M... Café Fin Trà Ấm (M... Filtered Coffee, Tea By The Pot) - ?? (1977)

Thứ tư 23 / 2

[9 giờ sáng]

Đừng bỏ em một mình ..... trời lạnh quá ... Trời lạnh.

(Tệ trạng thanh niên ngồi các quán cà-phê nghe nhạc vàng trong lúc đa số đồng bào đi lao động)

Thursday February 23

[clock reads 9 AM]

Don't leave me all alone ..... it's too cold ... it's cold.

(The bad situation of youth sitting in cafés listening to yellow music when the majority of the compatriots are laboring).

nguồn: Tin Sáng 27 tháng 7 1977

I presume that this cartoon depicted something that approximated real life in Saigon in 1977. Student cafés playing sad love songs were common before April 1975. Afterwards all of that music, categorized as nhạc vàng or yellow music, was banned, much of it destroyed. The police surely cracked down on places like this one, but who know how effective the crackdowns were?

M café means "Em café" - "em" here meaning an endearing word for a girlfriend. See the hearts on the placard - this was a place for couples to hang out. Filtered coffee and tea were low level luxuries. I love the potted plant in the back giving the place a slight touch of elegance. That elegance is negated by the trash that these irresponsible, self-absorbed youth tossed on to the floor.

"Đừng bỏ em một mình" was a very popular song from 1969 written by Phạm Duy, a very respected and prolific songwriter. I always associate this song with the singer Lệ Thu.

This Youtube video is approaching 7 million views. It is a very representative song of the Republic of Vietnam -- the cartoonist made a good choice. Phạm Duy received the highest level of vilification by the communist government. He had left the resistance in the early 1950s, collaborated with the CIA for a time and was one of the most famous Vietnamese outside of Vietnam.

The important figure in this image is the poor laborer in the lower right hand corner. He's trembling! He's so innocent that he's embarrassed at the sight of couples enjoying themselves, enjoying each other's company.

More likely the concern comes from this music that is coming dangerously close to entering his consciousness and crushing his soul. In a recent article I explain how nhạc vàng was viewed as a both a cause of, and a reflection of societal dissatisfaction, that it both accompanied and promoted delinquent behavior.  Failing to heed the call to help construct the nation was a form of delinquency.

Cartoons like this point out actual behavior in society and serve as a method to encourage people to police each other and themselves and not engage in this unacceptable behavior -- i.e., not indulge in this unacceptable, illegal, dangerous music.

Quầy rau cải giá chính thức (Vegetable Stand Official Price) - ?? (1977)

Quầy rau cải giá chính thức

Cải chưa về.

--------

Mai vô! Mai dô! Rau cải Đà Lạt tươi rói mới về đây

Vegetable stand official price

Greens haven't arrived

--------

Come tomorrow! Come morrow! Fresh Đà Lạt vegetables will be here

 

nguồn: Tin Sáng 27 tháng 2 1977

The three women at the left are "mậu dịch" - approved traders getting their product from the government. 

The woman at the right is "hàng chui" or black market.

The approved traders have no produce to sell, possibly because the black market woman has cornered the market. 

While the cartoon is meant to show disapproval of the fat and happy black marketeer, it also demonstrates the implausibility of a government controlled market delivering the products that people want and need. You can try to control the market and fix the price, but if nobody delivers the product at the government's price, the government has nothing to sell and there is nothing for people to buy.

Au jour la jour... musique (From Day To Day... Music) - (1930)

Relisez les propos du directeur de la station de Radiophonie, propos que nous avons reproduits hier avec quelque plaisir. "La majorité des éventuels clients de nos concerts radiophoniques ont demandé des auditions de belle musique, voire de musique classique... A peine fera-t-on un jour de jazz par semaine..."

Un jour de dancing par semaine... Puis par mois... Regardez dans nos salles de danse. Ce sont toujours les mêmes danseurs. Ne disons pas que c'est le déchet. A Saigon, ils ont une excuse: il y a si peu de distractions!

Reread the remarks of the radio station director, words that we reproduced yesterday with some pleasure. "The majority of potential listeners to our radio concerts have requested performances of beautiful music, even classical music... Barely will one day of jazz be made in a week..." 

One day of dancing a week... Then once a month... Look in our dance halls. It's always the same dancers. Let's not say it's a waste. In Saigon, they have an excuse: there are so few distractions!

