Eversky.org A Dose of Asian Pop Culture & Entertainment

Khanh Ly – Doa Hoa Vo Thuong

Composer: Trinh Cong Son
English Title: Evanescent Blossom
Translated By: Gigi

I search for you, my dear, slender and frail
I search in the mountains, an ethereal flower
A fleeting smile, a delicate soul
Those fragrant lips, a blank page anew

I search for you, my dear, soothing my own heart
Searching for a night afresh, a pristine day
A flying bird in the flock, with a dewdrop in its mouth
I search on the riverbeds, for your slipper’s imprints

I search for you near and far, within earth and heaven
I search within the rosy mist, within the ephemeral evening
Until the end of the waning moon, I shall not despair, my dear
Within impermanance, I search for a duo prayer, resounding thunder strikes

Then I suddenly found you standing by the primitive spring
I invited you home, night covered in pure rain
Your presence emanates, scent of incense in four corners
Within the garden, rain diminishes, joyful music begins
The golden moon greets the epiphyllum blossom

From now on, I have the one
You, who chatters and walks beside me on this world
From now on, I have love
You, my cherished one, beaming with words
Because of you, I am complete
In you I am, when you sit by the front porch

Winter brings you sorrow
At sunset, you sing prayers by the river
Winter withers, water rises
A budding love has flourished

From now on, I have my sweetheart
To the mountains and rivers, I offer my song
Spring passes over rooftops
There’s a singing bird named Love

A rosy lotus bud, you sat by a time
A time when we both loved, a time of both joy and sorrow
From soaring sunrise, until tender nights
Rosy lotus of a time, you were rosy in your youth
Lonely lotus, you loved completely with grief

One evening you stood by the river
The autumn breeze tenderly blows
Carrying the words of prayer to the mountains
Your final loving confession

A time of love has passed
Your rosy steps want to leave
Leaving my entire world shattered
You must return to where you came from

Since then, in the midnight garden
Your dress of the past
Like a tiny fluff of ephemeral cloud
Swiftly drifting through my life

Since then, within my soul
A lamenting sound of the bell
The horse’s neigh, deep in the forest
Resounding through earth and heaven

Since then, I sat dazed
Watching on a distant road
A carriage ride destined
To the scene of parting

Since then, I lay wounded
In the mountains, and in the passes
Faint impermanence follows
With each passing minute

Since then, the flower that is you
Of a deep rosy hue at dawn
Blossoms wholly at dusk to
Wait for the wind of impermanence

Since then, you are the mist
Falling freshly at sunrise
Since then, I am the night
That flourishes into an evanescent blossom.

Khanh Ly – Diem Xua

Composer: Trinh Cong Son
English Title: Diem of the Past
Translated By: Gigi

The rain still falls on the ancient temple
Your slender long arms, your pale eyes
Autumn leaves fall, the sound of soft footsteps
My eyes look to the distance, straining to see

The rain still falls on the piles of small leaves
In the afternoon I sit and gaze at the passing rain
Leaves silently fall upon your footsteps
Coldness suddenly invades my soul, leaving me shivering

The evening rain still falls, so why don’t you come?
Memories in the midst of a buried pain
How can we have each other, marks of pain appear
I beg you to return soon

The rain still falls, life’s like a boisterous sea
How do you remember the traces the migrating birds left behind?
Please let the rain pass over this vast region
So the wanderer can forget he’s wandering

The rain still falls, life’s like a boisterous sea
How do you know that a gravestone feels no pain?
Please let the rain pass over this vast region
Even the stones will need each other for the days to come.

Translator’s Notes: Khanh Ly first sang this song in 1967 when she was 23 years old.

Khanh Ly – Nhu Canh Vac Bay

Composer: Trinh Cong Son
English Title: Like the Wings of a Flying Crane
Translated By: Gigi

Is the sun as crimson as your lips?
Is the rain as sorrowful as your eyes?
Your hair of tiny strands
Falling upon this world to form ripples

The wind will rejoice at your hair swaying
Causing the soft clouds to rest upon your shoulders
Your shoulders so thin and slender
Like the wings of a crane flying towards the distance

Is the sun still jealous of your lips?
Is the rain still sad within your crystal eyes?
Ever since I accompanied you home
I knew we would be apart forever

The spring greets each of your passing steps
Leaves serenade from your fragrant hands
Leaves wither because they’re waiting
Just like life is forever gloomy

Is the day joyful where you’re returning to?
Is the sky blue where you’re returning to?
I listen to the sound a thousand tears
Falling, transforming into a luminous lake.

Translator’s Note: At the beginning of the video, Khanh Ly discussed about her meeting with Trinh Cong Son in 1967 where he showed her the song “Nhu Canh Vac Bay.” He told her of a beautiful memory he had while he was in Da Lat. He and another young lady, her identity unknown, were taking a walk in the forest and stopped by a small spring. He rested by a tree and he watched her walk beside the spring. He continued to watch her as the golden sunlight shone on her slender hair and across her entire body. The wind was blowing causing her hair and her dress to flutter aimlessly in the wind. He cherished that beautiful memory and thus, wrote the song “Nhu Canh Vac Bay.”

Khanh Ly – Nhu Mot Loi Chia Tay

Composer: Trinh Cong Song
English Title: Like Words of Farewell
Translated By: Gigi

All my rendezvous now ended
I’m as light as a cloud
A speck of sunlight has just hurried off
Closing each joyful night

Familiar streets wait from morning to evening
For footsteps from the olden days that pass uncertain
How can you know each private life
Just to love more and with more passion?

A rose from the past falls again
Beside my life
A bit of love leaves like a swift breeze
I suddenly recognize myself

I want one moment to thank life
That’s given me some passion
At times I lie down and hear laughter
But it was just a dream

Love’s like light that dissipates at sunset
Love’s not far but not really near
Love’s like a rock full of endless longing
Love’s indefinite, so why am I sad and worried?

I remember the whispering each night
Seems like it was only drunkenness now
Delicate golden flowers at the edge of the sky
Like words of farewell.

Khanh Ly – Dem Thay Ta La Thac Do

Composer: Trinh Cong Son
English Title: At Night I Feel Like a Waterfall
Translated By: Gigi

One night, footsteps return to the small gates
Rosa flowers suddenly came to mind
Hands that clutched the flower from the cities
Already forgetting the garden from which it came
Walking past a strange city one fine day
The city has left for its afternoon nap
Sometimes my existence is similar to grasses and leaves
Sitting and singing freely without worry
Often I’m like a youth who misses home
From other towns I return
Days of spring brought forth your quiet footsteps
When did spring suddenly come to an end?
Many nights I envision myself like a waterfall
Even wide awake, I can still feel it sometimes

One day, footsteps return to the marketplace
I suddenly feel happy like an innocent child
My existence is sometimes like a blaze of fire
That gather within the garden at midnight
A flower has just bloomed in this midnight garden
Who was it that walked into my life?
Often I see a hundred thousand grave-mounds
Beside the crystal-clear lake I’ve often rested
My existence no longer contributes anything new
I have lived my life in such an indifferent way
There are times my heart closes its doors
And beside a wound I kneel down
Because you have given me your words of prayer
Then left me behind standing on this world.

Translator’s Note: Trinh Cong Son’s songs are metaphysical and only the composer himself will truly understand the meaning of his songs. I hope that I’ve managed to capture, somewhat, the meaning of the song with the translation.