Wonderfilled Vol. 6: Saigon

It’s easy to understand how Nguoi Sai Gon’s old music nights have managed to attract a sizable middle-aged audience: their generation grew up listening to Khanh Ly’s raspy voice and memorizing Pham Duy’s lyrics. However, it might come as a surprise that the rest of the room is filled with so many young Saigoneers.

For Hoang My Uyen, owner of Nguoi Sai Gon, the explanation for the diverse audience at her shows lies in the natural development of one’s emotional maturity.

“Personally, like today’s youths, I also had a few [music] phases. There was a phase when I loved the music of ABBA, Gipsy Kings and the like, meaning foreign bands. There were periods when I liked pop music, too,” she tells Saigoneer. “However, there will come a time when you’re old enough to be aware of things that are happening around you. There will be some vicissitudes in your life that can’t be comforted by pop music. And [the lyrics] are not enough to convey your feelings. It’s natural that people will seek out something more profound.”

Like many Saigoneers of the current generation, Uyen’s childhood was filled with the melodies of nhạc vàng. In this case, her mother sowed the seeds for her love of the genre.

For many young fans of nhạc vàng, this affection has the same starting point: their parents’ favorite songs, heard during the early years of childhood. Many grew up subconsciously memorizing the entire oeuvre of Trinh Cong Son without fully grasping the meaning behind his flowery, metaphor-laden lyrics.

In Uyen’s case, her childhood connection to old music eventually blossomed into Nguoi Sai Gon and its special music nights, dedicated to sharing her love for the genre.

“Since I started doing this, I have come to realize that [the cafe]’s patrons come from two generations, especially young people. Many older customers are surprised to see this many youths in such a distinctly retro space,” the Da Lat native says. “I think [nhạc vàng] is like a ‘hyphen’ connecting the two generations to help them understand each other more.”