Saïgon républicain July 12, 1930

During the earliest days of broadcasting in Saigon much of the programming was live. The station featuring a quintet that provided radio concerts of classical and light classical music - the "concerts radiophoniques."

Jazz music in that context was essentially dance music (often "hot" dance music) or just the popular songs of that time. Professional musicians often worked in both worlds. The author providing commentary notes that there was a dedicated, even fanatical, audience for this dance music, but that it was limited to the same people who turned out every night at the dance halls. This was the excuse given for the author's preference for hearing classical music on the airwaves instead of jazz.

"Choses vues" (Những gì nhìn thấy) - Ng. Ch. (1937)

Je recrutais les ouvriers, prenais les acteurs de théâtre, engageais les chanteuses... Croyez-vous, reprit mon interlocuteur avec un bon sourire, qu'on vienne à l'Exposition pour admirer la belle voix de vos acteurs ou les beaux yeux de vos cantatrices? Chez nous on aime ce qui est étranger, ce qui est exotique. Vos acteurs et chanteuses ont fait l'Exposition de Lyon. Ils nous sont connus. Nous allons, cette fois, régaler nos visiteurs de la musique annamite qu'on n'a jamais entendue jusqu'ici en France. Et vous verrez que vos musiciens, dont vous avez tort de sous-estimer le talent, feront là-bas figure de virtuoses et seront applaudis a l'égal des plus grands artistes du monde...

 
Mais revenons à l'Exposition de Bordeaux. Au cours de sa visite au village, Mme Sarah Bernhard s'intéressa vivement, comme beaucoup d'autres visiteurs, à nos exposants avec leurs objets incrustés de nacre, leurs broderies at aussi... leur musique...

 
A l'issue de sa visite, elle remit à M. Gravier 500 francs pour "être distribués aux Annamites"! Cinq cents francs étaient, pour nos pauvres ouvriers une fortune et ceux-ci parlèrent longtemps après, entre eux, du geste généreux de leur grâcieuse visiteuse.

Ng. Ch., "Choses vues," L'Effort 17 septembre 1937

I recruited laborers, hired actors, and engaged singers... Can you believe, my interlocutor continued with a warm smile, that people will come to the Exposition to admire the beautiful voices of your actors or the lovely eyes of your opera singers? In our land we love the foreign, the exotic. Your actors and singers performed at the Lyon Exposition. We know them. This time we will delight our visitors with Annamite music that hasn't been heard before in France. And you'll see that your musicians, whose talent you wrongly underestimate, will be considered virtuosos there and will be applauded alongside the world's greatest artists...

But let's return to the Bordeaux Exposition. During her visit to the village, Madame Sarah Bernhardt took a lively interest, like many other visitors, in our exhibitors with their mother-of-pearl inlaid objects, their embroidery, and also... their music...

At the end of her visit, she gave Mr. Gravier 500 francs "to be distributed among the Annamites"! Five hundred francs was a fortune for our poor workers, and they spoke among themselves for a long time afterward of the generous gesture of their gracious visitor.

Tôi đã tuyển công nhân, thuê diễn viên, mời ca sĩ… Người đối thoại của tôi tiếp tục với một nụ cười ấm áp: “Ông thực sự nghĩ rằng mọi người sẽ đến Triển lãm để chiêm ngưỡng giọng hát tuyệt vời của các diễn viên của ông hay đôi mắt đẹp của các ca sĩ opera của ông sao? Chúng tôi yêu thích những gì ngoại lai, những gì kỳ lạ. Các diễn viên và ca sĩ của ông đã từng biểu diễn tại Triển lãm Lyon. Chúng tôi biết họ. Lần này, chúng tôi sẽ chiêu đãi khách tham quan bằng âm nhạc An Nam, thứ âm nhạc chưa từng được nghe thấy ở Pháp trước đây.

Và ông sẽ thấy rằng các nhạc sĩ của ông, những người mà ông đã sai khi đánh giá thấp tài năng của họ, sẽ được coi là những nghệ sĩ bậc thầy ở đó và sẽ được tán thưởng cùng với những nghệ sĩ vĩ đại nhất trên thế giới…”

Nhưng hãy quay lại với Triển lãm Bordeaux. Trong chuyến thăm làng, bà Sarah Bernhardt, như nhiều khách khác, rất quan tâm đến các nhà triển lãm chúng tôi, chiêm ngưỡng những vật phẩm khảm xà cừ, những sản phẩm thêu, và cả… âm nhạc của họ…

Cuối chuyến thăm, bà đã tặng ông Gravier 500 franc “để phân phát cho người dân An Nam”! Năm trăm franc là một khoản tiền lớn đối với những người công nhân nghèo của chúng tôi, và sau đó, họ còn bàn tán rất lâu về cử chỉ hào phóng của vị khách tốt bụng.

