ABOUT THE PLACE-NAME TRẢNG CÒNG
IN THE SONG “LÊN NGÀN” BY HOÀNG VIỆT

NGUYỄN DUYÊN

Trảng Còng is well-known via the famous song Lên ngàn by Hoàng Việt. It mentions the arduous image of women in the resistance war who waded upstream the Vàm Cỏ Đông river and cut rice in the historic flood in Tây Ninh in 1952 in order to take the place of husband and grow their children.

Where is Trảng Còng situated in Tây Ninh border? On website Đất đứng the author Nguyễn Văn Tài supposes that it is in Tràng Bàng (Trảng Còng actually, not Trãng Còng because of the author’s misspelling):

Extract from the song Trãng Còng

Vẳng nghe khúc hát Trãng Còng…

Nhớ xưa gian khổ một lòng đánh Tây

Đáng đời giặc Mỹ vào đây

Xi-ti một trận xác đầy rừng xanh

Ba mươi năm ấy bao tình

Đắng cay trăm nỗi đất giành về ta

Trông lên có ngọn núi Bà

Tân Biên đổ xuống Tha La một màu.

                                   Bảo Định Giang

Trãng Còng, a place in Trãng Bàng, Tây Ninh is well-known nationwide via the song “Lên ngàn” by musician Hoàng Việt in the historic flood in 1952… (A good folk song about Tây Ninh - Văn Tài)

http://datdung.com/modules.php?name=News&file=save&sid=1980

In the memoirs about Trảng Còng Lần theo câu hát tìm về nơi xưa (To follow the singing sentences and try to find the former place) in the blog of Võ Cường, i.e. journalist Thạch Minh from Tây Ninh newspaper, he has been on a fact-finding tour and found that this land is on Vịnh river in Phước Vinh, Châu Thành district. Please see the extract as below.

Have been living in Tây Ninh for nearly thirty years and known by heart the song "Lên ngàn" by Hoàng Việt, I have always been curious about the place name mentioned in the lyrics "em chèo thuyền đi lên rẫy Trảng Cồng/ cắt lúa thay chồng..." (She rows the boat to Trảng Cồng field/ to take the place of her husband cutting rice…). I tried to go along the Vàm Cỏ Đông riverside to ask about it, but getting no information. Accidentally, nearly Tết (Lunar New Year’s Day) in 2006 Mr. Nguyễn Văn Trâm, the Vice Head of PA 25 the Police Department of Tây Ninh province, told me that, “Trảng Cồng is a place name of Phước Vinh commune, near Vịnh riverside, and its correct name is Trảng Còng... You should meet Mr. Nguyễn Văn Ngài who is the former Deputy Manager of the Police Department of Châu Thành district". As happy as finding out a gold mine, I spent some days reaching that land (To follow the singing sentences and try to find the former place).

http://thachminh.vnweblogs.com/mobile.php?op=ViewArticle&blogId=8696&articleId=267923

In Trảng Còng song of Bảo Định Giang, if we are ready-witted we will find that the poet mentions much about Tân Biên, Tha La, and Junction city campaign which situate nearly Châu Thành (where Trảng Còng belongs to!?).

Who we should believe in among two familiar journalists in Tây Ninh, one supposes that Trảng Còng is in Trảng Bàng and one supposes that Trảng Còng is in Châu Thành? In my opinion, Thạch Minh is more convincing since he has been in that land. What does Nguyễn Văn Tài base on to say that Trảng Còng is in Trảng Bàng?

Below is my collection of papers related to Trảng Còng.

In wikipedia, Lên ngàn is a song composed by the musician Hoàng Việt in 1953. According to the voting result from the National Committee for Ideology and Culture, it is ranked as one of 21 revolutionary songs out of 119 songs in 51 provinces that the youth love.

