Moms are always an endless inspiration for artists all over the world. This trend also affects Vietnamese composers, both pre and post-Vietnam War. One of the most popular songs about Vietnamese moms is "Nhật ký của mẹ," "Mom’s Diary," written by the composer Nguyen Van Chung and performed by vocalist Hien Thuc. This masterpiece is a gripping narrative from a mother's point of view about her thoughts on the stages of life that her little child goes through. Among Vietnamese songs about moms, “Nhật ký của mẹ” shows both traditional and unconventional characteristics of moms in its meaningful lyrics and beautiful melody. It touches millions of Vietnamese souls when everyone sees part of themselves and their mom in this song.
The whole song is an epic, praising the quiet sacrifices of mothers in six sections. It starts when the mom is pregnant and goes on to when mom gives birth and raises a baby. The baby then starts going to school and that child falls in love for the very first time. Eventually, that child grows up and leaves their mom. Finally, the mom is very old and hoping that he will come back. The figure of the mom is illustrated in an incredibly smooth mixture of traditional dignities, modern merits, and the rules of nature.
In terms of traditional dignities, the mother always cares about her child from the very first moment of his life.
In the eyes of the mom, no matter how old or mature her child is, he will always be so weak and vulnerable that she has to follow every his step in life.
"Every word spoken with love, I ask the clouds to bring to you. And I wish you be always happy, safe, and sound."
These sentences remind me of two lines in "Con cò," "Stork," which is a popular poem written by Che Lan Vien about mothers in Vietnamese literature.
"No matter how mature you are, I will always stand by your side until the end of my life."
She seems to understand that, from the first moment of her pregnancy, she has not only simply lived for herself, but also for her little child. She looks forward to seeing her child growing up day by day. Eventually, her child has grown up and he leaves home to follow his dream. However, his mother still follows every step of her little child and, as usual, she wishes him only the best.
In contrast, section 3 of the song shows a non-traditional side of the Vietnamese mother when it describes her reaction to the child’s first love.
"I knew that it would be hard for you to forget the memories of your first love and that there would be someone to love you more than your Mom."
Traditionally, Vietnamese parents usually forbid their children to fall in love with anyone until high school graduation. However, in this song, the figure of the mother is not a mom with prejudice towards or hatred of teenage love. She expresses her sympathy towards her child’s break-up because she seems to believe that every feeling should be respected and the first love will be sacred in her child’s mind for forever. The mom in the song not only stands beside her child in every happy period, but also follows him even in the sad and disappointing moments like a break-up. She also believes that her son will find someone who loves him more than she does. Is there anyone who is willing to unconditionally love him like his Mom did? I guess that no one is.
The song refers to a rule of nature, that every child will leave their parents behind when they grow up.
"Days in, days out you’re grown up, and one day you left me. [...] Your figure, your laughter, missing you in every moment in my life."
Even when she is aging, the only thought that she always keeps in mind is of her child. Although she is deeply missing her child who is so far away from her, she still wishes for her child to be safe and sound, healthy, and successful. Fortunately, that child will go back home eventually.
"For so many days I’ve been waiting for to come back. [...] Thank you for coming to me."
The figure of the mother, through the song, covers a very long period of time from the youthful mother to the mom in old age. The last happy moments in her life might be seeing her children become mature, successful, and coming back after so many years apart. Every event in her child’s life is held deeply in her mind and, each day, she plays that collection of events as a film of her son in which the she appeared.
Again, her child is “still tiny as an angel.” In the eyes of his mom, her child will never grow up. Again, that she casts no blame for his age-long leaving, but she still thanks him for coming into her life and she definitely shows the quiet sacrifices of mothers. Her tears, at this time, are words that her heart cannot say or express. She cries tears of happiness when she finally sees her child coming back. After years waiting for him in vain, she and her child finally stay together. The bird, after flying thousands of miles and getting tired, goes back to the nest in which it was born and raised.
Moreover, the non-popular figure of the mother in this song is also noteworthy.The author did not always follow the conventional description of the Vietnamese Mom which was popular in the period of pre- and post-Vietnam War. During a 30-year period from 1954, artists who witnessed the narrow gap between life and death in bloody battles had built up the figure of the mother with great patriotism, as an image of supreme sacrifice for the country. The sacrifice was not only about raising children into good citizens, but also about letting or urging their beloved children to go into battles that were devoted to fighting for the country.
In “A Hanoi person,” a short story written by Nguyen Khai, a Vietnamese writer during Vietnam War, the protagonist, Mrs. Hien, forced her son into military service because she did not want her child to peacefully live from the deaths and sacrifices of other Vietnamese friends. The mother was no plain or normal figure who simply had never-ending love, loyalty, and sacrifice for families. Instead, she had a morally meaningful duty to give birth and then let her own children fight for the war. The magnitude of the mother was outstanding in the background of guns, bombs, blood, tears, and deaths. In contrast, “Nhật ký của mẹ” is about a normal and plain Mom in daily life without the bittersweet smell of war. Written 35 years after Vietnam War ended in 1975, the song seems like a breath of fresh oceanic air that puts a brand-new coat on the figure of the mother after the decades when they have carried enormous civic duties for the country.
All of the six sections of the song have the same melody. There is no section that overwhelms the others or that is paid more attention. Why did the composer write a song like this? The composer might believe that each period, each part of the life of the mom, has equivalent magnitude in the life of children, no part of which is more important than others. Likewise, love from a mother to her children always remains balanced, full, and it never changes.
The official video of this song describes the meaningful lyrics and shows the point of constancy that is a Mom’s love when the author of the song, Nguyen Van Chung, learned and performed sand painting. Sand is directly connected with the ocean, which is symbolic of a mother’s love. It's also something that is immeasurable. The images that were created by the sand painting portray the changes of time. No matter how long it was, the sand and the ocean still remain unchanged, similar to a mother’s eternal love for her children.
