VietNamNet Bridge – In 2010, some young Vietnamese singers tried to internationalize Vietnamese music by releasing albums in English. It is expected that this “wave” will continue in 2011.

One of the barriers for Vietnamese music to reach the world is language. Celine Dion chooses to mainly sing in English and her mother tongue – French – only for special records. Why? Because English is the global language. ABBA or Modern Talking became famous worldwide for their songs in English, not in their native language.

In Vietnam, diva Hong Nhung was the first to translate four famous Vietnamese songs and perform them in her album “Lullaby for You” in 1999.

Ten years later, young singers produce albums with songs written already in English,. What do foreigners think about them? Two Americans, a Vietnamese music researcher Jason Gibbs and an English teacher in Vietnam Nick Ippel commented on Doan Trang’s The Unmake-up and Ha Anh Tuan’s Cock-tail on Sports and Culture newspaper.

Nick Ippel – English language teacher

I think Ha Anh Tuan’s Cock-tail is interesting. The bar/cocktail topic is quite open. He used many metaphors in the lyrics. He sings about things that happen in a bar and related things but there are implications in this album.

Doan Trang’s The Unmake-up covers many topics, from relationships to  life in general. I really love the sound of the piano in the album. It suits the lyrics and Doan Trang’s voice.

Jason Gibbs – researcher of Vietnamese music

The name of Doan Trang’s album is a matter. The word “unmake-up” doesn’t exist in any English dictionary. Perhaps this album implies “no make-up”. English language is flexible and many new words appear but I don’t know why they didn’t name the album “No Make-up” or “Without Make-up”. “Unmake” means removing one’s make-up but I think that word doesn’t reflect the idea of the talented team who produced this album.

Before analyzing English lyrics in this album, I would like to say that Doan Trang’s voice is pleasing to the ear and her singing technique is steady. She chose songs with nice melodies, which are suitable to her style and she worked with professional producers.

It is difficult to produce this album because ballad songs focus on lyrics, especially when songs are translated from Vietnamese songs, which are very poetic. It is difficult to translate the songs into English. Briefly, the lyrics are correct in grammar but the language is not smooth and natural for English native speakers.

For example, a sentence in “Praying” is “If you don’t love me I would get down”. “Get down” is not completely wrong but “I would feel down” or “it would bring me down” are more natural. The song “Paper Fan” starts with “This summer day it’s hot like burning”. It is not wrong but if you google the phrase, it would not? be the first. It is similar for “united at our souls”.

About pronunciation, like other people who speak English as the second language, Doan Trang couldn’t pronounce the word “the” correctly. She also had problem with stress. In the song “Praying”, she stressed the second syllable in the word “desert” in the phrase “pray for the rain in the desert” so it is understood as “dessert”. She didn’t pronounce clearly some phrases in the song “Nocturnal” so I don’t understand it.

The literariness in Ha Anh Tuan’s Cock-tail is less than Doan Trang’s so this album is less problematic. I guess that lyrics in Cock-tail are more natural because the songs are written in English, not being translated. Moreover, electro-dance style makes it easier for songwriters to compile melodies that are appropriate to the pronunciation of English. Pronunciation in Cock-tail is good but some words are not pronounced well. In the song “Bartender”, the phrase “fill me up” is repeated but it sounds like “feel me up”. The chorus of “Don’t mix your drinks girl” has the sentence “it’s gonna make you white girl, you know this isn’t right girl” but I think Ha Anh Tuan intended to sing “it’s gonna make you wild girl, you know this isn’t right girl”.

Many people questioned whether Vietnamese music can go out to the world? The sound quality of the albums is good, up to international standards but the English is still below the standards, but this is not a problem. I think that Vietnamese pop music lacks a factor, which is more important – timbre.

The world music market is very crowded and difficult to come. If a great talent as Bi (Rain) (Korean) has not reached the European-American market, how can Vietnamese stars become global stars?

If Americans learn about Vietnamese music, they often neglect pop music. They know and like jazz music by Nguyen Le, sang by Huong Thanh, meritorious artist Kim Sinh or music of Dai Lam Linh group. They are not pop singers and they want to modernise? traditional Vietnamese music.

I ask myself “why Vietnamese singers produce English albums?” Perhaps to participate in the events of ASEAN or Asia, to pass the censorship and to fit in with international pop/rock melodies.

I believe that Vietnamese singers can produce albums up to international standards, including language standards. But I think this would not be a success. They can only be successful when they meet the requirements of people who love Vietnamese language.

PV