The image of the soldier’s wife shows the deepfelt sentiments, she rows boat upstream the Vàm Cỏ Đông river to the field, taking the place of her husband cutting rice to grow their children.

http://vi.wikipedia.org/wiki/L%C3%AAn_ng%C3%A0n

The website Baomoi.com published a writing, called Musician Hoàng Việt: He promised to come back in this autumn (Tân Linh): While following the troupe to serve the performance to soldiers, Hoàng Việt still composed passionately. Many songs were written in that context: the song Nhạc rừng (Forest music) was composed while the troupe was increasing the self-sufficiency at Dương Minh Châu base. Lên ngàn was written during the historic flood in 1952 that caused the more arduous resistance life in the Southeastern region of Vietnam. Hoàng Việt encouraged people and soldiers of this region via the optimistic songs: Em đi cắt lúa trên ngàn/ Còn anh chiến đấu sa tràng/ Kháng chiến nhất quyết thành công/ Anh về em thỏa ước mong… (She goes to cut rice on the mountain and forest/ He fights at the battlefield/ The resistance will determinedly succeed/ Then he will return and meet her expectation).

Poet Bảo Định Giang reminisced, at that time soldiers and people were in the very difficult situation. After returning from Đức Hòa, Hoàng Việt told him to leave first and he still stayed in Trảng Còng at the riverside of the Vàm Cỏ Đông river to find the composing inspiration. After returning, the song Lên ngàn was composed and sung the first time beside the hammock on which Bảo Định Giang was lying. Bảo Định Giang suddenly cried immediately after the singing. The woeful and majestic song in the arduous and heroic resistance shows the sacrifice of a generation for their homeland.

http://www.baomoi.com/Nhac-si-Hoang-Viet-Khi-ra-di-co-hua-thu-nay-ve/71/4864597.epi

This writting mentions Đức Hòa Long An, the bordering land with Trảng Bàng. If so, Trảng Còng is near somewhere because it is very far (around more than 70 kms) from there to Phước Vinh (like in the writting of Thạch Minh). I tried to find the phrase Trang Cong - Trang Bang on Google many times, but I could not find any information.

I talked to the author Thanh Hiền, the former Chairman of the Literature and Arts Association of Tây Ninh province, a participant in enemy resistance in the war, and a former member in the Letters and Arts Subcommittee of the R Department. He also supposes that Trảng Còng was located in Phước Vinh. At present, many websites and blogs mentioned Tráng Còng in the song Lên ngàn. Author Thanh Hiền supposes that it is not correct. Tây Ninh is a high land with many trảng (cleared areas) including Trảng Lớn, Trảng Sụp, Trảng Mây, Trảng Bàng, etc. It may be because of the musical note’s pitch that we hear as similar as Tráng Còng when the singer sings.

Actually, it is very difficult to find this song’s origin because a long time has passed.

We would like to receive your ideas to supplement the materials of the famous land in music of Hoàng Việt.

ABOUT A SONG THAT CAUSED
A LOT OF CONTROVERSY

LINH NGA NIÊK ĐAM

In 1979, in the vocal music training class organized by Trade Union of Đăk Lăk province for some cadres of the singing and music movement, a favourite singer, Mr. Vĩnh Ngâu gave me the song Nổi cồng lên mừng Tây Nguyên thắng trận (Raising the gongs’ sound to celebrate the Central Highlands’ victory, author Xuân Giao)and suggested me instruct his practice.

The song melody is familiar. It seems that I have ever heard before the liberation in Hanoi on the Voice of Vietnam. The song was introduced from the South. It is a short song bearing the Central Highland folk-song sonority. In this song there is a canto with staccato very suitable to Vĩnh Ngâu’s singing voice.

This song quickly became popular after performance, and loved by the youth of minorities in the province. My father, doctor Y Ngông Niêk Đam, the then Chairman of People’s Committee of the province also very loved this song. He translated by himself into the Êđê dialect and Vĩnh Ngâu sang very successfully. The song lives forever in the soul of the Central Highland music lovers. Until 21st century, many singers, ethnic and Kinh people in Đăk Lăk have selected to sing this song in the art festivals within and outside the province and won many prizes. The song is always introduced as a composition of musician Xuân Giao.

