Quang Le – Hai Que
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English Title: Two Homelands
Translated by: Gigi
I grew up beside the shore of Tam Giang... of salty water (1)
Those evenings of no white clouds slowly... drifted
And I drifted backwards with the life stream for months and years
I hold gratitude towards your own homeland, yet
I'm feeling homesick... for my own...
My homeland, remember those times
For days and months, life was hard
The bird cries out, "chirp chirp" every evening
Hearing its sound, so deep but lonely
A profound verse from the chanty
Lulling life with a meaningful love
I love it when summer returns, burning the trees dry
The first and second lunar months, nights grew longer
The calming yet soaking rain, along with the gentle wind
Every bed of plowed dirt, every wishes and prayers
People nourish the ground with a sense of love for life
A rice meal of happiness, in a land nourishing its people
The sparking colors beside the Tam Giang lagoon
A passing boat, the female rower let loose a chanty
Bittersweet times are always beside us
Like the small vines on a plate of betel (2)
As gentle as the meaning of a husband and wife
Never once breaking the promise
Who could leave without promising to return?
Why such deep love for two homelands?
Over here are many promises and prayers
Are you moved beyond words over there?
Your homeland of rain and sun
Is the deep-weighted love still there?
Or has it dissipated in your heart?
Over here the sky is vast
The youthful strength lengthens to the two feet
Over here are many landscapes of life
Accepting the generous heart
The rain and sun in your homeland are still deep-seated
A sense of love in this entire life
Similar to the stars of tomorrow at the ends of the sky.
(1) Tam Giang is the name of a lagoon located north of Hue in Vietnam, where three major rivers flow into it. Tam Giang translates to "Three Rivers" in English.
(2) A betel is an Asian pepper plant, it also signifies a promise of marriage in Vietnamese culture.
January 7th, 2008 - 05:09
http://youtube.com/watch?v=L0nGKIBCJ8I here is the hai que song of QuangLe