Vợ dưới lầu bơm sữa. Hai thằng ngủ hai phòng. Thằng nhỏ hét vổ vổ cái đít cho ngủ lại. Đến phiên thằng lớn thét cho mượn tay ôm đỡ ghiền. Tiện tay thăm tả luôn bằng không hôm sau ước giường phải giặt đồ còn cực và tốn hơn.

Yesterday I came across an old casette I have labeled, “Don Ho’s Collection.” To my surprise, I couldn’t even play the casette inside the house. The only tape deck I have is in my car. I played it on my way to work and the songs brought back some fond memories.

I started to become one of Don Ho’s biggest fans when I watched him performed “Say You Will” on Asia production’s first video. Later on I found out that a friend of my sister also really digged him. She let me borrowed a couple of Don Ho’s tapes and I was thrilled. One of the tapes was Don Ho and Ngoc Bich’s Yesterday. I was impressed with his part on the album; therefore, I only taped his songs to a blank tape, but not Ngoc Bich’s.

I couldn’t remember the exact date, but it had to be between 1993 and 1994. I came to the US around 1991 and at the time my English was pretty bad. I had no idea who the Beatles and Bee Gees were. Don Ho’s rendition of “Yesterday” was probably my first exposure to American pop music. To kill time, I transcribed “Yesterday,” “Something,” “Here Comes the Sun,” “To Love Somebody” and “You Can Do Magic.” I didn’t understand some of the American words so I wrote down the tone in Vietnamese and just sang along. I spent quite a bit of time listening and remembering the lyrics. I loved his Vietnamese part of the songs and wished that he only sang them in Vietnamese even though he did quite well in English.

Listening to the songs again takes me down to memory lane. Something about the effortless in his phrasing and the warmness in his slightly smoky timbre that got me every time. I can still remember clearly the opening lines of “Yesterday”:

Mới hôm qua
Buồn phiền trong anh như đã bay đi xa
Mãi đến hôm nay tim còn thấy hoan ca
Ôi lòng ngỡ như là ngày hôm qua.

Boy, the good old yesterdays.

Five years after introducing her impressive debut, Xin Cho Tôi, Thủy Tiên follows up with yet another Trịnh Công Sơn record titled Ra Đồng Giữa Ngọ. The second album has a few lighter moments like the folksy vibe on the title track and the Latin flavor on “Chiều Một Mình Qua Phố.”

Yet Thủy Tiên sounds best when she expresses Trịnh’s lyrics with her personal interpretation. On “Lời Thiên Thu Gọi,” She sings in slow tempo and phrases each word with ease while backing up by soulful violin and sensational piano. “Phúc Âm Buồn” gets a dramatic orchestration with a duet treatment. Đoàn Minh’s charming tenor is a perfect complement to Thủy Tiên’s sensual alto. “Xin Mặt Trời Ngủ Yên,” “Chiều Trên Quê Hương Tôi” and “Một Ngày Như Mọi Ngày” are well executed.

The album closes out with a new arrangement of “Xin Cho Tôi” to remind her fans where she has left off from the last album. Five-year span is a long time for a release, but the wait is definitely worthwhile. Thủy Tiên is a perfectionist and the Ra Đồng Giữa Ngọ proves it.

I never gave a fuck about the MTV boy band until its latest release Nếu Chỉ Sống Một Ngày. Its sixth album struck a cord that is very closed to my heart. As the title track suggested, what if you have one day to live? How would you live it? What do you do when you’re racing against time? Here’s the line that sums up one’s life: “Thời gian thôi đưa chớp mắt đã hết một đời.” Yes, life is over in just a blink of an eye.

“Nhắm Mắt” is another track that cuts straight to the core: “Nhắm mắt, một ngày mệt nhoài trôi qua… Cố thức giấc đi thôi nhận ra hôm nay tôi đây không là ngày hôm qua nữa.” Imagine waking up only to realize that you’re no longer the same as who you were yesterday. “Mặt Trời Màu Đen” is a tear-jerking dedication to those who could never see the sunlight and “Dioxin,” featuring 5 Dòng Kẻ, is an emotional tribute to the victims of Orange Agent.

The album opens with “Trở Về” to indicate the return of MTV. The boys disbanded in 2007 and now they are united as the men. Nếu Chỉ Sống Một Ngày marks a tremendous growth from being a banal pop-rock boy band to a matured, lyrical rock group.

Thật ngậm ngùi khi xem hình của ba nhận được hôm nay từ đứa cháu gái. Ba đã già đi rất nhiều. Trong trí óc của tôi ba cứ như ngày tôi còn ấu thơ. Khi nói chuyện với ba qua điên thoại giọng của ông còn rất khoẻ nên tôi không hình dung ra được. Thật ra ngoài những câu thông thường hỏi thăm sức khoẻ, giữa tôi và ba không có gì để nói cả. Khoảng cánh giữa tôi và ba thật đã quá xa. Xét lại thì chúng tôi đã cách xa hơn 20 năm. Thời gian trôi qua quá mau nhất là bây giờ khi tôi bận bịu trông công việc và con cái.

