Vietnam

There is this beautiful and emotional video I want to share with you about my motherland, with which although I have to be apart in recent years, is still and will always be in my heart.

The video brought back so many memories of me about Vietnam, my country, by the most ordinary yet strikingly beautiful images. Even though you may not have the same feeling with me when watching it, I hope it still moves you as much as it did to me.

I tried my best to “translate” the song lyrics into English. Certainly it is only possible to deliver the most superficial meaning, but at least I hope it’s better than nothing.

The song is named “Vietnamese” (the language)

Many languages on Eath, Vietnamese of our mother land, tenderly melodious like music
Every morning waking up, I hear familiar sounds, people on the street are sharing with me my language
Since no writing was formed, speech had already been completed, perfect like the full moon.
Oh Vietnamese, like soil in the rice fields, like bamboo leaves, as soft as silk.
As fresh as spring water, called by the clouds
Missing someone travelling on the long road, the sight of nón (the white conical hat) at the horizon.
The sound of what father used to say when storms coming, the sound of mother’s lullaby by the cradle.
Wandering in far-away places, do you still whisper Vietnamese in the endlessly long nights?
If you by chance ever forgot your race and ancestry, follow Vietnamese, come back with me
… come back with me…