Night's Story: A Corner of Trinh's Music

Late at night, if you don’t have to work, and simply want to relieve stress after a busy day before going to bed, what music will you listen to? Romantic, folk, reformed or modern music…?

I really like listening to Trinh's music, because the gentle, beautiful and deep melodies that resonate in the night are very suitable for clearing the mind and also for conversing with myself. Being passionate about Trinh's music is not a hobby that suddenly appeared in my life, but it was partly influenced and shaped by the lifestyle and culture of my family in the past.

When I was a child, around the late 1990s, I often heard my father hum songs by musician Trinh Cong Son. Especially the song Diem Xua, every time Saigon suddenly had a rainstorm, I would listen to it by heart: “The rain still falls on the ancient tower/ How long are your arms, how long will your eyes be pale…”

Or in his free time, my father would go to the store to rent Trinh music tapes and CDs to play for the whole family to listen to just for entertainment and relaxation... At that time, there was no internet so that with just a click of the mouse or a tap of the phone, one could listen to one's favorite song. Yet I listened to Trinh's music so much that it became ingrained in my subconscious without me even realizing it.

By the age of 13, when I had already gotten into the habit of reading many books, I began to learn about the lyrics and life of musician Trinh Cong Son through books written about him. Understanding Trinh's lyrics is really not easy and sometimes it is impossible to fully understand the meaning of those lyrics.

Trinh Cong Son's handwriting

People say that in the music there is meditation, the lyrics have existentialism and Buddhist philosophy. But for many people who have listened to Trinh's music for nearly a century, the first requirement is not to understand his lyrics. Because just being in tune with the high and low notes, melodious music can touch the source that cools the mind and soul of each of us.

I don’t know anything about the academic knowledge of Vietnamese music. There are many artists and musicians who have become famous on their own special paths since ancient times. And the songs are all classified as folk music, lyrical music or bolero… But strangely, only musician Trinh Cong Son has his last name used to name the music genre with the songs he composed, that is Trinh music.

Later, when the means of entertainment became more and more diverse, I listened to and also liked many works of other musicians. Songs with good lyrics and beautiful melodies always made me captivated and moved for a certain period of time.

But at a certain stage when I had to go through life's challenges with many emotional storms, I would listen to Trinh's music like a child seeking the comfort of lullabies... Those melodies always rang out at the right time to heal a tired soul that needed to rest...

“Please sleep in the cradle

I lull you to sleep

Please sleep under the tree canopy…”

(Lullaby to us - Trinh Cong Son)

Source: https://vov.vn/van-hoa/tu-su-cua-dem-mot-goc-nhac-trinh-post1097473.vov