Nhìn những cằn cỗi trên khuôn mặt của ông làm tôi bàng hoàng xúc động. Có lẻ đây là lần đầu tiên tôi nhìn rỏ nét mặt của ông tuy hình không được rỏ cho lắm. Mổi khi nghỉ đến ba, tôi chỉ nghỉ đến ông trong giai đoạn tôi có ông. Vì chuổi ngày bên ba quá hiếm hoi hoi nên tôi nhớ rất rỏ những kỷ niệm ấy. Lúc xa ba cũng là lúc tôi xa quê hương và cũng là lúc tôi xa những ngày ấu thơ tôi quý nhất. Vì mất cả ba thứ quang trọng nhất đối với tôi lúc mới lớn, tôi đã không chấp nhận nổi thử thách mới. Bây giờ tôi đã quen xứ người và không còn nhỏ nữa. Cuộc sống mới tôi đã chấp nhận. Tuổi thơ cũng đã qua tôi không hề hối tiếc. Nhưng khi nhìn ba, tôi thấy xót xa. Tôi muốn ôm được lấy ông và nói những lời tôi chưa bao giờ nói với ông: “Con rất thương ba.”

A love like ours could never die because it was never alived to begin with. Sometimes I can’t really tell if my wife loves me or not. I think she does or else she wouldn’t bear all that pain to give birth to my wonderful boys. I would never experience what she had gone through, but I get it. Let’s put it this way. If I was the one that had to give birth, we would have no kid. Yes, I am a pussy and I know it. She knows it as well and I am not afraid to admit that in this marriage, I am the bitch.

My wife is a strong, independent woman. Sometimes I even doubted me role in the relationship and just asked her straight out, “Why do you even need me? You seem to be able to do everything yourself.” Sometimes she responded, “I don’t know why either” and sometimes she just gave me that you’re-such-a-dumb-ass look. Whenever I can’t find the right answer, I always draw back to my mom’s theory: either she owed me something in her previous life or I’ll have to pay her back in our next life. I hope it’s the latter because I do want to be with her again if there’s a next life.

As much as we irritate each other to dead at times, we always think and care about each other. We knew from the beginning that the journey ahead of us is rough and treacherous, but we can make it through if we don’t let go. One of our favorite quotes from Lê Uyên Phương’s was “Rồi mai đây đi trên đường đời / Đừng buông tay âm thầm tìm về cô đơn.” (Later, on the journey through life / Don’t let go of my hand to seek your quiet solitude.) These have to be the toughest years of our lives together, but we’re pulling through. Hold on my love, please don’t give up on me. We’ll walk right up to the sun hand in hand.

My father-in-law is advocating 70 Năm Tình Ca Trong Tân Nhạc Việt Nam (1930 – 2000) to his friends and family. I started to listen to the first part on my way to work this morning. My commute is probably the only quiet time for me to focus on the program. I find it informative so far.

Có những niềm riêng làm sao nói hết.
Tôi viết rồi, rồi tôi lại xóa tôi ơi.
Tiến thoái lưỡng nan, đi về lận đận.
Tình không xa nhưng không thật gần.
Rừng xưa đã khép, rừng xưa đã khép.
Tôi lần mò leo mãi không qua được vách nghiện.
Để gió cuốn đi, để gió cuốn đi.
Hãy cố yêu người mà sống.
Và như thế tôi sống qua từng ngày.

It’s quite rare to hear an entire Vietnamese album with only original tunes. Quái Vật Tí Hon (Lil’ Monsters) is an experiential rock group that does just that with its debut Đường Về. Yet what makes the album so attractive (even to none-rock listener like myself) is the combination of skillful storytelling and clever incorporation of Vietnamese traditional folks melody into modern rock.

“Vì Đời” is easily one of the highlights from the album, or at least to me, because I can related to the lyrics: “Vợ mình đẹp nhất hành tinh / Người tình đẹp nhất lúc bình minh / Vì đời có tài nên thường linh tinh.” Công Hải, lead vocalist who penned all the lyrics, knows the important of clear communication; therefore, he keeps his singing simple and stays within his raspy range. “Ô Trống” takes me back to my childhood years. I can’t recall the words, but I can hum to the melody.

Minified down to just acoustic strumming guitar, Công Hải pours out his drunken soul on “Vợ Ơi, Anh Sai Rồi.” Elsewhere, “Kẻ Lạ Mặt” recounts an incident in which he walked into his lover making out with a stranger. Đường Về is worth listening even if you aren’t into rock. Then again as much as I find the personal narrative to be engaging, the rock guitar riffs are too much noise for me to return for more.

Nathan Lee has a hush, handsome timbre, but he’s not making the most out of his voice. On M, a Valentine’s special release, his delivery is way too breathy. He needs to learn to control his breathing particularly on ballads. His rendition of “Cơn Mưa Hạ” is weak and lacking of confidence. All I feel is air blowing, not summer rain dropping.

If I were to produce his album, I would make him sing an octave lower, especially on “Dòng Sông Kỷ Niệm.” He should have concentrated more on his lower notes and not exceeded the mid range. His version of “Khi Người Yêu Tôi Khóc” would have been much more hipnotizing if he sang it in the bass tone.

I know I shouldn’t be so tough on the kid. For crying out loud, he’s making a Valentine’s special album. I am not sure if I would even recommend this album for Valentine’s Day, unless your love life is filled with “Tàn Tro,” “Tan Tác,” “Xa Em Kỷ Niệm,” and “Ngàn Năm Vẫn Đợi.” Sounds more like a heartbreak to me.