Bonjour Vietnam

Original French lyrics by Marc Lavoine

English paraphrase

Tell me about this name so strange and difficult to pronounce

Vietnamese paraphrase

Hãy nói cho ta biết cái tên khó gọi
ta đã mang từ thuở sơ-sinh.

Hãy kể về vương-quốc xa xưa và về đôi mắt xếch của ta,
đôi mắt biểu-lộ lòng ta hơn những lời không dám thốt lên.

Ta chỉ biết quê-hương qua hình ảnh chiến-tranh,
hay qua phim của Coppola với những trực-thăng đầy phẫn-nộ.

Một ngày nào đó, ta sẽ về chào hồn thiêng dân-tộc.
Một ngày nào đó, ta sẽ về chào quê-hương Việt Nam.

Hãy tả cho ta màu da, mái tóc và đôi chân bé nhỏ,
đã mang ta từ thuở sơ-sinh.

Hãy kể cho ta về ngôi nhà, con đường, hãy kể cho ta quê-hương xa lạ,
có chợ-nhóm trên sông và thuyền tam-bản.

Ta chỉ biết quê-hương qua hình ảnh chiến-tranh,
hay qua phim của Coppola với những trực-thăng đầy phẫn-nộ.

Một ngày nào đó, ta sẽ về viếng linh-hồn của ta.
Một ngày nào đó, ta sẽ về thăm quê-hương Việt Nam.

Viếng thăm chùa-chiền tượng Phật thay cho thân-phụ,
Viếng thăm các thiếu-phụ khom lưng trên ruộng đồng thay từ-mẫu,

Trong tiếng nguyện-cầu, dưới vầng ánh sáng, ta sẽ gặp lại huynh-đệ,
Trở về sống với linh-hồn, cội-nguồn, quê-hương ta...

Một ngày nào đó, ta sẽ về viếng linh-hồn của ta.
Một ngày nào đó, ta sẽ về thăm quê-hương Việt Nam. (2 lần)

Biography of Phạm Quỳnh Anh, the singer:

Born on January 16, 1987 in Liege (Belgium) to Vietnamese parents. Her mother and father arrived individually to Belgium, met in Liege, and gave birth to Quynh Anh then her sister, Lisa, in 1992. Quynh Anh attended the high school Saint Stanislas in Mons, where her family had lived, and graduated in June 2005. She also studied music theory and song lyrics at the academy of Mons then continued to take guitar courses. With her parents, Quynh Anh participated in the "Hope" band to perform folk music for the community.  Quynh Anh had an impressive beginning to her performing career:  Winning the junior category of the singing competition organized at the end of September 2000 by the Belgium Television RTBF.  Then in Paris, in 2002, Quynh Anh signed a professional performer contract with the producer Pierre Alain Simon of Rapas. The Rapas label is represented by the Universal company/Mercury label.  Education, however, was Quynh Anh's first priority until she received her high school diploma.

Now that she had finished high school, Quynh Anh can devote time to her true passions: music and performing. At the beginning of 2005, she recorded, in duet with Marc Lavoine, the song "I hope" which was also title song of Lavoine's new album "Summertime".  Beginning in November, Quynh Anh went on tour with Marc Lavoine. The first performance on November 8 was in no other than Liege, her birthplace.  From mid-November, she will perform with Marc Lavoine on stage at the Casino of Paris. Since September 2005, the team around Quynh Anh had started to test some new songs.  Major artists and producers were involved in this project.  In 2006, the first recordings will be released by Quynh Anh.

Biography of Marc Lavoine, the composer:

Marc Lavoine was labelled a heart throb right from the start of his career. His warm voice and blue eyes were no doubt some of the reasons. He played along with this image and then decided to change it. Now he is in a register more like what he is really like, and what he prefers..

Marc Lavoine was born on August 6, 1962, in Longjumeau, in the Paris suburbs. His childhood was marked by his father's passion for jazz and his brother's propensity to listen to Dutronc and the Rolling Stones. From adolescence onwards, artistic leanings began to show, and he began writing songs, propelled by good school marks in French. At sixteen, however, he was tempted to become an actor.
This tremendously gifted man also has a highly successful singing career. After notching up impressive sales figures of 300,000 copies of his latest album - and 600,000 copies of his chart-topping single "J'ai tout oublié"! - Marc Lavoine bowed to popular demand and returned to the live circuit. Fast approaching 40, but having lost none of his dark good looks and seductive charm, the singer proved a big hit when he took to the stage at the Théâtre de la Porte Saint Martin in Paris (14 - 25 May 2002). Lavoine's concerts, which included old favourites from his early days as well as more recent hits, attracted a massive turn-out of fans. All in all, the tour took in 190 dates. A live album, entitled "Olympia deuxmilletrois", came out in June 2003.

At the same time, Lavoine continued with his acting career. His films included a role in Yvan Atal's "Ma femme est une actrice" (2001) and Bernie Bonvoisin "Blanche" in 2002. He also featured in Neil Jordan's international production "L'homme de la riviera", and in 2003 he played in Marc Esposito's "Le coeur des hommes", which was a box office hit in France.

Following these professional successes, the dashing fortysomething started work on a new album. It was entitled "L'heure d'été", and was released in June 2005. There are serious songs on it, but some with a lighter touch as well, although tinged with melancholy and a nostalgia for Lavoine's teenage years. He also uses retro eighties instrumentation, with synthesisers and other electronic effects, particularly on the first single, "Je me sens seul". On this album Daniel Darc and Frédéric Lô also composed a song for him, entitled "Ne m'en veux pas de t'en vouloir". Marc Lavoine has always been a fan of duets with female singers, and this album features a track where he sings with the young Vietnamese singer Quynh Anh.

Married to a real-life princess and father of two children, Marc Lavoine is no longer the romantic crooner of his early years. Over time, he has managed to forge a new image for himself, as a sort of cheerful pessimist who uses humour to talk of things in life that are not necessarily so funny.