“A star is like a flame that flies up from the riverbank late at night, flying over mountains and hills and then lighting up ten thousand lives/ And love has begun from rice fields, from mulberry fields, lullaby sounds, from parents' meaning, high mountains and deep water sources...” (Where love flies up, music by Tran Manh Hung, lyrics by Ha Quang Minh) – Those are the lyrics that Vietnam Idol Champion Ha An Huy said he was very touched to be chosen to perform the theme song for the movie Huyen tinh Da Trach (released on Valentine's Day and stayed in theaters throughout the Tet 2026 film season).
When love is always a lasting value
Just releasing "trendy" compositions before the New Year with familiar and "puzzling" lyrics such as: Nhuc subconscious, Tet is home..., how do you feel when performing a song that is both fresh and youthful and faintly nostalgic like the soundtrack of the legendary movie Huyen Tinh Da Trach?
- Honestly, when musician Tran Manh Hung sent me the demo version of this song, I was quite confused. I don't know for sure if a young person like me has enough penetration and depth to perform a theme song with lyrics that are not easy to memorize for a legendary film invested very elaborately by the crew like Huyen Tinh Da Trach or not. But I understand that a deep and professional person like musician Tran Manh Hung can hardly place a wrong trust when choosing someone to perform his work.
And I spent two weeks enough to let those lyrics and melodies permeate me, so that when the singing voice rises in the film, the performer is also like a character in the film, a witness to a love story that has become a legend.
A film imbued with nostalgia, but its lyrics and melody are also very fresh and youthful - where love flies up and shines, transcending space-time. So when performing it, I am not bound between new and old, but simply sing an age-old love song about love and the meaning of life. A love that has turned into a mountain and a river and blended into the name of the land...
What helped you absorb a song that does not necessarily carry the language of your generation?
- Love, I think, has no generational gap. Especially pure love that has become a symbol like the story of Tien Dung - Chu Dong Tu can still penetrate every layer of mist of time. The song reminds me of the old story that we once learned and read, but perhaps only now is it enough to perceive, through the language of music and cinema. Not only through the experience of love between couples but also through deeper contemplations about love in a broad sense: Love for the land, love for people, love for the legends that have accompanied history and belong to a part of history...
As everyone knows, my grandmother and mother are both veteran Cheo artists and in turn my girlfriend is also a zither artist, so even though the music I pursue is a new genre, I still always breathe the nostalgic atmosphere of traditional music that once made me sleep. Naturally, I always feel deeply connected to the values belonging to tradition.
That's why when performing the song, I not only sang it with a loving heart but also with the emotions and mature awareness of a child who has grown up and left the family's arms but still constantly connects with the core values of each person's life such as homeland, family, roots...
Every truly mature son must always carry in him the spirit of Chu Dong Tu as in the ancient story as well as the movie Huyen Tinh Da Trach: strong enough to protect his woman, deep enough to know how to care for and protect his loved ones and strong enough to connect with the community and motivate them..., to love is always a lasting value and more powerful to connect generations.
The story of Tien Dung - Chu Dong Tu once again reminds young people like us to cherish more the values of life at this time, when life opens up more choices, compared to the time when people were not even allowed to choose, or only allowed to choose 1. But above all, a person who knows how to live enough, live beautifully will always choose love as a guiding principle for their life. Like the beautiful lyrics in the movie soundtrack Huyen Tinh Da Trach: Love embraces millions of people/ People love each other, love continuing life...
Will make "a star like flames flying away" in the Year of the Horse
A name that emerged from reality TV with two championships, but dared to choose a difficult path, not completely catering to thị hiếu - as director Cao Trung Hieu recently praised him. So what do you think about the choice of a young director like Ton Van who dared to make a film that requires deep exploration and going back to the past like Huyen Tinh Da Trach?
- Like many young people, I am also a child who came out of the village. Hai Duong, my hometown, is not far from Hung Yen land (the ancient Da Trach lagoon area) that the movie Huyen Tinh Da Trach chose as the setting. I remember when I was young, before I went to the intermediate level of the Conservatory of Music, I often went to visit my uncle's house in Hung Yen, in the Cheo troupe dormitory area. I remember that day it was very deserted, around 8 pm everyone was already going to bed, only the playful children were still inviting each other to play hide-and-seek. Only more than ten years ago, now this is a land that has truly transformed, transformed, no longer recognizing the old road marks.
I realized that finding traces of time is not easy for the storyteller. Not to mention, it is also a journey back in time with a long historical departure like Huyen Tinh Da Trach. It must be a young person with bravery and confidence, told by "ancestors" to be brave enough to carry that "mission": to find ways to connect and "decode" history - tradition with the fresh eyes of a young person. Personally, I feel admired and sympathetic to that professional mindset.
2026 is the "year of birth" of the 24-year-old guy born in the Year of the Horse. So will it be an An Huy who is leisurely, "freely grazing" as he often hashtags, or will it be a warhorse galloping on its mane?
- Exactly, it will be a year of "war horses"! The two songs I just opened for 2026 will pave the way for a series of new compositions that I will successively announce this year. Along with that is a promising "makeover" appearance in a "hot" TV show expected to air this summer.
In a way, the lyrics in the movie soundtrack "Huyen tinh Da Trach" are also my living mindset, my professional mindset in this "war horse" year: it will be "a star like a flame flying up", hopefully strong enough to shine...