During my work at The Voice of Vietnam in Central Highlands, I was in charge of editing monthly broadcast of 30-minute musical programs about musical compositions and musicians of Central Highlands music. In an introduction of musician Xuân Giao and his songs about the Central Highlands, I interviewed him on the telephone and asked the composition, situation of the song Nổi cồng lên mừng Tây Nguyên thắng trận. I was surprised since he confirmed that was not his composition(?). I asked many people, but nobody knew.

On the occasion of the 75-year foundation of the Vietnam Journalists Assocation (June 21, 2000), the Journalists Assocation of Đăk Lăk organized a powwow with the former senior veterans of French and American resistance wars, who used to work in the press and musical fields at military bases. At the powwow I asked about this song, doctor Ama Thương (Siu Pui), the former leader at the American resistance war and after liberation in Đăk Lăk - Gia Lai confirmed that song was composed by musician Kpă Púi. But musician Ama Nô, the former Head of B3 singing and dance troupe at the American resistance war, told me it was not composed by Kpă Púi.

After a long time, in a talk with the musician La Mai Chửng of Ba na ethnic group about the approach to music, he said, “All people must get another name after joining B battlefield. Working at the Eastern battlefield, I got the pen-name Kpă Y Lăng to show my gratitude forever to musician Kpă Púi, the first teacher took me to music”. He said, “Kpă Púi has many pen-names. He was under the name of Kpă Na Nao when he was still single and had just arrived at the fifth zone battlefield from the North, then the name Ama Đích after having children”.

I suddenly remembered my working at the Central Highlands Troupe of Singing and Dance and at The Voice of Vietnam. At the Voice of Vietnam, my singing was recorded for radio broadcast of singing songs in six languages of Central Highland minorities. I had ever heard and sung some songs of author Kpă Na Nao, but I didn’t know who he was and had not heard about that name any more afterward.

Talking about the song Nổi cồng lên mừng Tây Nguyên thắng trận with some people working with music during the American resistance war, some doubt whether it was composed by musician Hoàng Vân. However, I know that the musician whose song “The liberation gong’s sound, the victory gong’s sound” wrote about the Central Highlands’ victory with the melody very different from this song.

In April 2006, while I was editing a book about the life and the activities of the musician Kpă Púi, the musician Mạnh Trí, the Vice Head of Đăk Lăk Troupe of Traditional Music and Singing, provided one more detail relating to the above song. At that time, Vĩnh Ngâu met me to ask the songs about the Central Highlands for performance. I re-wrote a song that I have heard on Radio the Voice of Vietnam and is very suitable to the voice of Ngâu. I didn’t know the song’s name, thus basing on its content and giving it the name Nổi cồng lên mừng Tây Nguyên thắng trận. Recognizing that musician Xuân Giao always writes for the Central Highlands, I invented the song’s author is musician Xuân Giao. That song and its author exist until now.

We were the professional authors, thus co-analizing the song’s musical nature and found that Nổi cồng lên mừng Tây Nguyên thắng trận is very similar to the composition style of musician Kpă Púi: simple and popular lyrics; usage of the Central Highlands folk-song material to develop the melody which is little but very differ from others; the composition’s form is brief but technique, proving that the author was “professional” and had ever studied the song’s composition. However, we were still in a divided mind the reason why musician Kpă Púi did not give the lie to when people introduced his song to be composed by musician Xuân Giao. He may have not known about this query.

