And now Hue has a street and a park named after Trinh Cong Son in which there stands a statue of him so that people can come sit together watching the Huong river. “Con song la thuyen, may xa la buom” (“The river is the boat; the distant cloud is the sail.”)
On the afternoon of February 28, 2024, the statue of the late musician Trinh Cong Son made by the late sculptor Truong Dinh Que was erected in a park by the Huong river. Also in this park, a stone stele engraved with the full lyrics of his famous song “Noi vong tay lon” was inaugurated in the afternoon of September 22, 2025.
The decision of carving the complete lyrics of “Noi vong tay lon” at this site is very meaningful. The song was born in this city and was sung repeatedly during “sleepless nights” and street demonstrations in the years before the reunification as a heartfelt aspiration for peace.
On April 30th, 1975, “Noi vong tay lon” was broadcast from Saigon Broadcasting Station as a symbol of reconciliation and solidarity. He spoke and sang in a pure Hue accent with his friends in the “urban movement” and those at the radio broadcasting station.
When he was still writing and performing, Son often said, “Some people asked me why, as a Hue native, I never write about Hue. I replied that all of my songs are about Hue… Even “Mot coi di ve” is Hue - such a song cannot be written elsewhere.” Now he has returned to Hue as he always wished.
Many people think that there is Hue in every song by Trinh Cong Son though the word “Hue” is never directly mentioned. In his lyrics is the gentle echo of ho mai nhi, ho mai day over the Perfume river. His melodies such as “Uot mi,” “Diem xua,” “Nhu canh vat bay,” “Ha trang,” “Nhin nhung mua thu di,” “Cat bui,” “Tinh xa,” “Mua hong,” “Nang thuy tinh,” “Quynh huong,” “Hoa vang may do,” “Loi thien thu goi,” “Nhu mot loi chia tay,” “Ru doi di nhe,” “Chieu tren que huong toi,” “Mot coi di ve,” etc. are so smooth, elegant, profound and very “Hueish.”
“The scenery, the love, and the people in Trinh Cong Son’s songs are those of Hue. Hue is his endless source of inspiration. Hue is his mother, his lover, his dream, his cradle… Every of his words is Hue. Only when one immerses himself in Hue can he understand Trinh Cong Son’s songs,” said his friend Prof. Cao Huy Thuan.
Since early 1969–1970 his protest songs calling for peace had become popular in cities in South Vietnam such as Hue, Saigon, Can Tho, Da Lat, Da Nang and Tam Ky. Trinh Cong Son always stood side by side with such musicians as Ton That Lap and Tran Long An, … and students at universities and high schools. He performed in the show “Hat cho hoa binh” (“Sing for Peace”) besides “Hat cho dong bao toi nghe” (“Singing for my Fellow Men”) in which the teacher poet Ngo Kha and other student poets recited their impressive protest poems.
That was the period when his peace songs in the collection “Ta phai thay mat troi” (“We Must See the Sun”) were born. Members of the “urban movement” copied and sang the songs with Trinh Cong Son in lecture halls at Hue University, at Hue Student Union Headquarters at 22 Truong Dinh Street, the dormitory in Nam Giao, in Lecture Hall C, Karate Lecture Hall at Faculty of Pedagogy, on courtyards in Faculty of Letters and Faculty of Sciences, at Quoc Hoc High School, Dong Khanh High School, and on the forecourt of Phu Cam Cathedral in “sleepless nights” and at campfires expressing the hatred of wars.
Trinh Cong Son’s anti-war songs became well known worldwide. With the guitar in hand, he sang with friends and students in the “urban movement” of South Vietnam. Like a wandering singer, he sang with students in a homeland devastated by wars. The songs such as “Noi vong tay lon,” “Hue-Saigon-Hanoi,” “Ta da thay gi trong dem nay,” “Day di em, mai hoa binh den roi,” “Dung mong ai, dung nghi ngai,” and “Cho nhin ngay que huong sang choi” defeated the brutal repression of the Saigon authority at that time.
After the reunification, Son worked at Thua Thien Hue Association of Literature and Arts, then moved to Saigon Association of Literature and Arts, continuing to write such beloved songs as “Moi ngay toi chon mot niem vui,” “Em con nho hay em da quen,” “Em o nong truong, anh ra bien gioi,” “Tuoi doi menh mong,” “Nho mua thu Ha Noi,” etc. Then he left the “temporary world” on April 1st, 2001, at the age of 62, to the shock and deep sorrow of those who loved his music.
The statue together with the stone stele of “Noi vong tay lon” stands in remembrance of the musician. The song has been sung not only by Vietnamese people but also by lovers across the globe. Trinh Cong Son was one of the greatest musicians of the Vietnamese modern music, who left behind an immense music legacy. But he whispered, “Toi thu toi be lai lam mua tan giua troi.” (“I contract myself to be a drop of rain that dissolves in the sky.”
Hue is my lover, my dream… But now I also have Saigon and Hanoi. Everywhere is home. Wherever I am, I have dreams and love. So at times I no longer feel that I belong to one certain place. Yet Hue is still my homeland. As long as Hue does not betray me, I am a son of Hue,” said Son.
And now, he has returned home.