Vietnamese Composer/Songwriter: Khánh Băng

Khanh Bang [1935-2005], another legendary songwriter in the history of Vietnamese music, art and entertainment, was born as Pham Van Minh, in Thang-Tam, Vung-Tau, Vietnam. Khanh Bang was considered to be the first musician to play an electric guitar on Vietnam stage, which was in the 60’s. 

His pseudonym was derived from the first names of his two female childhood friends, “Khanh” and “Bang.” Khanh Bang started writing music since his elementary years. The musician himself couldn’t recall which was the first song that was written by him; however, “Vong Ngay Xanh,” which was written and released in 1956, brought his name to stardom. The famous French poet, Françoise Sagan, wrote the French version to this song. 

Khanh Bang stopped writing music in the mid 90’s when he lost his eyesight to diabetes.  According to his family members, in the morning of the Lunar New Year Day, Khanh Bang was still enjoying good foods, sharing good cheers and laughing with his loved ones. Later on that day, he was feeling fatigued and was just going to take a little rest; however, he never woke up. Khanh Bang passed away peacefully in the afternoon of Lunar New Year Day, 2005.

I like Mr. Khanh Bang’s upbeat melodies in most of his love songs--very youthful and lovely, such as Sau Dong, Tieng Mua Roi, Trang The, etc., just to name a few. I’m featuring one of his love songs on YouTube, titled "Neu Mot Ngay," performed by Kim Anh. This particular song is much mellower, with a slower beat, and it's a real tear-jerker, but I somehow like it very much.

Practically speaking, I've been living in the USA all my life, but I was born in a war-torn country, Vietnam, and was told many heart-broken stories derived from the war. I left Vietnam at a  young age and so my memories of the Vietnam war is very vague. When I started listening to the songs that were written by our well-known songwriters prior to 1975, I formed my own opinion.  And in my opinion, most of Vietnamese love songs, although very beautiful, are extremely sad and often about separation anxiety, pain, and sorrow caused by war (particularly during the Vietnam War, the period prior to 1975).  They often give me that melancholy feeling. That is also the storyline of the featured song, “Neu Mot Ngay."


To watch my upload of this song, click here:  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WK58RsXa2Pc

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