Love songs in the resistance war

The war has long since ended. Every year, as scheduled, those days of war are solemnly recalled so that at least the younger generation who grew up after 1975 will know the history of the struggle of a time when our ancestors shed blood. And to be fair, music has contributed a significant part in that long and arduous struggle.

Love songs during the war in general are more numerous than love songs during the resistance war against the French. Although there are few, they are beautiful love songs like a painting that every time you listen to it, you feel like you're seeing the country's situation at that time again.

Some people say that since the time of peace until now there have been many love songs, but in terms of quantity there are, but in terms of quality these love songs have hardly stood the test of time and are deeply engraved in people's hearts.

There are many love songs in the war, but in this short "feeling" article, the writer only "names" a few love songs of couples in the resistance war, and only in the resistance war in particular and in the war in general, are there typical songs in both form and content. The love songs were born in the resistance war, the time when the country's new music was just coming out of its embryonic period (1938), from hardships and deprivations of all kinds, yet they wrote love songs that were beautiful in every note and word.

Love songs of couples during the resistance war, typically "The dim moon by the stream" (Le Mong Nguyen) "The old wharf" (Anh Viet), Anh Viet also has a very famous love song that during the nine years of resistance war everyone knew by heart, that is the song "Afternoon in the deep forest": "... In the distant, gloomy forest dyed with the dim moonlight / The sound of the wind whistling through thousands of bare trees / The temple bells ring here reminding the souls of the wronged / The forest still carries hatred forever in the dusk / ... Many days of fighting here stained with the blood of heroes / The traces are still recorded for a thousand years without fading...".

“The Siren in the Night Mist” (Le Truc) and “The Words of the Departing Person” (Tran Hoan). Every separation is tragic, but in these four love songs, the separation between two people is the main theme, a separation without a return date, a separation to fulfill a noble mission, sad but not tragic: “… One afternoon you walked away, I saw you off at the end of the hill/ I heard myself telling myself that the resistance war would be long (bis) and arduous/ Blood would still fall, bones would still fall/ many layers of people on the front lines poured out, preventing the enemy from trampling our people…”.

The surprisingly simple notes convey the lyrics in Mélodie that only these farewell moments can have. During the resistance war against the French, people sang the Words of the Departed as a blessing even though the battlefield was ahead.

Separation in war is always forewarned. Afternoon and night are the spaces and times that musicians always choose to have a suitable color scheme: “… I always remember a spring afternoon of separation, dark clouds descending on the hills/ And in my heart it rained more than outside/ Grass, trees, flowers and leaves/ Forever missing the person who left…” (Smile of the Mountain - To Hai).

“… One night in the deserted forest/ The moonlight slanted over the cliff/ The silhouette of a mountain girl with a pretty smile appeared/ One night in the mountains/ There was a traveler looking up at the distant sky/ Watching the moon passionately, alone and wistful/…” (Song of a Mountain Girl - Tran Hoan).

“… The person who made an appointment with me to come to the stream bank/ The misty afternoon forest, the dim moonlight shining

One passionate night and then tomorrow we will be apart/ From now on, we will know where to go/ The stream of dreams is quiet and hazy for a thousand years/ My heart is sad, leaving behind me, missing the lonely afternoon/…” (The Moonlight by the Stream - Le Mong Nguyen).

A holy parting, beautiful and clear as a spring flowing from a pure underground stream.

Love during the resistance war was so beautiful, the setting was a forest, a stream, hills, a dike, a pond bank... they broke up in a situation where they didn't know when they would return, because "The resistance is still long" (The words of the person leaving), "Knowing to go, I miss you sadly" (The old wharf), "The person going far away from the school is lonely" (The moon is dim by the stream)...

Love songs during the resistance war are a highlight in Vietnamese music, even though the country's music industry was still in its infancy at that time.

There were not many love songs during the resistance war, but they left an indelible mark in the hearts of listeners, and they were sung again so that the old people could "listen - again - to - the - memories" and the young people could know that during the resistance war, there were many losses, separations, poverty... yet there were love songs as beautiful as a legend!

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