This passage refers to colonial expositions held in Lyon (1894) and Bordeaux (1895). Sarah Bernhardt (1844-1923) was a legendary actress, of the most famous of all time.

Lột mặt nạ nhẩy (Throw Off The Dancing Mask) - Phú Sơn (1959)

Ngô Thổng thống mang nhiều điệu nhảy
Của Hoa-kỳ về dạy cho dân:

"Hồng-kông," điệu nhảy giật gân,

"Thoát y" điệu nhảy truồng trần tô hô!

"Hu-la-húp," lắc khu, ưỡn bụng,

"Rốc-canh-rơn," hí hửng, gật gù,

Ngài đang thay mốt, đổi gu,

Nhập thêm "tả bủ, ta bu," quái kỳ!

Các điệu nhảy "mê ly" của Mỹ.

Ngài tổng đều chú ý nhập ngay.

Trong làng nhảy nhót xưa nay

Ngài từng nổi tiếng là tay nhảy cừ!

Chờ xem điệu nhảy từ tầng gác

Pho-rết-tan (1) khai thác nao

Từ dinh Độc lập tầng cao

Đích thân ngài sẽ đâm đầu nhảy luôn.

Điệu này mới thật mê hồn!

(1) Forrestal, bộ trưởng chiến tranh Mỹ, năm 1950 đã nhảy từ tần gác xuống sân tư tử sau khi được tin Liên-xô đã chế được bom nguyên tử.

nguồn: Độc Lập 21 tháng 3 1959

President Ngô has brought many dances

From the United States to teach the people:

"Hong Kong," a shocking dance,

"Striptease," a naked, boisterous dance!

"Hula-Hup," shaking the hips, thrusting the belly,

"Rock-n-roll," gleeful, nodding,

He's changing fashions, changing tastes,

Bringing in "Tabu, Tabu," so bizarre!

The "enchanting" dances of America.

The President immediately took notice and adopted them.

Into the long-standing world of dancing,

He was once famous as a skilled dancer!

Wait and see his dance from above

Forrestal (1) which he will exploit

From the high floor of the Independence Palace

He himself will jump in and dance.

This dance is truly mesmerizing!

(1) In 1950, Forrestal, the US Secretary of War, jumped to his death from a balcony after learning that the Soviet Union had developed an atomic bomb.

This is a strange bit of doggerel. Yes, people in the Republic of Vietnam loved to go out dancing. The twist was a very popular fad. So popular that Ngô Đình Diệm's brother and sister-in-law tried to stamp it out. The Ngô family in actuality were killjoys and prudes.

The invocation of deceased Defense Secretary James V. Forrestal is an even stranger touch. The accompanying footnote (poems with footnotes are immediately suspect) incorrectly states that Forrestal died in 1950, taking his life after learning that the Soviet Union had built an atomic bomb. He took his life on May 22, 1949, a few months before the Soviet Union successfully test their first nuclear weapon. The Defense Secretary became mentally unstable after being removed from his post by President Harry S. Truman. When this poem was published ten years later I doubt whether many people remembered James V. Forrestal, least of all the people of the Democratic Republic of Vietnam.

Ngỏ hồn qua đêm (Baring My Soul Through The Night) - Triết Giang [Hoàng Trang] & Hàn Châu (1966)

BOLÉRO

Chiều bàn giao cho vùng đêm đen biên giới.

Evening, relief came at the border's black night.  
Theo cánh quân anh đóng ven lưng chừng đồi.

Along the flank, I'm stationed hillside, halfway up  
Nghe muôn côn trùng than trong đêm trường sầu thương thế nhân

Hearing an untold number of insects moan through the long night sorrowing for mankind.  
Hồn rung tiềm thức quay trong vùng thương nhớ, len lén đưa anh qua bến mộng ngày xưa.

My soul, stirred unconsciously, turns back to memory's realm that seeps in, guides me past the dream docks of long ago.

Chuyện ngày xưa chia đều ra hai phe đánh.

