Songs For Girls
Songs for Girls, with TUỔI MỔNG MƠ (Age Of Dreams), TUỔI HỒNG (Rose Tinted Years), TUỔI NGỌC (Years Of Gemstone), TUỔI THẦN TIÊN (Magical Years), TUỔI BÂNG KHUÂNG (Age Of Daydreams), TUỔI NGU NGƠ (Age Of Naivety), TUỔI SỢ MA (The Age When Ghosts Are Scary) to pay tribute to these marvellous years in young girls' lives and to ask them to value these years, not to waste them in drugs. I started the Songs for Girls with:
TUỔI MỘNG MƠ
(Saigon-1973)
What are you dreaming of when you're twelve, when you're thirteen?
You're dreaming you'll become a fairy
With your magic you'll give speech to the flowers
With your magic you'll give people the power of flight!
So beautiful! So beautiful! Magic dreams!
So beautiful! So beautiful! Magic dreams!
What are you dreaming of when you're thirteen, when you're fourteen?
You're dreaming you have a poet's soul
With the rain and the wind you'll sing people's dreams
On the wings of a poem you'll sing for peace in the world.
So beautiful! So beautiful! Flowery dreams!
So beautiful! So beautiful! Flowery dreams!
What are you dreaming of when you're fourteen, when you're fifteen?
You're dreaming you'll be as pretty as the full moon
You'll put on make-up and a dress and a pink veil
And compete with the beauties in town
So beautiful! So beautiful! Pretty dreams!
So beautiful! So beautiful! Pretty dreams!
What are you dreaming of when you're fourteen, when you're fifteen?
Not very much, just something dear to your heart
No far-fetched dreams, just to become a worthy person
A cherished daughter of Vietnam walking in the footsteps of the nation.
So beautiful! So beautiful! Innocent dreams!
So beautiful! So beautiful! Innocent dreams!
TUỔI NGỌC
(Saigon-1973)
Give me a dress
To go out, because spring is here
I'll put it on and go out
Good bye mum and dad
A silk dress for a well bred lady
Give me a colored dress
To go out walking in the afternoon sunshine
Followed by admirers
In the city's streets
Many hearts will be fluttering with my dress
Give me a dress like a pink cloud
Give me a dress like a pink cloud
Give me long flowing hair
To dry in the sunshine outside
I will lose but a few strands
So that a stream will flow
Smoothly over my shoulder
Give me fragrant locks of hair
Soft as velvet, on which I'll rest to dream
Magical dreams
Dreams and people entwined
Familiar figures wandering in and out
Make my hair as sleek as silk!
Make my hair as sleek as silk!
Give me a bicycle
A pretty bicycle to go to school
Round and round I will go
Like life's little circles
Carmine heels will peddle the bike
Up the long slope
Down the long slope
One day, some day
Many sweet memories will be carried
On this bicycle
Give me many rides quiet and gentle
Give me many rides quiet and gentle
TUỔI HỒNG
Music and original text by Pham Duy
Lyrics by James Durst
(Saigon-1973)
There is no sun up in the sky
Yet I am warm and don't know why
There is no fire where I go
Ad yet I feel myself aglow.
It's not the lightning in the wine
That makes my eyes so brightly shine
The rain falls lightly through the trees
But it can't douse this flame in me.
O o shine ! O o shine !
O o shine ! O o shine !
A lotus reaching for the sun
The road of life has just begun
A fragreant flower yet to bloom,
A precious bud to blossom soon.
The clouds have vanished from the sky
Like the birds in paradise I fly
Like silver gulls along the shore
Above a vibrant earth I soar.
O o fly ! O o fly !
O o fly ! O o fly !
No one is singing in the street
And yet I feel the joyful beat
The pounding rhythms of the heart
And wondrous voyages they chart.
A thousand songs ring in my ears
Embracing all my hopes and fears
There is no future in a dream
Ím standing somewhere in between.
O o dream ! O o dream !
O o dream ! O o dream !
TUỔI THẦN TIÊN (Magical Years) used a different musical
language and structure.
TUỔI THẦN TIÊN
(Saigon-1973)
These magical years we spend in mother's arms
Nice milk she still seems to give
These magical years when we are growing
And our clothes got too small so fast
These magical years when we listen to father's deep voice
Singing a folk song
These magical years we spend among brothers and sisters
And grandpa and grandma with wrinkles and white hair
Our hair we part, not wearing it too long
Clogs we have, and new shoes
The street outside seems to extend to the horizon
A candy seems to last forever.
