everything and always took care of everything. Now he has gone forever...

2.

The humanity of Southern people lies in actions, not words. Talk less, do more. Know how to care and share with others, be more generous with others than with yourself.

In the last years of their lives, the couple Le Giang - Lu Nhat Vu wanted to make a small book called The Children of the Apartment , talking about the "children of those days" of their literary friends from the past. Those children of those days, some of them are now grandparents, famous, successful people... But to the couple, they will always be children, the embodiment of innocence and love of a time.

Amateur music in Bac Lieu

Photo: Phan Thanh Cuong

The Southern land is a specific geographical area, but it can also be understood as an open concept. We know that this land has cajuput and mangrove trees, but perhaps few people know about the mangrove tree. The mangrove tree, by nature, is a mixed tree, not used for anything, not even for firewood. But a mangrove forest stretching out to the sea is to endure the storm, to bend down to let the alluvium deposit, so that cajuput and mangrove trees can appear. Then after several generations of cajuput trees, the soil is pure, less saline, other trees, such as jackfruit, mango, coconut, star apple, etc. can take root and grow.

The nature of the pioneer and the spirit of the pioneer are there.

"Tell someone to go to the Southern land
Blue sky, white clouds, reflecting the Mekong River
Vast cajuput forests, endless green coconut trees
Each swinging water bottle, remembering the old people who used to live here
Let us love more the footprints of a thousand years of pioneering the land
Let us love more the starlings that escaped from the cage"…

(Excerpt from Song of the Southern Land )

The more I read and listen, the more I appreciate each word in the Song of the Southern Land by the late musician Lu Nhat Vu. But the beauty and greatness lie not only in the "thousand-year footprints of land opening", but the main thing is in the "flock of starlings escaping from the cage". A simple image, very folk, very Southern, but extremely impressive and creative. The spirit of freedom in "flock of starlings escaping from the cage" is the freedom to love. That, perhaps, is also the most legitimate freedom in humans.

Therefore, those who seek an "easy life" all travel to the South. Easy life here can be understood as getting rich, but it can also be understood as overcoming petty prejudices. Therefore, someone once said that this Southern land contains both successful people and failures, contains great aspirations as well as ordinary lives. The gap between rich and poor, noble and humble, educated and common people, if any, is insignificant.

A classic example is the late writer Son Nam, author of the famous Huong rung Ca Mau, but lived a simple life alongside poor workers.

3.

These days, in the story of literature and life, perhaps many of us are talking about the film Tunnels: The Sun in the Dark by director Bui Thac Chuyen. The Cu Chi tunnels are also a very unique style of Saigon - Southern Vietnam. They are famous all over the world, but now we have just cut a piece out to tell, and the way of telling is also rustic, not intentionally making it grandiose.

Rustic features of the South

Photo: Hoang Giam

But this is important, Bui Thac Chuyen is not a Southerner, he was born and raised in Hanoi, but later fell in love with the Southern land. It was also from that love that he made the film Glorious Ashes , the script was based on short stories by Nguyen Ngoc Tu, and then followed by Tunnels: Sun in the Dark.

Director Nguyen Vinh Son is not from the South, he is originally from Hue, but is the "father" of the famous Dat Phuong Nam film of the past decades.

There are many more examples like this. It is not a new discovery, but it shows the continuous guidance and cultivation, so that this Southern land always gathers talented (and virtuous) people.

"Forever dedicated to life, the love song of the Southern land" , that song seems to keep ringing, in my heart and perhaps also reigns in everyone's heart.

Source: https://thanhnien.vn/mai-dang-cho-doi-bai-tinh-ca-dat-phuong-nam-185250428180228329.htm