46 years ago, in 1978, when I was a first-year student at Hue University, one day I received a letter from my parents from the North, in which they asked: “Our family is about to move to the South. Mom and Dad are undecided about whether to choose Da Nang (my father’s hometown) or the coastal city of Nha Trang to live long-term. Your older sister and younger brother both chose Nha Trang. Which one do you want to live in?”
 |
| The poetic beauty has inspired musicians to write many good works about Nha Trang. Photo: GC |
The reason I asked my children about moving house was because my parents were regrouped cadres. After the country was unified, they wanted to return to the South to work but had not decided where to live. Of course, I answered "I choose Nha Trang" without any hesitation. Because, not only did I hear from friends that this city was beautiful, but for me at that time, when the song "Nha Trang, Autumn Comes Back" by musician Van Ky was just released and sung by singer Ai Van, it had a strange appeal. I liked Nha Trang, and then liked it even more when my parents officially moved to work and live in this city.
In class, many girls often write down good poems, famous quotes and lyrics of their favorite songs in their notebooks. I did the same. The song by musician Van Ky and two other songs written about Nha Trang that I collected, “Nha Trang” by musician Minh Ky - Ho Dinh Phuong and “Nha Trang ngay ve” by musician Pham Duy, were written down neatly in my notebook, below the capitalized line: “SONGS BY THE BLUE SEA”. Those songs entered my heart with very special emotions. The song “Nha Trang” expresses the feelings of a child who grew up in Nha Trang and then went far away, missing his hometown with so much nostalgia: “Where are the happy afternoons of the past? Where are the passionate afternoons? Sitting by the sad sea, looking out to the vast ocean. Where is the dreamy Po Nagar Tower? Where is the lonely Chong Rock? Where is the poetic Cau Da Wharf? Nha Trang has a beautiful scene with a clear moon and cool breeze. Whoever passes by will never forget. A few distant regrets. Oh, whoever returns, please tell me. Nha Trang, my gentle homeland. My heart will love it forever.” The song “Nha Trang on the return day” talks about the feelings of a young man in love walking on the deserted beach, remembering his broken love: “Nha Trang on the return day. I am alone on the beach at night. I go into longing. I go looking for the wind. I rebuild the dreams of years past. The deep sea, the two of us are close to each other…” The song “Nha Trang, autumn has returned” paints an emotional picture of a poetic land, filled with love in the early days of peace , unification, and the country embarking on building a new life: “Oh Nha Trang, autumn has returned. In smiles and passionate singing. The red flag flutters in the new life. The sails are filled with strong winds, the boat sets sail far away. Our homeland sea opens up the horizon. Autumn comes, I will go with you. To build our homeland. Following the footsteps of the victorious army. Oh, can you hear autumn coming with endless love. Let me sing a heroic song. Let me love pure love. Let me walk on the revolutionary path. Let me dream of autumn coming to Nha Trang sea with splendid golden sunshine…”. Many nights, sitting in the dormitory yard with friends or in the evenings at local people's houses when working far away organized by the school, with the guitar, we often played and sang, and at times like that, sometimes I asked my friends to accompany me on the guitar, singing songs about the land of Nha Trang that I would visit.
People say that music is the echo of emotions and the soul, and it is not wrong. The above songs have left me with many impressions and excitement, waiting to explore the beautiful scenery of Po Nagar Tower, Hon Chong, Cau Da... However, nearly half a century ago, it was not easy to go from Hue to Nha Trang because of the difficult means of transportation, mainly by Thong Nhat train, and students did not have money, and their schedules were packed every week, so it was not until the summer vacation that I was able to set foot here for the first time. Just like my imagination through the songs, the coastal city of the white sand and poplar region appeared before my eyes, very attractive. During the whole summer vacation with my bicycle, I traveled everywhere in the city, visited many historical and cultural relics, and sometimes sat enjoying the breeze by the poplar rows by the sea, watching the waves from the open sea, one after another, crashing on the shore...
After graduating, I chose to return to Nha Trang to work and live until now. During that long time, I heard many more songs written about Nha Trang, including good and emotional works such as: "Nha Trang, the city I love" by musician Van Dung, "Nha Trang autumn" by musician Pho Duc Phuong, "Bien hen Nha Trang" by musician Pham Minh Tuan... However, in my memory, I still have the image of me collecting songs, then copying them in a notebook, waiting for the day to return to my family. It is just a small part of my memories of my youth, but I feel that music is one of the fastest ways to promote a land.
Nha Trang is a tourist city, so music is an element that needs to be exploited. In particular, recently, in the world, the trend of music tourism has become quite popular. This is not simply to introduce the beauty of the homeland, to educate patriotism, but also to invite tourists to visit. In the country, there have been many famous songs written about localities such as: Hanoi, Ho Chi Minh City, Hue, Hai Phong, Ben Tre, Quang Binh ... as evidence. Therefore, in addition to organizing competitions, composing campaigns to have more good songs, new songs, should we organize good singing festivals for songs about Nha Trang? If in the field of theater, schools, the education sector have arranged extracurricular activities for school theater programs, or in the field of literature with local literary content, then in the field of music, it is necessary to spend time introducing students to typical songs of the places where they live. Selecting musical works about Nha Trang, printing them into books; producing music videos and discs, in which introducing the city's scenic spots, making these products both interesting in lyrics, melodies, and beautiful in images for wide distribution to tourists is also very necessary. The above solutions play an important role, creating a ripple effect to the links supplying tourism products. Along with other forms of communication, music will be a bridge connecting hearts, helping friends know and come to Nha Trang, a friendly, happy city that is rising in the flow of integration and development.
NGOC ANH
Source
Comment (0)