These magical years where life is like a schoolgirl's flowers
Flamboyants glowing red over the schoolyard
These magical years where we strive to follow the teacher
To break up the fog and follow the light yonder
Years of the lovely slender pen
Years of the nice smelling book
Years of handwritten blue letters
Of a butterfly pressed between two pages
A white dress fluttering in the breeze
An autumn afternoon on a leaf strewn street
Virgin grass bathed in pine dust
Rain caressing shy flowers.
These magical years when the country is at peace
When blue smoke floats across the temple roof
These magical years when good smelling rice fills baskets
And singing people thresh rice under the moon
These magical years with a long long river
A big factory with a hooting siren
These magical years when the country is on the move
And peace bring joy to the children
When spring comes, we go to the pagoda to pray
Pray to the Buddha that there will be more magic
When winter comes, Christmas night
Brings more wonders to these magical years
TUỔI SỢ MA
Last night I saw a ghost, a black mud-stained ghost
Long hair, clothes in tatters, all dirty
Last night I saw a ghost, all white, two yellow fangs
I saw a mud ghost, he's not quite right in the head
Hit them! Hit the ghosts! Hit the ghosts!
Bad, cruel ghosts, hit them!
Hit them! Hit the ghosts! Hit the ghosts!
Bad, cruel ghosts, we'll beat them!
Last night I saw a spirit, a wine spirit, drunkm and red eyed,
Greeting a gambling spirit, unkempt, dishevelled
Last night I saw a ghost, a drug ghost, pale and dreamy
I saw a terrifying ghost, a vampire, granddaddy of all ghosts
Hit them! Hit the ghosts! Hit the ghosts!
Bad, cruel ghosts, hit them!
Hit them! Hit the ghosts! Hit the ghosts!
Bad, cruel ghosts, we'll beat them!
Last night I saw a ghost, a bad, cunning pimp ghost
He preys on those who have made a mistake
Last night I saw a ghost, a con man with a big mouth
Who has duped many honest people
Hit them! Hit the ghosts! Hit the ghosts!
Mafia terrorists!
Hit them! Hit the ghosts! Hit the ghosts!
Speculating ghosts!
Last night I saw a ghost, but I smashed him to bits
They're invisible, but we must hit them
Last night a ''ma'' woke me up, but I was OK
It was a sweet ma, it was maman!
Baby! Be a good girl! Be a good girl! Be a good girl!
Don't let me raise my voice! Be a good girl!
Maman! Maman! Maman! Maman!
Dear ma, dearest ma, dearest ma!
TUỔI XUÂN
(Saigon-1973)
Suddenly I love the world! Suddenly I love the world!
I look at white clouds in the sky
I look at white clouds floating towards the ocean
Suddenly I love the world! Suddenly I love the world!
I love my beautiful country first of all
And I love the five continents
I love life
I love life
I love today
And I'll love a long time
Suddenly I love people! Suddenly I love people!
People in the quiet hamlet, people in the busy street
People in the cities, people in the villages
Suddenly I love people! Suddenly I love people!
People in the shopping center, people in the street
People in the wobbling minibuses
I love little children
I love old men
I love the teachers
I love my student's life
Suddenly I'm so happy! Suddenly I'm so happy!
My first joy is to be spoiled by mum and dad
Next, to be loved by brothers and sisters
Suddenly I'm so happy! Suddenly I'm so happy!
Next, to find riches don't matter
And last, I'm always loved
Beauty doesn't matter
I am well behaved and nice
So many people follow me
And I meet many people!
Suddenly I become dreamy! Suddenly I become dreamy!
Love came in such a hurry
Love fills my heart
Suddenly I become dreamy! Suddenly I become dreamy!
So small my heart, so much love it holds
Will it burst my pretty little heart?
No, I'm not afraid my heart will burst
No, I'm not afraid my heart will burst
I sing and I enjoy myself
I sing and I enjoy myself
Tralalalala ...
TUỔI NGU NGƠ (Tuổi Vu Vơ)
(Saigon-1973)
At what age do you often feel sorry for yourself
Often cry and sulk?
At what age are you often stubborn
And pout and throw angry looks?
