This playlist is part of the forum “The Vietnam War Fifty Years On,” which appears in the March 2025 issue of the American Historical Review. You can access this issue here.
As part of its forum on the 50th anniversary of the end of the Vietnam War, the AHR invited Jason Gibbs to create a playlist of songs from both North and South Vietnam that captured soundscapes of the wartime era between 1954 and 1975. Gibbs, a leading expert on late twentieth century Vietnamese popular music, introduces listeners to his selection process and provides historical context for each of the 12 songs he has included in the playlist.
Between 1954 and 1975, the two Vietnams developed two entirely musical cultures. In North Vietnam, he Democratic Republic of Vietnam censored heavily, using its control of all media to promote the state’s aims—the construction of socialism and building the will to fight a war to unite the country. Their music often had a martial character or was written in the manner of light classical music, often drawing on a wide range of folk music. Song themes were not unlike the era’s ubiquitous propaganda posters. Like the posters, song themes often did not lack creativity but were narrowly focused on the government’s message. The songs included are among the least bellicose.
South Vietnam, the Republic of Vietnam, allowed greater latitude of creative freedom. Nevertheless, the war provided a constant backdrop that was expressed directly or metaphorically in much of the musical output. Sad, slow songs about soldiers and their romantic partners longing for one another were ubiquitous. Cải lương (Southern reformed theater), which incorporated both traditional melodies and western music, was the dominant form of entertainment and escape.
“Tình ca” sung by Thái Thanh, written by Phạm Duy (1953)
“Tình ca,” meaning “Love Song,” is a song of love for Vietnam. Phạm Duy loves his native tongue, the sound of a mother’s lullaby, and his homeland’s agrarian life and natural beauty. Having already moved from his home in North Vietnam, his worries about the imminent division of his country inspired him to write this tribute to his native land with hope for peace and unity. “Tình ca” played the role of a soft unofficial national anthem for South Vietnam and later for the Vietnamese diaspora.
“Chiều mưa biên giới” sung by Trần Văn Trạch, written by Nguyễn Văn Đông (1956)
Nguyễn Văn Đông was an officer in the Republic of Vietnam army when he wrote “Chiều mưa biên giới” (“Evening Rain at the Border”). Although he completely supported his nation and its war effort, he wrote this song while stationed at the Iron Triangle (Đồng Tháp Mười). It reflected the difficult lives of soldiers at the front with its harsh weather, isolation, and separation from loved ones. Although banned from Vietnamese airwaves by the government because of its perceived defeatism, the song was recorded in France and its sheet music sold many editions.
“Bài ca hy vọng” sung by Khánh Vân, written by Văn Ký (1958)
Written in North Vietnam, “Bài ca hy vọng” (“Song of Hope”) expressed a shared yearning for renewal and peace with the new year and a faith that present difficulties (the imagined suffering in South Vietnam) will pass and the country would be reunited. The song ran into trouble with censors because the lyrics were deemed too soft and romantic and not in step with the revolution. “Bài ca hy vọng” made an impression in South Vietnam and was a source of inspiration for both guerilla fighters and political prisoners, who sang it together.
“Trước ngày hội bắn” sung by Lê Hằng and Trịnh Quý, written by Trịnh Quý (1959)
“Trước ngày hội bắn” (“Before Shooting Festival Day”) evokes the mountain home of the H’mông minority in North Vietnam. Trịnh Quý did not base the lyrics on any specific folksong. Rather, the ethnic Vietnamese singer/songwriter wrote lyrics that drew upon broader H’mông folklore depicting the mountainous countryside where they live. It’s a courtship song, although courtship here takes a back seat to nationalism and national defense. The purpose of this song and others like this is to promote the unity of all the nation’s ethnic groups and to help the majority appreciate the cultural richness of the nation’s minorities.
Spotify (only a shortened version is available)
“Giải phóng miền nam” sung by a chorus, written by Huỳnh Minh Siêng (Lưu Hữu Phước), words by Mai Văn Bộ and Huỳnh Văn Tiểng
“Giải phóng miền Nam” (“Liberate the South”) was the official anthem of the Popular Front for the Liberation of the South (better known as the Việt Cộng). The songwriter Lưu Hữu Phước was well-known as the songwriter in the patriotic student movement of the 1940s. One of his rousing melodies from that time was chosen as the national anthem of the Republic of Vietnam (South Vietnam). He was a member of parliament in the communist North and appointed Minister of Culture for the Popular Front. “Giải phóng miền Nam” calls on all to sacrifice for their nation and to exterminate the American imperialists.
Spotify (this lists a different “artist” but is the same recording)
Apple Music (this lists a different “artist” but is the same recording)
“Hoa nở về đêm” sung by Chí Tâm and Lệ Thu, song written by Mạnh Phát, tân cổ giao duyên written by Yên Lang (1962)
“Hoa nở về đêm” (“A Flower That Blooms at Night’s Return”) was a popular bolero song from South Vietnam that expressed the uncertainties of love in wartime. It describes a beautiful encounter in back alleys. He is the vagabond who does not know where fate will take him (perhaps to be a solider?) while she (the flower) rooted in that place longing for his return. This includes a performance of tân cổ giao duyên (“new and old songs of predestined affinity”) interpolating the pop song with the vọng cổ aria of cải lương theater. The lyrics of the song become the basis of a poetic mini drama.
