Khi trái tim vẫn hồng (When The Heart Is Still Red) - Nguyễn Duy Khoái (1979)

Khi trái tim đang còn hồng

When the heart is still red
Và nụ cười vẫn còn tươi

And the smile is still fresh  
Bạn thân ơi xin đừng để

Oh dear friend don't let
Tuổi xuân qua không tiếng cười

The spring of life pass without laughter
Cùng nhìn sâu trong mắt nhau

Together let's look into each others eyes
Cùng nói với nhau một lần

Together tell each other once:
"Khó khăn này đâu là của

This hardship is not at all
Riêng chúng mình."

Only ours."

Khi trái tim còn mơ mộng

When the heart is still dreaming
Còn giận hờn và chờ mong

Yet angry and expectant
Người yêu ơi xin đừng để

Oh beloved, please don't let
Tình yêu phai theo nỗi sầu

Love fade in melancholy
Còn tình yêu trong con tim

And the love in our hearts
Xin hãy biết yêu cuội đời

Please know the love of life
Tiếng yêu đầu xin ngỏ cùng

This first leave, please express it together with
Đất nước mình

Our country

Khi bước chân chưa lần nghỉ

When our feet still have yet to rest
Mà đường dài đã gọi ta

Yet the long road has called us
Bạn thân ơi xin đừng ngại

Oh dear friend don't worry
Còn đôi chân xin vững lòng

Still pairs of feet please be reassured
Dù đường dài còn gian nan

Though the long road still had hardships
Xin giữ mãi bao nụ cười

Please always hold on to that smile
Đóa hoa hồng trên đường dài

A red blossom on the long road
Đang đón chờ

Awaits us


Tốp ca Đoàn Văn Công Khu V ca bài "Khi trái tim vẫn hồng" của Nguyên Duy Khoái.

Nguyễn Duy Khoái has just passed away on July 6, 2025. He was kind enough to talk with me when I visited Đà Nẵng in 2015. Hà Nội and Thành Phố Hồ Chí Minh get all the attention of the musical world, but there are songwriters and cultural groups in all of Vietnam's smaller cities and provinces.

In the early 1970s he was active as a songwriter in the Đà Nẵng student movement protesting for peace and opposing the Republic of Vietnam government. These actions established his post-war credentials. Although he was a big fish in a small pond (he was the Director of the Đà Nẵng Union of Literatuer and Arts Associations - Chủ tịch Liên hiệp các Hội Văn học - Nghệ thuật Đà Nẵng), none of his music has been presented on the Bài Ca Đi Cùng Năm Tháng website. 

Many of his songs are what I call "địa phương ca" - locality songs - written to praise the virtues of various districts and villages. "Khi trái tim vẫn hồng" was also the name of the program given at the Nhà Hát Trưng Vương Đà Nẵng shortly before his passing. It refers to a 1979 song written in the style of the student protest songs or du ca (rambling songs) of the pre-1975 Republic of Vietnam.

Instead of protest, this is a song of praise of the nation of Vietnam and an exhortation for young people to serve their nation despite evident hardships. 1979 was a time of hardship and reconstruction - the song may have been intended for people moved to vùng kinh tế mới (new economic zones) or for thanh niên xung phong (literally "assault youth") who moved from the city to the underside to work on infrastructure.

The song appeals to youthful optimism and to one's youth as a time for love. Love was an underdeveloped theme of Vietnamese revolutionary music and love here hints at romantic love, but it primarily a patriotic love. Romanticism lies behind the challenges of a life's work ahead.