Sometimes you pace around angrily
Sometimes you just sit there sullenly
Sometimes you lie shivering with hunger.
At what age you are indifferent
Then get excited, then become melancholic?
At what age do you crave for affection
Then become harsh and silent?
Sometimes you're happy and outgoing
Sometimes you are sad as can be
You live in a passion
You love and you hate
So cute the age of naivety
Of indifference, of unpredictable anger!
At what age do you open your heart
To let your soul fly with the wind?
At what age do you weave with flowers
And worship love?
Your soul is like a firefly
Thirsting for light
Offering itself to the fire of life
At what age are you often bewildered
Rapt with the future that awaits?
Love comes close then gets away
Sometimes you are so happy at home
Sometimes you feel sad in the city
Take ages to finish a letter
So cute the age of ignorance,
Of expectations, of innocence
Like a magical dream!
Age of love,
For snakes, for elephants, for tigers
For worms, for all beasts fierce and gentle
When angels are present
So will devils
So young people naively stand in the middle
That age is of universal love
Of unbound pity
That age is getting away
You must keep its memory
In this treacherous world
Always carry forgiveness
Living in the forest, you walk a fawn's steps
So charming this age of honesty
Of kind heartedness
Young age of infinite generosity!
TUỔI BÂNG KHUÂNG
(Saigon-1973)
Why am I not a flower
Why am I not a plant
Why am I not a breeze
Why am I not a cloud on the distant hill?
Like flowers competing in colors
Like trees leaning against each other in accord
Growing close to make the forest taller
Like clouds bringing rain to the fragrant ricefields
Why am I not a small stream
To mirror the lonely moon
Why am I not a big wave
Rumbling in the heart of the sea?
Why am I not a butterfly's wing
Why am I not a bird's foot?
Why am I not a fragrance
Broodingly searching, searching?
It seems like I'm the white sand
Sometimes lamenting in sadness
In the night echoing with reproaches
I hear the moon and the stars feeling sorry for their fate
Why am I not precious time
That brings relief to all pains
And bring back love to the people
Why am I not all these things
Here to day, there tomorrow
Why am I not all these things
Sharing, sharing this love of ours
Why am I still dreaming, still dreaming
Why am I still floating, still unsure
Running my fingers thorugh my hair
In the night thinking of myself and of somebody.
TUỔI BIẾT BUỒN
(Saigon-1973)
Sadness came on a rainy morning
Rain carry the cloud to the distant past
Does the bird remember the rose garden
Remember that window? And remember me?
Sadness came an evening on the river
When rosy dreams started to fade
O young fawns and princesses in the forest
In the wilderness a door has closed on the returning path.
I remember childhood when we ran under the trees
Skipping ropes and pretending to cook
Wore flowers on our heads and gave them to each other by the bridge
Who'd think life would flow so fast
Now we know sadness, now we long for joy
Little feet are stepping out into the world
Hands still hold memories of the past
Souvenirs and memories and longing are still with us
Sadness came one moonless night
Love tiptoed into the heart and opened it wide
Moments of rapture, moments of sweetness
When one is in love and yet uncertain
Sadness came one sleepless night
Love brought a golden glow to my hair
Silken strings were all confused
What's this Love that has trapped so many in its net
Remember when shoulder by shoulder we walked under the willows
Looked at ourselves in the lake and stopped under the pine trees
The first magical kiss lead us into it
But love is so quick to shatter
Sadness has been with us as soon as we knew love
Love will grow stronger and so will sadness
Wéll carry these heart wounds along with love
O age of sadness! Years that keep following us!
NGÀY EM HAI MƯƠI TUỔI
The day you turn twenty
Cut your long hair
Say goodbye to happiness
And hello to sadness
The day you turn twenty
Not knowing what longing is
Eyes filled with love
Lips breaking in a smile
Gone already is youth
When throughout the night
You listened to your heart's dreams
When the lingering moon
Sang a lullaby in your gentle dream
When flowers bloomed on your virgin lips
This morning a flock of bird
Came to commiserate
With the faded flowers
Listen! Outside the wind wails
Incessant rain will come
Fairy tales will be gone
The day you turn twenty
Try to hold back the world
So that the last word lasts forever
And time itself comes to a halt
The day you turn twenty
Hardly knowing love
You have already tasted its bitterness
But it will soon fade.
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