Is this the song sent directly to the North from the battlefield of the fifth military zone when Kpă Púi had just arrived in the South, joined the fighting, and was under the name Kpă Na Nao? Therefore, musician Ama Nô who only worked in Đăk Lăk did not know about this. After returning the Central Highlands, musician Kpă Púi worked for the public mobilization in many years (he took a long note “Boat” to tell about this process), and did come back to the art activities nearly the end of the war (he started working at B5 troupe of the Central Highlands, which was formed from the mergence of Đăk Lăk B3 troupe and Gia Lai troupe). The period working together with musician Ama Nô before the liberation did not last in a long time.

Is it possible to confirm this song was composed by Kpă Púi? We hope that someone who knows about the author and appearance of “the victorious Central Highlands” will clear up this “musical doubt”.

Whoever the author is, the song, called Nổi cồng lên mừng Tây Nguyên thắng trận, fulfills its task: be constant with Central Highlands music from the beginning of the resisitance against American soldiers until the 21st century. Such many Central Highlands singers as Mạnh Trí, Vĩnh Ngâu, Y Moan Ea Nuôl, Y Kô Niêk Đam, H’Len won high prizes thanks to this song full of the fighting fire and techniques.

Every time March and April arrive, the celebration of victory, Nổi cồng lên mừng Tây Nguyên thắng trận as well as Tây Nguyên giải phóng (The liberation in Central Highlands, another song composed by Kpă Púi) are sung all over Central Highlands. That is a proof of musical everlastingness in the human spiritual life.

WHO IS ACTUALLY THE AUTHOR
OF SONG “TÔI ĐƯA EM SANG SÔNG”

Collected by NGUYỄN DUYÊN

Tôi đưa em sang sông (I lead her across the river) is a favorite and familiar song in 1960s. During my studenthood, I very loved this song because of its simple melody (slow rock) and deeply-felt and emotional lyrics. Recently, internet shows that two co-authors of the song, i.e. Nhật Ngân and Y Vũ, present differently its origin. Nhật Ngân said, he composed the song in Đà Nẵng, brought it to Sài Gòn and asked musician Y Vân to advertise. Musician Y Vũ (Y Vân’s brother) said the song was composed basing on the inspiration of his love with a Sài Gòn girl.

What is the origin of this song?

I would like you to see the documents I myself collected to give judgment and contribution to a song’s anecdote.

Trần Nhật Ngân, born in 1942 in Thanh Hóa, is the youngest child in a six-child family. His father worked at the civil service and must move much accordingly, and Nhật Ngân lived in some places such as Huế and Đà Nẵng.

http://nguyenquocdong.vnweblogs.com/gallery/4781/NhatNgan.jpg

In late 1950s, his father died, Nhật Ngân and his mother went to Sài Gòn where his sisters and brothers settled before. After the graduation at Võ Trường Toản school with the high-school graduate, he returned and taught music and Vietnamese at Phan Thanh Giản school in Đà Nẵng. Before, Nhật Ngân approached music via the teaching of Catholic priests in Đà Nẵng and Huế, and then the teaching of his relatives in Sài Gòn, viz. the music professor and famous musician Đỗ Thế Phiệt and Nhật Bằng.

He confided that he ought to have been a violinist like his cousin, Mr. Nhật Hiền. However, his family was so poor that they could not buy a violin for him, and he decided to give up his studies. Thanks to his music indulgence and especially the inborn talent, Nhật Ngân completed his first song at the age of 18. The song is emotional and under the name Tôi đưa em sang sông.

About the appearance of this song, Nhật Ngân said, he loved a girl after returning and teaching in Đà Nẵng. At that time, families in the Middle only married their daughter to people with high rank. He was just a teacher and very young, and her family did not agree to marry her to him. Next, she got married. “I composed that song, it was just a sudden inspiration!”.

Although there was no popularization tool, Tôi đưa em sang sông did become a favourite song that pupils and students in Đà Nẵng made handwritten copies and gave each other for singing.

