Nguyễn Trung Cang’s “A Cocky Song” (“Bài Ca Ngông”) is an anthem to individualism. The song was released in the Republic of Vietnam (RVN, or South Vietnam) sometime in the early 1970s. The narrator of the song is a cocky young man who insists on living his truth. He rejects all blandishments of wealth and fame and revels in his freedom. (Well, there’s no actual indication of the narrator’s gender, but it sounds like a young man to me.)
The song is the second track on Saigon Rock & Soul, and this post is a continuation of my mini-series translating the lyrics from that CD. The CD translates the title of the song as “The Crazy Song,” but ngông means “arrogant” or “cocky” rather than “crazy.” The liner notes claim that this song is anticommunist: “An anti-Viet Cong song. The VC promised to transfer money from the rich to the poor. This song speaks about being happy with what you already have, and how no amount of jewels in the world can buy real freedom.” But I don’t find any indication of anticommunism in the song at all. Instead, I think the song is a rejection of the consumerism and careerism of the urban middle- and upper-class in the late RVN.
The RVN was a deeply unequal society by the early 1970s. American aid and the heavy presence of foreign troops and civilians had distorted the economy, and inflation placed a tremendous strain on most Vietnamese. For middle-class city people, it became more difficult than ever to maintain their economic position and avoid downward social mobility. Vietnamese of means tried to secure their family’s future by getting their children into the best schools and steering young people towards lucrative careers. Well-off Vietnamese also purchased commodities such as refrigerators and television sets to assert their status vis-à-vis other Vietnamese. “A Cocky Song” represented a rebellion against the prevailing consumerism, materialism, and careerism. Nguyễn Trung Cang’s audience would have been young, middle- and upper-class urbanites – precisely the type of people that consumed rock music but also felt the burden of parental pressure to advance their family’s economic and social standing.
There is no explicit mention of the war in “A Cocky Song,” though one line does appear to be antiwar. The last line of the third full stanza expresses the narrator’s wish to be a dove in his next life to bring about peace. Yet the wish is an abstract desire for peace rather than a partisan stance, and the song is far less antiwar than many others from the RVN that graphically describe the destruction caused by the conflict.
Nguyễn Trung Cang wrote this song for his band, Phượng Hoàng (Phoenix), and this version of the song was performed by the band’s frontman Elvis Phương. The software I am using does not allow for footnotes on some posts, so they appear below my translation but are not linked.
BÀI CA NGÔNG
Nhạc và lời của Nguyễn Trung Cang
Đố ai mua được linh hồn tôi dẫu cho đem vàng thoi
Đố ai giam được linh hồn ta dẫu mang gông xiềng ra
Linh hồn ta là chim trời cao nứt chông gai hàng rào
Đố ai mua được ta tự do dẫu đem châu ngọc to
Đừng hòng dùng bao lợi danh ngọt ngon mua lòng
Có ham đâu mà mong
Cháo rau bao ngày quen từ lâu có trách than gì đâu
Sá chi xe nhà hay lầu cao mỏi lưng khom đầu đau
Ta từng quen nhà tranh lều tre đói no vui bạn bè
Sống lang thang mà vui gì hơn vẫn tươi môi cười luôn
Đừng hòng dùng bao lợi danh làm ta ưa thèm
Sống ngông nghênh đã quen
Kiếp sau xin làm thân cỏ tranh sống vui riêng trời xanh
Kiếp sau xin làm mây trời cao có trăng sao cùng nhau
Không sầu tư vì đua đòi theo chút hư danh nhạt phèo
Kiếp sau vui làm chim bồ câu gáy cho thanh bình mau
Cuộc đời còn bao chuyện gây bận tâm, ưu sầu
Hãy vui lên cùng nhau
Hãy vui như mình chưa từng vui trắng tay nhưng mà vui
Hãy yêu như mình chưa từng yêu có bao nhiêu cùng tiêu
Mai dù cho đời không được vui có nhau khi bùi ngùi
Hãy yêu nhau để vơi niềm đau sẽ vơi đi thật mau
Này người còn vui còn yêu là tiên trên đời
Sống cho nhau người ơi
Đừng hòng dùng bao lợi danh ngọt ngon mua lòng
Có ham đâu mà mong
A COCKY SONG
Music and lyrics by Nguyễn Trung Cang Original translation by Nu-Anh Tran
Could anyone ever buy my soul, even if they pay with bars of gold?
Could anyone ever restrain my soul, even if they use shackles and fetters?
My souls is like a bird high in the sky that can break through spiked fences.
Could anyone ever buy me freedom, even if they pay with large gemstones?
Don’t think you can win me over with the allure of wealth and fame.
Like I care for such things, don’t even bother.
I’ve long been used to [eating] porridge with greens1 and haven’t griped or grumbled.
Who cares about cars, houses, or tall buildings? It’ll only make my back ache and my head hurt.
I’m used to a thatched house, a bamboo hut, and friendship brings me joy whether I’m hungry or full.
Nothing could be happier than my vagrant life, and I always have a smile on my lips.
Don’t think you can tempt me with great wealth and fame,
I’m used to being cocky.
In my next life, I’d like to be a blade of cogon grass, living happily and alone with the blue sky.
In my next life, I’d like to be a cloud high in the sky and keep company with the moon and stars,
I won’t let some pointless competition for a bit of fame make me sad.
In my next life, I’d be happy to be a dove that crows to usher in the peace.
Life’s got plenty of problems to trouble and sadden us,
So let’s be happy together!
Be happy as if you’ve never been happy before, happy even if you’re empty-handed.
Love as if you’ve never loved before, and together you should spend whatever you’ve got.
If tomorrow life becomes unhappy, you’ll still be glad to have each other in times of sorrow.
Love each other to soothe [any] hurt, and the hurt will ebb quickly.
As long as you’ve still got happiness and love, then that’s heaven on earth.
Oh, let’s live for one another!
Don’t think you can win me over with the allure of wealth and fame.
Like I care for such things, don’t even bother.
Notes
1 Cháo rau (“rice porridge with greens”): The expression implies a plain and meager diet. Rice porridge is cheaper and less calorie-rich than steamed rice, and the narrator professes to eating it with simple greens rather than meat or fish.
BEHIND THE TRANSLATION
The most challenging aspect of translating this song is capturing the cocky and colloquial voice of the narrator. “A Cocky Song” is sprinkled with idiomatic expressions such as đố ai, which can be translated as literally as “guess who,” but implies a challenge to the listener. Who could ever buy off a cocky young man that cares nothing for money?
I found the third line of the song rather confusing: “My souls is like a bird high in the sky that can break through spiked fences” (“Linh hồn ta là chim trời cao, nứt chông gai hàng rào”). If the narrator’s soul is like a bird up in the sky, then why is he even talking about fences, spiked or otherwise? Doesn’t a bird just fly up above the fence? It seems like the narrator is saying that his soul cannot be imprisoned and can break through barriers like spiked fences.
Also, the fifth stanza in the song describes the narrator’s desire to be a dove in his/her next life so as to usher in the peace. Doves typically coo rather than crow, but the song explicitly describes the dove as crowing. The word gáy clearly indicates a loud sound. Perhaps the loud, boastfulness of crowing is more suitable to the narrator than soft, mild cooing.
THE TECHNICAL STUFF
I could not find period sheet music for this song and relied entirely on the recording for the original lyrics.
The period recording can be found here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?app=desktop&v=rY2gUY53DSw
Image credit: https://www.sublimefrequencies.com/products/576864-saigon-rock-soul-vietnamese-classic-tracks-1968-1974