(VOVworld) - “As if Uncle Ho were with us on Victory Day” by songwriter Pham Tuyen is one of numerous songs written during the resistance war against American imperialists. Tuyen wrote the song on April 28^th, 1975, only 2 days before the southern region was liberated. The song features a sacred feeling toward President Ho Chi Minh and a prediction of the Vietnamese nation’s triumph.

Pham Tuyen’s song “As if Uncle Ho were with us on Victory Day” was broadcast on the Voice of Vietnam on the evening of April 30^th, 1975, together with the announcement of the liberation of Sai Gon.

Uncle Ho took a photo with People’s artist Chu Thuy Quynh (left) and dancers of the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea in the Presidential Palace in 1958. (Archive photo)

People’s artist Chu Thuy Quynh who accompanied the liberation army from the north to the south and performed for them in those days, said the song reflected her aspiration after a long wait. Its lyrics go: ‘it’s as if Uncle Ho were with us on the great victory day. His desire has been realized to become a splendid victory…..Vietnam Ho Chi Minh! Vietnam Ho Chi Minh!’.

The song was sung by Quynh, her colleagues, and soldiers in a poignant manner.  

Quynh recalled the then feeling:“the song’s melody and the victory atmosphere it describes inspire all Vietnamese people and even foreign friends to sing, hold each other’s hand, and dance for the triumph. The song makes us feel as if Uncle Ho never passed away. He seems always to stand by us, enjoy the victory with us, and encourage us to try harder.”

In late April, 1975, Pham Tuyen was working on a 4-movement piece for chorus for national reunification day. The piece was to include four songs praising the resilience and courage of the north and the south, and the determination to conduct a campaign that would lead to a final and complete victory. But on the evening of 28^th April when VOV broadcast the news that Tan Son Nhat was under attack, Tuyen clearly foresaw the final complete victory of Vietnam.

Tuyen said that at that moment he remembered President Ho Chi Minh’s last New Year poem in 1969, which can be literally translated as follows: ‘For independence, for freedom/ Fight so the Americans leave, fight so the quislings collapse/ Forward, soldiers! Forward, people!/Once the South and the North are reunited, this spring will be the most exciting’.

He knew it was a moment when all Vietnamese people would remember President Ho Chi Minh and he wrote this song in just 2 hours without editing any of the words.

Tuyen explained the circumstance to write the song:“at noon on April 30, VOV’s editor-in-chief phoned me and asked whether or not I knew the liberation army’s flag had been planted on the roof of Independence Palace at 11.30, totally liberating the southern region and reunifying the country. He asked me to go to the VOV headquarters in Quan Su Street to discuss which songs should be used for broadcast. The VOV leader stood on the stairs and asked whether I was thinking of any specific songs. I told him about new song and sang it right on the stairs. After listening to it, he applauded and said this was the song we needed. He then asked the VOV choir to gather in a studio to rehearse the song. At 5 p.m. the same day, the song was used in a bulletin announcing the victory to the outside world. It was Vietnam’s total liberation and reunification.”

The song’s lyrics have entered the hearts of all Vietnamese people, with a penetrating appeal to millions to indulge themselves in the joy of the nation’s triumph. Its vitality has gone beyond the Vietnamese territory to international friends, thanks to its memorable refrain.

The song’s notation was published in the People’s newspaper on May 1st, 1975.

Journalist Tran Mai Hanh, a former VOV Director General, reminded:“Tuyen’s song was broadcast together with my report on the April 30^th victory in the evening of the same day. Its notation was published next to my article in the People’s newspaper published on May 1^st, 1975. Joining the crowd of people at noon of May 1^st, the first International Labor Day of the liberated Saigon, to report on the jubilant atmosphere, I was extremely moved and wept when I heard my report and the song ‘As if Uncle Ho were with us on Victory Day’ on the radio. It was like fate, because Pham Tuyen and I didn’t know each other at that time. He wrote the song in Hanoi that connected the people of the two regions, while I stayed in Saigon and for the first time called the place Ho Chi Minh City.”

Tuyen recalled the refrain and the lyrics ‘thirty years of fighting to gain the national territorial integrity/ thirty years of the republic democracy, the revolution was successful’ came readily into his mind and he wrote it down without any hesitation.

“I felt this song existed somewhere. If I didn’t write it, someone else would. In many interviews, I have said that the song reflects my sentiments, which were the feelings of all people at that time. After years of war, the final victory had arrived. Therefore, as soon as the triumph was announced, the emotion seemed to erupt. I think the song’s vitality comes from my love and the love of all the people nationwide,” according to musician Tuyen.

Pham Tuyen has composed more than 600 pieces of music, over 200 of which are exclusively for children and teenagers.

Pham Tuyen has written many songs in various genres over the past 80 years but the song “As if Uncle Ho were with us on Victory Day” has a special place in Vietnam’s musical pantheon.