After that, Nhật Ngân sent this song to the musician Y Vân in Sài Gòn to change some words of the song to make it suitable to the policy of the Ministry of Information because (mawkish songs are not allowed to be popularised). The sentence "Rồi thời gian lặng lẽ trôi, đời tôi là cánh mây trôi bốn phương trời. Và đời em là cánh hoa thì bao người ước mơ, đưa đón trông chờ" was changed by musician Y Vân into "Rồi thời gian lặng lẽ trôi, đời tôi là chiến binh đi khắp phương trời. Mà đời em là ước mơ đẹp muôn ngàn ý thơ, như ngóng trông chờ" to make it conformable to the war situation of the country.

Last sentence of the main origin "Nàng đã thay một lối về, thay cả bàn tay đón đưa" (She changed the coming-back way, forgot the important person) was also changed by Y Vân into "Nàng đã thay một lối về, quên cả người trong gió mưa" (She changed the coming-back way, forgot the person in wind and rain). Lyrical change disappointed him a little because it was not compatible with his state of mind, who did not experienced army life at that time.

Additionally, at that time the author was a nameless person, he asked a famous musician to use his name as a co-author of this song in order that Tôi đưa em sang sông could reach the public more easily. After publication, Tôi đưa em sang sông was under the signature of two people Trần Nhật Ngân and Y Vũ (according to Trường Kỳ -nhacvangonline).

Next is the confidence of musician Y Vũ (Y Vũ is author of the famous song Kim composed in 1964 with the twist performed by Túy Phượng, the then twist music leading singer).

I was born in Hà Nội but grew up in boisterous Sài Gòn. The naive years at high school may never fade in my memory. My heart was stirred before Ms. Thanh, a class-girlmate. The love of pupils was very pure and just shown through look and smile. We did not dare to sit close to or hold the hand of each other. After school, we walked abreast side by side and did not say anything, just… kicked the cow’s milk-can at street.

Thanh was a daughter of a well-to-do family who owned a petrol station at Lý Thái Tổ seven corners. Whereas, I just had a Roumie motorbike. Every afternoon, Thanh reminded me to fill up freely after she replaced his father to take care of the station. Those years was very happy and romantic, but did not last for a long time. Thanh disappeared from my life since she was forced into marriage with a doctor. I was very lonely and experienced the “lovelorn” taste. To regain my sense at 2 am after the drunkenness, I played the guitar and Tôi đưa em sang sông was completed. The song with tormenting sad melody was supposed as a common property of the then companion guys in same misfortune.

I lost all from the first love. That misfortune raised emotion and two songs that I very satisfy were composed. After Tôi đưa em sang sông with the peak of Lệ Thu singing voice, the song Ngày cưới em was also very successful "Hôm nay ngày cưới em, nào men nồng nào hoa thơm, nào môi hồng nào da phấn, khăn áo muôn sắc đua chen...".

I am amorous but faithful to love. In my life I have never been unfaithful to any of my lovers. When I fall in love with a person, I love with all my heart. I don’t know the reason why I have been always deserted. Am I awkward? I have searched my conscience so much and cannot answer that question. My artist life has been so hard and unlucky until now, and is still single. Every night, after finish working in charge of music at Arnold restaurant, I return the boarding-house in singleness. However it is, the life still proceeds, and I still work, create and love.

Each of my song bears the stamp of my memory and innermost feelings. The favorite song Kim that I composed was a gift to Ms. Kim who owned the sad face and lived in a poor family. A year after the song publication, she died because of the heart disease.

(Refer to the link http://my.opera.com /diemxuacafe/blog/show.dml/2402789).

Notes: according to the radio Australia: 70 years of love-song in Vietnamese new music, it supposes that the song Tôi đưa em sang sông was composed by Nhật Ngân (the reason using the name Y Vũ is: musician Y Vân writes his brother’s name to attract the audience).