Events long ago equally divided two fighting factions.  
Anh lấy cây làm súng bên em diệt thù.

I took up a stick as a gun alongside you to eliminate the enemy,  
Phe kia ngang tàng xua quân đốt nhà đuổi hai đứa ta

The other side arrogantly driving away soldiers, burning houses down, chasing away the two of us
Trò chơi tuổi xanh đôi bên cùng nhau đánh tương sát lẫn nhau như oán thù nghìn thu.

Children's games, two sides solemnly striking each other as if there was hatred and resentment for millennia  

Tháng tháng tiếp nối, thơ ấu ra đi anh giã từ cuộc chơi đó...

Month continues after month, youth has gone and I bade farewell to that game...
Đêm tiễn đưa anh, quay gót son mềm em đếm dài cây số thương

The evening you saw me off, your soft pink heals, calculating the long kilometers, feeling
Gói ghém quá khứ trong chiếc ba lô nơi tuyến đầu nằm thao thức

Packing up the past in a backpack at the front, laying awake
Giây phút suy tư, xanh giấc mơ gầy nghe trái sầu rụng nửa đêm.

Moments of reflection, hopeful slender dreams, I hear the sad fruit fall in the middle of the night.  

Nhìn hỏa châu lưng trời soi chia đêm tối

Looking the flares off in the sky, dividing the night's darkness
Anh ngỡ như ngày cưới hoa đăng ngập trời.

I imagine it was like our wedding, floral lanterns flooding the sky  
Xin em tin rằng đôi ta bây giờ dù xa cách nhau tình yêu ngàn năm không phai nhạt hương sắc

Please dear, believe that the two of us, although now far apart, fragrance of our thousand year love will not fade
Anh hứa yêu em trong suốt cuộc đời này.

I promise to love you all of this life.  

nguồn: Triết Giang & Hàn Châu, "Ngỏ hồn qua đêm" (Sài Gòn: Châu Kỳ nhạc tuyển, 1966)

Hoàng Trang was one of my favorite people in the Vietnamese music world. He was gracious, thoughtful and helpful in every way. He co-wrote this song a short time after he was wed. I know that he spent intervals of time during the 1960s among military units so he should have had a solid understanding of the psychology of the Republic of Vietnam soldier.

He describes the soldier's setting well -- a long night watch enveloped in an atmosphere of flares and an insect chorus. The thud of a falling piece of fruit breaks up the monotony. War songs are often about action, but it seems that the greater reality of soldier's life is that they spend a lot of their time waiting in remote locations with only sporadic sometimes terrifying action. Waiting leads to thinking, to an imaginary conversation with a soulmate, someone who would understand and comfort you.

Much of that thinking is nostalgia. Bến mộng / dream docks refer to the passage of his wife to his family, to their conjugal union. Bright explosions in the night recall the fireworks at their wedding. He firmly recalls the moment the parted and he entered his service. Midst the alternating worry and waiting of a foot soldier, he holds on tightly to his love for her, to their enduring mutual love.

The song poses a true riddle. Why do people of one nation fighting one another with the fervency and abandon of children's war games? The answer given is that they and their way of life have been attacked. The narrator can give no deeper understanding of the issues, but defense is a legitimate reason to take up arms. He is defending her and the future life they want to lead. The night insects appear less than satisfied with this outlook as they moan in sorrow for mankind.

Thanh Thúy sings "Ngỏ hồn qua đêm" recording on the Shotguns 27 tape in 1972.

A bâtons rompus (Casual Conversation) - (1925)

Car la Marine Francaise d'est past morte encore!

Le "Jules Michelet" n'est point seulement intéressant par ses 4 cheminées et ses gros canons.

Le Jules Michelet est un navire mélodieux. Du matin au soir, presque chaque jour, les habitués de l'Arsenal et des quais s'arrêtent souvent, sur la berge, pour écouter les harmonies de bon aloi qui sortent, à jet continue, de la plage avant. Il ne s'agit point des jolies modulations du sifflet de manoeuvre, mais bien d'un véritable orchestra absolument remarquable, malgré l'absence de certains pupitres. Et ce fut un vrai régal, l'autre soir, autour du kiosque chauve de Boulevard Charner!

