Music Stream promises to return to Hanoi

The poem " Day Ve " by Chinh Huu was written right after the Capital Regiment withdrew from Hanoi in early 1947 and was immediately loved by soldiers because of its bold and proud tone, which matched the feelings of the young generation who had just left school. "There is a group of people stationed in the deep forest. Tonight I dream of returning to Hanoi. When will they return?". The poem was set to music by Luong Ngoc Trac, conveying a majestic atmosphere but full of romance. It also became a model for many songs with the same theme, for example the couplet "The ten thousand mile shoes are torn. The dust of the long march fades the elegant shirt" was mentioned again in another song by Huy Du, " Se ve thu do" : "Taking a step to go in the afternoon of the past. The long miles of resistance forgot the day of return. The dust of the long march faded my hair. Suddenly remembering when I left to write my oath". The heroic atmosphere with a lot of romanticism and somewhat impetuousness covered many songs of this period: "Living with the capital! Dying with the capital! The group of young men left one day, but we are determined to return victorious one day" ( Returning to the capital - To Hai, 1947).

Songs with similar melodies include : Moonlit Night Missing Hanoi (Nguyen Duc Toan), Hanoi Here! (Van Duc, 1949) and the most popular are Hanoi People (Nguyen Dinh Thi, 1947) and Marching to Hanoi (Van Cao, 1949). Both these epics and marches had a great impact on the masses thanks to the interweaving of beautiful melodies and symbolic lyrics. Right from the first verses, they planted in the hearts of listeners a vision of Hanoi as the center of the country and of the resistance: “Here is Hoan Kiem Lake, Hong Ha, West Lake. Here the souls of the thousand-year-old mountains and rivers settle, here is Thang Long, here is Dong Do, here is Hanoi, beloved Hanoi!” The day of return is depicted with jubilant triumphal songs: "Tomorrow, generations of people will go out shouting triumphantly" and "Intoxicated in the song, generations of troops march forward... Hanoi is filled with the song of marching troops".

Another epic song that is often mentioned is Ba Dinh Nang (Bui Cong Ky, poem by Vu Hoang Dich, 1947), recalling the moment of “thirty-six streets that day, were the red river branches with flags. The great yellow star was shining brightly, five petals spread over five city gates”, taken from the poem Remembering Hanoi in its golden days by Vu Hoang Chuong. The song has a dramatic and somewhat ornate quality, ending with the image of the return in an autumn: “I secretly believe that autumn is coming. Tomorrow’s autumn is peaceful, forever will be free of desolation. Tomorrow’s autumn is victorious, the flag rises in the bright pink sunlight”. There is also a somewhat lamented image of loss and sacrifice: “The day of return is joyful! But in the capital, who is not sad? How many green hairs hug white scarves, how many cheeks are weeping, tears rolling down. Waiting for husbands and children to return on the day of victory, who is missing among the returning troops!” ( Returning to the capital ).

There is another image of the return day, which is the return day in the minds of those who lived in the heart of Hanoi temporarily occupied for 8 years (1947-1954). A Southern musician, Tran Van Nhon, who worked at the Viet Nhac Department of Hanoi Radio during the period of 1948-1952, also had feelings about the glorious days that had passed: “I remember the days living in the capital in the past… Beloved Hanoi! It is a place of a thousand years of history, the heart of Vietnam, the heroic Vietnamese soul!” ( Hanoi 49 ). Also named The Return Day , Hoang Giac’s song is associated with the context of a return of a man from abroad who witnessed his muse departing for another shore. The song also lives in the hearts of many Hanoians with many hidden thoughts about reunion: “Spreading the wings of a bird to return to the warm nest, where we lived for so many sweet days! Longing to find old friends, the birds flying in the wind…”.

Musician Nguyen Van Quy was known as a music educator and wrote romantic theme songs in the early 1950s. When preparing to take over in mid-1954, a song spread among Hanoi youth called Hanoi Giai Phong , under the pen name Do Quyen: “Hanoi! Cheer up, Hanoi! After eight years of living in humiliation and sadness. Today we escape the darkness, throwing the golden stars up in the wind… After eight years away from the heroic army, we meet here around the liberation flag. The fullness of our love and longing disappears in the fresh pink shadow”.

The most prominent of the songs of the day of return from this perspective is Towards Hanoi (Hoang Duong, 1954). Written in a relatively chaotic period, when the Geneva Agreement divided the country into two regions, the farewells during the period of free movement gave rise to mixed emotions between nostalgia for Hanoi and longing for the day of return: “A day of the war's end! The smoke and fire subsided, looking for the shore. A day of rosy flowers and leaves, singing a love song, speaking out passionate words”. This day of return was also continued by the nostalgia of the migrants, weaving a scene in the collective mind of Hanoi with “lights hanging everywhere, colorful shirts fluttering in the wind”.

After the capital was taken over on October 10, 1954, songs about Hanoi focused on praising the new life and the theme of the struggle for national unification. They were often fast-paced, vibrant songs, such as Around the Lake (Nguyen Xuan Khoat), Uncle has returned to the capital (Le Yen), Song of Hanoi (Xuan Oanh, lyrics by Dao Anh Kha), My hometown is liberated (Van Chung). In general, it was not until a while after the fiery echoes of the Dien Bien Phu victory day subsided that songs about Hanoi began to find the characteristic lyrical appearance of a Hanoi that still retained the golden features of the past, such as Afternoon on West Lake (Ho Bac, 1954), Afternoon on Sword Lake (Tran Thu, 1954), To My Southern Sister (Doan Chuan-Tu Linh, 1956)...

But the charm of private emotions such as "My sister left, the lipstick on her lips, the scarf fluttering, swaying on her shoulders. The sky was bright with gentle wind and moon, Hanoi had more of a fairy's figure" ( To my sister from the South ) also soon gave way to new grand scenes with a strong collective character. The construction of Hanoi and the North in large plans quickly put Hanoi in a new shape, which after ten years was reviewed by Vinh Cat: "Hanoi of the past, the dragon flew brightly, Hanoi today is bursting with vitality. Here and there, everywhere the construction sites are bustling, the past ten years, oh, the radiance of our Capital" ( My Hanoi , 1964). In this context, Hanoi after the return took on the color of constructivism, with a tone that always looked forward.