THINK ABOUT THE LYRIC
OF “GỬI NGƯỜI EM GÁI MIỀN NAM”

ĐỖ VĂN THIỆN

Gửi người em gái miền Nam (to a Southern woman) is a lyrical song of the musican Đoàn Chuẩn, composed in 1956. However, until present, many music lovers only know this song with the name Gửi người em gái (to a woman), another  version. It was performed by Southern singers before 1975; however, its lyric was cut and thus deformed. It is late now, but it’s time to give back its values to this song. This work can be started with calling it the correct name and singing it with the correct lyric, written by musician Đoàn Chuẩn.

One of first singers of the song Gửi người em gái miền Nam is tài tử Ngọc Bảo. He practiced to sing for months, even musician Đoàn Chuẩn admired him after enjoyment. Therefore, we can believe that the lyrics sung by tài tử Ngọc Bảo is what musician Đoàn Chuẩn wrote at the beginning.

Below is the lyric:

1.   Cành hoa tim tím bé xinh xinh báo xuân nồng
Cành đào phong kín cánh mong manh như hoa lòng
Hà Nội mừng đón Tết, hoa chen người đi, liễu rủ… mà chi.

Đêm tân xuân, hồ Gươm như say mê
Chuông reo vui, Ngọc Sơn sao uy nghi
Ngàn phía đến lễ đền
Chạnh lòng tôi nhớ tới… người em.

Tôi có người em gái, tuổi chớm đôi mươi
Mắt huyền trìu mến yêu thương
Đôi mắt em nói nhiều, tha thiết như Giáng Kiều
Hoa tình yêu!

Nhưng… một sớm mùa thu, khép giữa trời, tím ngắt
Nàng đi… gót hài xanh
Người đi trong dạ sao đành
Đường quên lối cũ ân tình… nghĩa xưa.

Rồi từ ngày ấy sống trong Nam nơi kim tiền
Ngục trần giam hãm tấm thân xinh, đôi mắt huyền
Đời nghèo không lối thoát, em tôi đành thôi, cúi đầu… mà đi.

Xuân năm nay, đường đêm Catinat
Hoa mai rơi, rủ nhau nơi phương xa
Dần trắng xóa mặt đường
Một người em gái nhớ người thương!

2.   Rồi ngày thống nhất đến rất nhanh không ai ngờ
Cầu chia giới tuyến đến mai đây san đất bằng
Nụ cười trong gió sớm, anh đến tìm em... giữa cầu Hiền Lương.

Em tôi đi, màu son lên đôi môi
Khăn san bay, lả lơi bên vai ai
Trời thắm gió trăng hiền
Hà Nội thêm bóng dáng nàng tiên.

Em! Tháp Rùa yêu dấu
Còn đó nên thơ, lớp người đổi mới khác xưa
Thu đã qua những chiều nên ý thơ rất nhiều
Cả... tình yêu!
Em... nhẹ bước mà đi, giữa khung trời bát ngát
Trời ta hết màu tang
Đường xưa lối ngập lá vàng
Đường nay thong thả bao nàng đón xuân.

Lòng anh như giấy trắng thanh tân ép hoa tàn
Thời gian vẫn giữ nét yêu đương nơi hoa vàng
Dằn lòng tơ dẫn phím, ý thơ trào dâng, viết gửi vào Nam.

Đêm hôm nao, ngồi nghe qua không gian
Em tôi mơ miền quê qua sương lam
Trời Bắc lóa ánh đèn
Một người trên đất Bắc chờ em!

We can see that there are two parts in this song. Part 1 is the emotion of a sad-ending love story because of the common situation of nation, the missing and great anguish of author while he was thinking of lover from the far place. The old version from the South is still popular and nearly the only one, whereas many people cannot have a chance to know the lyrics, which describes a very fine but anguished poetical picture about a small girl who is lonely welcoming the new spring at a strange place and among strange people.

Xuân năm nay, đường đêm Catinat
Hoa mai rơi, rủ nhau nơi phương xa
Dần trắng xóa mặt đường
Một người em gái nhớ người thương!

