Kristine Sa’s reBIRTH is an album that will attract the Asian boys with their supped up cars. They can just pump it in their rides and nod their heads to the Asian prides. The remixes are catchy, but her inexperienced breath control on the slower tracks disappoints me. She respires hard in between the lines. The sugarcoated tunes are great for club joints but won’t stay too long. Sorry sweetie!

“Giot Suong Tren Mi Mat” weaved into my dream last night. I could not see clearly, but definitely heard the music because when I woke up at 2:09 in the morning, when Hong Nhung screamed near the ending, my stereo was still playing. I forgot to put it to sleep. I have heard countless versions of “Giot Suong Tren Mi Mat,” but Hong Nhung’s interpretation swept me off my feet. She accomplished the high notes perfectly and, at the same time, rided beautifully with the dynamic arrangement. The voice and the beat left a deep sound in my dream.

Here is Patrick Gallagher’s translation of Thanh Tung’s “Giot Suong Tren Mi Mat.”

Dew Drops On My Lids

How could I know
Each time the sun rose
The sun dropped its tears
On my ma and my pa

Now I am grown
Buds bloom in my heart
Dew drops on my lids
So that’s love, tears of first love

With my first words
I yelled out at life
My moods like the wind
So some things don’t change

Just now I see
Some years have piled on
Tear drops all dried up
Still life seems, life seems so hard

When I smile and think sad thoughts
Why don’t I cry, make light my dark mind?
Because sometimes, looking at life
Joy shines in my eyes and my tears shine on my lips

Please let my cry
Soft sounds from my voice
My tears in a flood
Would drain my sad mood

Each time I’ve won
A smile in my heart
Dew drops on my lids
That’s sun drops, tears from the sun
Dew drops in my lids
That’s sun drops, tears from the sun

“Saigon 1952” – which is Van Cao’s “Thien Thai” – is the song that brought me to Hong Nhung. When I first heard it while watching The Quiet American, her dramatic vocals along with the intensity of Craig Armstrong’s musical score strike me. The experience was breathtaking and I could not wait to find out who the performer was. Once the name Hong Nhung came up and got my hand on Thuo Bong La Nguoi, the rest is history. Recently, Pat sent me a version of “Thien Thai” recorded by a Vietnamese arranger. The experience is less dramatic, but the vocal is no less significant. Speaking of Pat, make sure to bookmark this page and enjoy the songs he has translated.

“Thousands are still getting discovered each day / how dare you compare a life to a week’s pay?” Jin responses to the “Tsunami Song” and the racist radio jocks. He’s damn right. Mad respect and support for Jin. He is the voice of our people and he responses intelligently as a battle rapper. Keep doing your things, man. We’re right behind you.

Also big up to HipHopMusic.com for fighting the battle. Miss Info, keep your head up, ma! For those who haven’t pick up Jin’s The Rest is History, now is the time. Here is my take on the album.

Inspired by Patrick Gallagher’s “English Words for Vietnamese Songs,” I attempt to translate Trinh Cong Son’s “Toi Dang Lang Nghe (I’m Listening),” a vivid performance by Cam Van on Xin Cho Toi. Although Trinh’s words in this song are simple, the poetic lyrics create beautiful images; therefore, I stay closely to the original context as well as try to fit in the same musical syllables. So listen to the song, follow along, and enjoy!

I’m Listening

Quiet of nights, I’m listening
Quiet of days, I’m listening
Quiet of lives, I’m listening
I’m listening
A lonely heart, as nights passed by
Quiet of folks, I’m listening
Quiet of mines

Quiet rivers, I’m listening
Quiet hilltops, I’m listening
Quiet breathings, I’m listening
I’m listening, quiet breathings
After the storms
Quiet faces, hear many wounds
On palm of hand

I’m listening, quiet of loves
A love has passed, I’m listening
When flowers dried, quiet of buds
I’m listening, I’m listening
I’m listening, my quiet life

Making fun of the Tsunami victims is the most despicable thing to do, yet only in America where we would do such thing. I am sure we would not be so pleased if someone in another country makes fun of our September 11 crisis. Learn to respect others if we want some respect. Fortunately, only a few fools at Hot 97 who think the “Tsunami Song” is funny while the rest of us don’t.

What the heck is wrong with these radio stations making racist jokes? Two weeks ago, Power 99, used to be my favorite hip-hop radio in Philly, called an Indian woman “dirty-rat eater” and threatened to “choke the f out of [her].” It’s not her fault that big corporations move to India. That sucker should have taken his anguish out on the company instead.

Like my man Elton John says, “It’s sad, so sad / It’s a [fucked up] situation / And it’s getting more and more absurd.” I just happen to listen to this song while writing this post, but it fits well with the contents.

