“Our ancestors fell…”, “Not all of us can return…”, music from two eras together calls out the name of national gratitude.
A love without borders
I have written a lot about war. I have also lived with many generations of soldiers. But I am a soldier who grew up in peace . In the uniform that has been with me on the training ground, sometimes I quietly listen to the rustling melody of the march from an old recording of "Victory Day", the immortal song of the former Soviet Union.
And now, after nearly half a century, I am once again silent, but not because of the sound of cannons or the eloquent speech, but because of a very new song, by a young Vietnamese musician: Nguyen Van Chung with "Continuing the story of peace".
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| Photo of musician Nguyen Van Chung's personal page |
In the middle of the historic April, those two songs: One was born exactly 30 years after the Soviet Union's victory but right in our victorious Spring, the victory of April 30, 1975, the other was born and shone brightly on April 30, 1975, after a journey through many glories mixed with bitterness enough for us to appreciate more the value of peace, independence, and freedom. Two songs, two eras, two countries but suddenly blended in me like a harmony of two generations. They tell the same story: "We live, because someone has fallen".
The Soviet Union’s “Victory Day”, born in 1975, is a march but not a frenzy. It is an echo of victory but full of nostalgia. The lyrics are simple: “Hello Mother, not all of us can return…” Just one sentence, but it encapsulates the tragedy of a nation that once ravaged Europe to crush fascism.
The song does not glorify proud generals. It bows to the gray hair in the cemetery. The unknown soldiers. The bleeding feet that crossed half the world. And also the promise from the living generation: “We have advanced with lightning speed. And now it is the duty of peace.”
“Continuing the story of peace” was born from another location: Among the high-rise buildings, among the lights of the national flag on a modern street. But its first lines do not stray from the sacred vein: “Our ancestors fell, so that our future generations can exchange for peace.”
Like “Victory Day,” it does not glorify war or celebrate heroism. It begins with gratitude. And it emphasizes something like a bell to today’s young people: Peace is not a given. It is a trade-off.
Need someone to write with courage and a heart
I served in the army, did party work, political work, and taught new soldiers in the Sao Vang Division to sing. Then I became a journalist, writing about countless soldiers who went through war, who forgot their own feelings, even themselves, for the sake of this country. I also wrote about literature, art, about parliament, about investigation, and about economics. I am not afraid to name paradoxes. But there are times when I feel myself becoming silent, because of a simple thing: There are too many people who are living, but are indifferent to sacrifice.
Therefore, when I listened to “Continue the story of peace”, I was not simply moved. I felt the return of responsible music, a gentle but profound melody, not using technique to “touch the ears”, but using truth to touch the hearts.
The lyrics: “Grateful to the soldiers, forget your personal feelings, forget yourself…” is not a symbolic image. It is a reality I have witnessed. From the soldiers in Cay Dua prison, the special forces soldiers under the purple phoenix flowers of the South Central Coast, or those who liberated Truong Sa and spent their 20s in the waves, to the mother of a martyr sitting silently next to her child’s photo on the pearl island of Phu Quoc.
They do not demand honor. But history, if it has a beating heart, must remember them first.
“Victory Day” is performed every year on May 9 in Red Square. Flags flutter. Parading formations. But if it were just images, it would be theater. It’s the music that makes people cry.
The Russians call this song “the second heart of the Soviet people.” Because it is not a song for the winners, but a song for the losers.
Similarly, “Continue the Peace Story” is no longer a performance song. It is becoming a collective song in schools, offices, military units, police, and on social networks. Choruses such as:
“Let's continue writing the story of peace together…” is no longer an invitation, but a reminder of responsibility.
I am not familiar with Nguyen Van Chung. I used to be wary of young singers and musicians who write “love” and “viral” songs for quick results. But with this song, I see a writer who is like a soldier.
He doesn't write to sell. He writes to send. To his father, to the growing generation, to the children who have never heard the sirens.
I hope you continue writing. But not just continue the old stories. Please also write about the “soldiers on the new front”, the businessmen, workers, industrial and commercial engineers, the people in remote areas who overcame poverty, the general offensives of peacetime innovation.
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| Two singers performed the song "Continue the story of peace" at the April 30th Ceremony. Photo: singer Vo Ha Tram's personal page |
When songs carry flags
I once stood between Ba Dinh Square and Red Square. On one side was the song “Marching Song”, on the other side was “Day of Victory”. And then I realized: there are times when music is more powerful than flags. When a song makes young people silent, makes adults tear up, makes a soldier who is no longer young like me pick up his pen to continue writing, then it is no longer music. It is part of the living memory of the nation.
I thank Nguyen Van Chung not only for his good song, but also for his courage. Courage to go against the market trend. Courage to choose a big topic. Courage to write with both gratitude and pride, in harmony with the beat of the national festival.
I hope you and the whole generation of young artists continue to write about the country, not about the past, but about the desire for action. Continue to write songs about construction, about new people, about the economic front, like a new heroic song of the nation in the era of globalization.
Peace will only last when we continue to write with our work and with all our hearts. The wars are far away. But the “fight to keep peace” never stops. It lies in every timely decision. In every hand of construction. In every heart that still remembers who fell so that we can rest in peace.
Peace, therefore, cannot be silence. It must be written on. Singed on.
And live on. In every person. With every heart.
Source: https://congthuong.vn/tu-ngay-chien-thang-den-viet-tiep-cau-chuyen-hoa-binh-dieu-con-mai-385625.html
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