Especially, part 2 of the song

The song was composed in 1956 (nearly 20 years before the unification) when two regions was just separated, and the dream of unification according to the Geneva Agreements could not become true. Additionally, at that trouble times everybody did not know about the future, but the author still dreamt “Rồi ngày thống nhất đến rất nhanh không ai ngờ/ Cầu chia giới tuyến đến mai đây san đất bằng/ Nụ cười trong gió sớm, anh đến tìm em... giữa cầu Hiền Lương” (Nobody expects that the unification will quickly become true/ The military demarcation bridge will be leveled to surface/ The smile in early wind, he meets her on Hiền Lương bridge).

A dream in the context that the country was already reunited is simply an optimistic one. But, that dream in context of the state of mind in those days was an unreal one that seemed to arouse the innermost pangs of parting. The pangs flickered a ray of hope, or the groundless or optimistic belief as recognized by some people.

From this way of looking, the pictures described by author such as “Em tôi đi, màu son lên đôi môi/ Khăn san bay, lả lơi bên vai ai/ Trời thắm gió trăng hiền/ Hà Nội thêm bóng dáng nàng tiên” (She goes, lipstick color on her lips/ The shawl flies on the shoulder / windy and moon-lightening / There is a beautiful girl more in Hà Nội) or “Em... nhẹ bước mà đi, giữa khung trời bát ngát/ Trời ta hết màu tang/ Đường xưa lối ngập lá vàng/ Đường nay thong thả bao nàng đón xuân” (She goes lightly under the immense sky/ The sky is not mournful any more/ The former road is full of yellow leaves/ Many girls welcome the spring on the road today) show more other meanings and greater confidences other than the normal love expression for lover who must part because of situation. Therefore, this song has not only its melody, going into human’s heart, but also many things, which serve to be thought depending on the feeling of audiences.

In comparison with the origin, the lyric popular today only remains a very arbitrary and awkward-cutting version. That lyric can differ a little from each other according to the performance of each singer, basically as below:

Cành hoa tim tím bé xinh xinh báo xuân nồng
Cành đào phong kín cánh mong manh như hoa lòng
Hà Nội chờ đón Tết, vắng bóng người đi, liễu rủ... mà chi.

Đêm tân xuân, hồ Gươm sao long lanh
Hoa mai rơi, rủ nhau nơi phương xa
Đường phố vắng bóng đèn
Chạnh lòng tôi nhớ tới... người em.

Tôi có người em gái, tuổi chớm dâng hương
Mắt huyền rộn ý yêu thương
Đôi mắt em nói nhiều, tha thiết như Giáng Kiều
Ôi, tình yêu!

Nhưng... một sớm mùa thu, giữa chân trời xanh ngắt
Nàng đi... gót hài xanh
Người đi trong dạ sao đành
Đường quên lối cũ ân tình... nghĩa xưa.

Rồi từ ngày ấy nước sông ngăn cách đôi lòng
Thuyền tình vỡ lỡ bến cô đơn không ai ngờ
Tình nghèo xa cách mãi, em tôi đành ôm mối sầu mà đi.
Em tôi đi, màu son lên đôi môi
Khăn san bay, lả lơi trên hai vai
Nhìn xác pháo bên thềm
Gợi lòng tôi nhớ tới người em...

It is very easy to recognize this version destroys completely the first structure and deforms the song’s meaning. But singers today still perform this distorting version without facing any opinion raised by the relating Departments in charge of music performance.

The fact that a very fine song, faced difficulty and thus not allowed to be popularized, has passed. At present, even though there is no barrier to continue to make such a mistake, there need to be criticism when people still leave that urgly cover to hide the true value of that song. The cover not only affects the rights and the prestige of the musician Đoàn Chuẩn, but also takes the change of enjoying a fine song of music lovers since they enjoy just a false song without awareness.

When can this famous song take back its real name and lyric?

 August 2011