“Quảng Bình quê ta ơi” sung by Kim Oanh, written by Hoàng Vân (1964) and “Quảng Bình quê ta ơi” sung by Hà Thanh, written by Hoàng Vân (1964)
“Quảng Bình quê ta ơi” (“Oh Quảng Bình, Our Homeland”) is a song of praise for the province Quảng Bình, just north of the 17th parallel. As a region crucial in supplying communist forces to the South, it was bombed relentlessly. The lyrics extol the province’s natural beauty and the shared traditional labor of subsistence farming and fishing. Excited for their new lives, soldiers, young women and men alike, keep a watch on the coastline and sky. The lively version performed by Kim Oanh employs a bright ensemble with traditional instruments. Hà Thanh, a singer from the Republic of Vietnam, recorded a slower version with stronger inflections of the traditional music of her native central region. She and other popular singers attempted to rehabilitate their career after 1975 by recording less bellicose repertoire from North Vietnam. These efforts to reenter the cultural life of a unified Vietnam were largely rebuffed because the authorities would not tolerate their performance style.
“24 giờ phép” sung by Thanh Thúy, written Trúc Phương (1967)
Soldiers of the Republic of Vietnam were not as far away from their loved ones as their counterparts in the North. “24 giờ phép” (“24 Hour Leave”) recreates the precious moments of a soldier’s return home from the front, regretting the loss of eight hours to the journey itself. The couple’s initial awkwardness is overcome on this rare and special evening. The song ends with an acknowledgement that their own feelings must give way to their love of their homeland.
“Hát trên những xác người” sung by Khánh Ly, written by Trịnh Công Sơn (1968)
Known by some as the “Dylan of Vietnam,” Trịnh Công Sơn wrote both poetic love songs and powerful anti-war songs. “Hát trên những xác người” (“Singing Upon People’s Corpses”) describes civilians suffering and struggling in the aftermath of the battle for Huế during the Tết Offensive. A witness to this carnage, Sơn described ditches full of corpses and parents cradling their dead children. Refugees staggered to help each other escape the danger and destruction. Khánh Ly delivers the simple melody with devastating directness. While this song was banned, although banning it in the South did little to stop it from becoming well known and recorded.
“Trường Sơn đông, Trường Sơn tây” sung by Quốc Hương, written by Hoàng Hiệp, poem by Phạm Tiến Duật (1971)
What America called the Ho Chi Minh Trail was known to the Vietnamese as the đường Trường Sơn (Trường Sơn Road). This included the mountain range extending through the heart of Vietnam. “Trường Sơn đông, Trường Sơn tây” “(East Trường Sơn, West Trường Sơn”), provides a setting for the poem by Phạm Tiến Duật, describing a pair of lovers supporting the movement of supplies southward along different strands of this road network. The pair each think of one another and express concern for the other’s welfare. He is on the west side of the trail with its constant rainfall and mosquitoes, while she is at the east side where it is bone dry. Their love and optimism are tempered by the danger and hardship in this inhospitable terrain.
“Mặt trời đen” sung by Elvis Phương with the Ban Phượng Hoàng, written by Nguyễn Trung Cang (1972)
The Phượng Hoàng band (Phoenix) was Saigon’s most original and creative rock band. “Mặt trời đen” (“Black Sun”) expresses the limited horizons of South Vietnamese youth during wartime. The band was disillusioned by the dishonesty and corruption of their society and that the prime of their lives was being sacrificed to a seemingly endless war. The song shows a yearning for solace or escape that is overshadowed by this black sun.
“Như có Bác trong ngày vui đại thắng” performed by the Dàn hợp xướng Đài Tiếng Nói Việt Nam (Ensemble and Chorus of the Voice of Vietnam) and Đội Sơn Ca (The Lark Team), written by Phạm Tuyên (1975)
The missing relative in “Như có Bác Trong ngày vui đại thắng” (“It’s Like Uncle Is Here at This Great Happy Victory”) is Uncle Ho—Hồ Chí Minh who died 6 years earlier in 1969. Written days before Saigon’s fall, this song was broadcast as communist forces claimed victory in South Vietnam. A full orchestra, choi,r and children’s chorus exclaim this anthem of triumph and joy expressing an overwhelming release after decades of struggle and hardship. A later release of the song brings extra pep by adding a drum set and bass guitar, instruments proscribed pre-1975 North Vietnam that indicate an early incursion of Southern music practices.
Jason Gibbs, music librarian at the San Francisco Public Library, holds a PhD in Music Theory and Composition from the University of Pittsburgh. He is one of the co-authors of Longing for the Past, the 78 RPM Era in Southeast Asia (2013) and author of the book Rock Hà Nội & Rumba Cửu Long (2008, updated 2019). He wrote the entries for Vietnam in the Continuum Encyclopedia of Popular Music of the World and has published articles in Asian Music, Journal of Vietnamese Studies, Southeast Asian Research, and BBC Tiếng Việt.
The header image features boots and uniforms abandoned by South Vietnamese troops litter the highway outside an Army of the Republic of Vietnam base in Saigon at 10 AM on April 30, 1975. Viet Cong photographer Duong Thanh Phong remarked he knew the war was over when he saw this scene. © Duong Thanh Phong/Another Vietnam.