In my recent review of Cam’ron’s Purple Haze, I ask listeners to not pay attention to the content but focus only on the aesthetic qualities. Why? A few of his lines below demonstrate the reason:

“Your budget on my neck, your spouse on my dick” from “Get ‘Em Girls”

“You’re a dickhead, not dildo” from “More Gangsta Music”

“Put your meat on my stick like a shish-ka-bob” from “Hey Ladies”

“Pluck ya ace take ya girl fuck her face / She’s dealin’ with Killa so you love her taste / She swallowin’ Killa cause she love the taste.” From “Down and Out”

“And you know I’m in the buildin’ mister / with the Olsen twins, or the Hilton sisters / And I haul ’em in to the Hiltons, mister / I milked them, I killed them, you quilt them.” From “Girls”

Cam’ron is not the only misogynist jerk in the game. Even one of the best lyricist MCs does it too. Here are some of Nas’s lines from Street’s Disciple:

“I had bad chicks that blow cum bubbles like bubblegum.” From “Nazareth Savage”

“I squeeze nipples like pimples to get the puss.” From “Nazareth Savage”

“She’ll scream as I pushed in her freezin’ cold pool / When she piss she gon’ bleed in the whole stool / That’s how much I wanna bang and touch her pretty thing.” From “You Know My Style”

“Chelsea used to tell me choke her while I stroke her / Stuck a Heineken bottle up in the ass, a real joker.” From “Remember The Times”

Chris Rock loves rap but hates to defend rap. The lines above are impossible to defend rap as a form of art. I love rap too but I go for the aesthetic experience, not the misogynism.

OK! I admit it. I have been peeping on college chics get butt naked. Blame it on the New Yorkers for exposing CollegeHumor.com. Beside the sexual photos, I find a few videos below to be hilarious:

The two little Asian twins kissing. Aren’t they adorable?

This little boy is just amazing.

Asian Fat Joe is up on the video.

Ma, you straight frontin’, let’s get the date jumpin’ / See your booty panties, ma shake somethin’ / Shake something!

If you don’t know, now you know. Don’t say that I didn’t tell you so.

I am currently enjoying Patrick Gallagher’s Some English Words For Some Vietnamese Popular Songs booklet. Gallagher is an American who has a fine taste in Vietnamese music. Upon reading my reviews of Hong Nhung’s Doan Khuc Thu Ha Noi and Bai Hat Ru Cho Anh, Gallagher contacted me and would like to share some Vietnamese songs he has translated. What a coincident! I was wondering who is Patrick Gallagher since the English versions of “Bai Hat Ru Cho Anh” and “Van Hat Loi Tinh Yeu,” performed by Hong Nhung, were credited under his name. So when I received his email, I replied immediately with “Please! Send me your work.”

In order to translate these songs, one must know Vietnamese, but Gallagher translates with his passion. “I don’t actually know Vietnamese,” he says “but my dictionary does, if given all the decorations of the vowels.” Then he goes on explain his method of translation, which I find intriguing. He looks up every word in Nguyen Van Khoi’s Viet-Anh dictionary and tries to understand the meaning of the song. Once he understands the lyrics, he rewrites the song in English that would best fit the musical compositions. Isn’t that a challenging task? Of course, some of contexts are lost in translation, but Gallagher manages to stay as close to the content as possible, and his translation of Trinh Cong Son’s “Hat Tren Nhung Xac Nguoi,” peformed by Khanh Ly in 1969, is a good example.

Now I Sing The Dead

Noon, I walk the hills
Now I sing the dead
On the roads, I have seen, I have seen
Each one has one, this one screams

Noon, I walk the hills
Now I sing the dead
I have seen, I have seen, garden here:
Dead tired ma holds her dead girl

This ma claps above her child
This ma claps for peace, for peace
Here some clap for life, for life
Here some clap for end of life

Noon, by berry groves
Now I sing the dead
By a road, I have seen, I have seen
Old man hugs his stone cold son

Noon, by berry groves
Now I sing the dead
I have seen, I have seen, ditches, shelters
Filled with bodies, his and hers

This ma claps, lets have more war
This ma clap, no more, no more
Here some clap for hate, for blame
Here some clap to shake off shame

Gallagher’s love for Vietnamese music is inspiring, and making the translations available would extend Vietnamese music beyond the Vietnamese community. Like Gallagher says, “for me, the idea that English words for VN songs might someday make them an export product, maybe not as big as rice or coffee, but better than plaster elephants.” I hope that that will come soon. Thanks Gallagher for sharing your work.

The most celebrated holiday in Viet Nam is a couple weeks away (Feb. 9). Back in Viet Nam, decorating our house with flowers was one of my favorite activities before Tet. I always wished that I would get my li xi (red envelopes) before New Year so that I could buy more flowers. Of course, the saddest part was to take down the flowers after Tet.

Ever since I came to America, my Vietnamese New Year celebrations aren’t the same anymore. No more fresh bright golden yellow flowers (Hoa Mai). Now that I live in an apartment, I have no motivation to decorate the place since no one will be visiting it anyway. On my virtual home, however, I do have a few visitors; therefore, I have adorned Hoa Mai on the top left to give this space a spirit of Tet.

New Year celebration would not be complete without Nhac Xuan (New Year Music). So here are a few Xuan songs for your enjoyment:
“Canh Thiep Dau Xuan” (Nhu Quynh) – Thanks Tommy!
“Nhung Kiep Hoa Xuan” (Ngoc Lan)
“Lang Nghe Mua Xuan Ve” (Hong Nhung & Bang Kieu)
“Doan Ca Xuan” (Quang Linh & Thuy Trang)
“Xuan Da Ve” (Doan Trang)

And a few poems for those of us who celebrate Tet outside of our homeland:
“Tet Nho Ve Ha Noi” by Le Hai Anh

“tet” by Song Vinh
tet di roi tet lai ve
tet qua tet lai van minh voi ta
van em qua lai khieu xa
van ta go may lam tho tang nguoi