Nos élégantes Saigonnaises ont pu d'ailleurs de rendre compte aussi que les cols-bleus musiciens du Michelet, n'excellent point seulement dans la partition de Lakmé ni dans l'exécution impeccable du ballet de Coppélia, un des chefs d'oeuvre de Leo Delibes. L'autre soir, autant que les réglements l'ont permis, on a dansé ferme sur la plage arrière du croiseur aux sons encore de cet excellent orchestre et même aussi d'un jazz band hors pair!

"A bâtons rompus," Saigon Sportif 8/21/1925

Because the French Navy isn't dead yet!

The "Jules Michelet" isn't only interesting because of its four funnels and large cannons.

The Jules Michelet is a melodic ship. From morning till night, almost every day, regulars at the Arsenal and the quays often stop at the bank to listen to the quality harmonies that flow continuously from the foredeck. It's not the pretty modulations of the boatswain's pipe, but a truly remarkable orchestra, despite the absence of some sections. And it was a real treat the other evening around the bare bandstand on Boulevard Charner! [đường Nguyễn Huệ today]

Our elegant Saigon ladies could also attest that the blue-collar musicians of the Michelet excel not only in the score of Lakmé, but also in the impeccable performance of the ballet Coppélia, one of Léo Delibes' masterpieces. The other evening, as far as regulations permitted, there was lively dancing on the cruiser's aft deck to the sounds of this excellent orchestra and even a superb jazz band!

The armored cruiser Jules Michelet (source: Wikimedia Commons)

The battleship Jules Michelet circulated among French ports throughout the Far East and Pacific region. Such a vessel definitely projected colonial and imperial power. For the French residents of Saigon the vessel's arrival was heartily welcomed and here we learn one of the reasons why. The Jules Michelet brought a little variety to the city's musical life.

The article remarks about "regulars" at the docks enjoying the rehearsal of the naval band. The regulars would have included a number of Vietnamese dockworkers. The ladies of Saigon enjoyed the band's ability to perform classical works by Délibes, but the musicians were most appreciated by those who loved to kick up their heels and dance. The jazz band must have been a subset of the larger naval band. At that time a jazz band was almost certainly a dance band. I would imagine that they sounded similar to Fred Waring and the Pennsylvanians.

Với chủ trương phục hưng nền Quốc nhạc Tivi (With the Object of Reviving National Music On TV) - Trùng Dương (1969)

Một ban gương mẫu như vậy không chắc đã huy động, nhưng cái gì khó khăn mới gọi là đặt giá. Chúng tôi cần đến những tay đờn thật xưa hiện giờ còn sống; đã biết qua nếp chơi tài tử cũ, ngón đờn không phải bị nhiễm độc bởi sự cải biến hàm hồ của cổ nhạc đương thời.

Chính những người đó mới làm sống lại mẫu mực của cổ nhạc. Và đó mới gọi là hòa tấu hay hòa ca cổ nhạc, chớ không phải... đánh giặc nhạc theo kiểu Năm Cơ - Văn Vỹ.

Such an exemplary group we'll probably be unable to mobilize, but the difficulty lies in the price. We need thosemusicians who have been playing for a long time who are still with us; those familiar with the manner of playing olden talented amateurs music, who finger haven't been poisoned by the careless modifications of traditional music today.

It is these people who make the ideals of traditional music live again. And that is what could really be called traditional ensembles and singing, not like the... attacking-the-enemy music in the manner of Năm Cơ and Văn Vỹ.

nguồn: Trùng Dương, "Với chủ trương phục hưng nền Quốc nhạc Tivi có nên nhận thêm vài ban tài tử lớn," [With Object of Reviving National Music on TV, should we accept a few big talented amateur groups] Đuốc nhà nam 13 tháng 4 1969.

Nhạc tài tử is the musical system underlying cải lương theater. It is also a refined art form on its own. This opinion piece interests me because he describes a couple of musicians that I love in a derisive way. However, the derision is accurate. Listen here:

These two along with Bảy Bá are the backing track of hundreds of cải lương and vọng cổ recordings. I think playing on recordings accustomed them to time limits and made their playing more rapid fire and virtuosic. At times it has the energy of Flatt and Scruggs - Foggy Mountain Breakdown.

The "đánh giặc" metaphor is really funny. It's a battlecry to attack the enemy, but within this music there's, of course, no enemy. The abundant ability of these musicians results in an aggressive form of musicianship. I think the writer is right in wanting to promote musicians from an earlier time who would likely play in more relaxed manner. I have no idea what the Saigon Television channel decided to do.