The Song, the author of the famous song “Remote islands” (Photo: giaitri.vnexpress.net)

The song “Remote islands” inspired the love of millions of Vietnamese people for Vietnam’s sea and islands. The Song wrote the song in 1979 during a fact-finding tour of border guard stations in Quang Ninh province. On his way home, Song stopped at a ship repair station and met with naval soldiers. Their moving stories inspired him to write “Remote islands”.

The song was broadcast on the Voice of Vietnam and received a lot of praise from listeners. “Remote islands” has been played in many programs encouraging youth to get involved in national construction and defense. Tran Tat Bong of the Student Cultural House in Hanoi said he was very touched by the song.

“I felt so moved when I heard “Remote islands”. It captures the love and dedication of the naval soldiers. I’ve never visited Truong Sa or Hoang Sa archipelagoes but I have a great love for the soldiers who live on these far away islands,” Bong elaborated.

The song “Remote islands” was first aired on the Voice of Vietnam in the 1980s and ended up linking many hearts and inspiring great love for Vietnam’s sea and islands. Musician Cat Van compared “Remote islands” to a coral reef.

“The Song traveled and wrote a lot, but “Remote islands” is really his signature song. This is not only a great honor for Song but also the pride of generations of Vietnamese musicians,” he said.

The Song wrote nearly 600 songs, many of them are about Vietnam’s sea and islands and naval soldiers, including “Immense Truong Sa”, “Lullaby of the sea”, “Home of island soldiers”, and “Rain on the sea”. Some of his songs were collected and recorded on CD in 1996.

Do Hong Quan, Chairman of the Vietnam Composers’ Association, said The Song created his melodies using material from everyday life: “The Song applied his life experience to his music and developed a unique style. His music was very popular on the Voice of Vietnam, especially in the 60s and 70s”.

The Song was born in 1933 in Hanoi. At the age of 20, he worked for the art troupe of the Voice of Vietnam (VOV) and later was a music editor at VOV. Song taught himself music arrangement and theory.

He received the State Award for Literature and Art for several of his songs, including “Remote islands”, “Song on Po Hen peak”, and “Love by the river”.