Feel the fear and do it anyway!
Gather ye rosebuds while ye may,
Old Time is still a-flying;
And this same flower that smiles today
Tomorrow will be dying.
I draw much inspiration from films. The lines above are an excerpt from a poem by Robert Herrick, which was highlighted during the truly inspiring film “Dead Poet Society.” If you have not seen this movie, then see it! The lines basically mean: take the flower while you can because tomorrow that flower might not be there anymore. Take the chance while you can. Window opens, window shut. There is a Latin phrase “Karpe Diem” meaning “Seize the day”, which is used frequently in my life to help overcome difficult situations. In my opinion, it is an important quote to carry in life, as quite often you have to face situations in which you have to make choices and my experience tells me that sometimes you have to adopt the “Just do it!” attitude. Take your chance because that chance might not be there tomorrow. Imagine you see a girl/guy that you like. You sit there contemplating “Oh my god, I’m scared of approaching her/him. What should I do? Should I? Shouldn’t I?” Of course you must be able to handle the consequences. Presuming you can handle the consequences then go for it!
This phrase “Karpe Diem” intertwines with another phrase I use, which is also a title of a book that had a strong influence upon me, “Feel the fear and do it anyway” by Susan Jeffers. I have read this book as well as met its author at a signing session. The book offers advice about how to overcome situations where you want to do something, but there’s a feeling deep inside stopping you from doing it. Namely Fear!
A friend of mine, who after I had a discussion of going for it, came back to me saying “Lee, you know, I did it. I told the guy how I feel and now he doesn’t like me. What am I to do?” Well, I am not saying that you should always “go for it.” The point here is that if the reason you are not doing it is because you are letting fear dictate your life, then you must understand that fear is something you build up inside. It’s a barrier that blocks you from becoming the person you want to be and prevents you from seizing the day, taking a chance. Fear is something YOU create yourself. Therefore YOU can overcome it.
You may admire public speakers who go on stage to perform, teachers or people that seem to feel comfortable speaking their mind and that are able to communicate and tell the truth even when it hurts. People might look at them thinking “Wow isn’t it wonderful how they can do these things so effortlessly”. One thing I have learnt is that those people who excel in the activities mentioned above often experience the same feelings as those who decide to let fear dictate their repetitive in-action. They still have a pounding heart, the tense nerves, the mind that worries and the body that sweats all over. These things still happen. Yet the difference is that they have the courage to say, “I’m not letting fear come between me and where I want to go. I will not let fear dictate my life.” It is very important that you are in the position where you can let yourself go and say “You know what, my heartbeat is racing, I do feel scared, but I’m still going to do it”. To admit fear is not a mistake. In fact to admit fear is the first step. You must embrace fear and realise its source. Quite often the source is YOUR MIND!
I recall a recent meeting I had with a senior member of my team. I was talking to her about the above paragraph and how people that choose to communicate, seemingly, to the outside world, without concern over the meeting with confrontation, actually experience the same fear as everyone else. The only difference is that they overcome the fear. They choose not to let fear dictate their decision-making or in-action or non-communication. As I sat their explaining this to her, I thought explaining only does so much. I will prove it. A few days before, I was invited to perform in a Vietnamese show in Hamburg on 24/12 (which has now been delayed till April). I was very excited. My only worry was that I knew that my mum may be upset that I might have to miss some of Christmas. Despite our very close relationship that involves lots of communication and despite many far more difficult situations that I have had to deal with, I was disappointingly still scared by her reaction. At the time of the meeting with my colleague, I still had not told my mother I was going to Hamburg. A couple of days had already passed since my knowledge of the event, and yes it was true that I wanted to finalise the booking of the plane tickets etc first, but I knew the real reason for me not communicating to my mother was fear. I turned to my colleague and said that I would prove to her now that I can overcome fear. I can go through it. So I turned to my phone, and dialled my mother’s number. At first, I joked with my colleague that I did not want my mother to answer 
…. but then she did. I told her, she understood and two minutes later it was all done. What was I worrying about? What did I fear? Basically I had made myself worry and I had created this fear. I have realised that fear is likely to exist until the day we die. This is unlikely to change. However, how we handle the fear… well we can change that!
Feel the fear and do it anyway!
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Tìm Lại
This is my version of Tìm Lại. I would just like to say that I hope the songwriters (Microwave) wouldn’t mind me adding the english lyrics and changing the melody slightly. In fact if for whatever reason they read this blog or see this video, they should know that I am a fan, and I love this song.
I produced this with my friend Dung and we performed this song at the 2009 LSE show in London (please note that Dung’s guitar skills are quite wonderful and much better than mine, shown in this video). When we originally discussed this song we wanted to try and do something different, so we adopted an acoustic style. One day when I was practicing another song at Dung’s house, I recall waiting in the hallway as Dung was preparing some food. As I sat there on the floor, I started to strum the four chords of this song and began to sing different melodies. I realised that this song had a western style to it and therefore it offered the chance of translation. On that night I started to play around with english lyrics but nothing materialised.
A few days later, I was on a train journey returning from Cambridge (anyone that catches the late train from Cambridge will know that it takes forever!!!!) after visiting my friend and voice coach Phuong. I sat on the train strumming these chords and I got a pen and paper and started to write some english lyrics. Forty five minutes later I had the words.
Conversations in my head
Hesitations in my steps
Close my eyes and you’re standing there
Long back hair, brown eyes
Open wide and I look outside
But there’s emptiness everywhere
And it’s over now
And I know that you don’t love me no more
It’s been on your mind
Signs suggest sometime
Why not tell me before?
I shall get the Vietnamese translation of these lyrics sorted out soon. For those asking, yes due to the help of my very good friend I know the true meaning of the lyrics of Tìm Lại. My english lyrics are based upon Tìm Lại original lyrics but also involve my own feeling. After reviewing the song, I felt that the 2nd verse of Tìm Lại should not be included as I felt that these lyrics were not so compatible with my english lyrics. Therefore I omitted this verse.
Hope you enjoy
Đây là phiên bản bài hát “Tìm Lại” của Lee. Mình hi vọng là những người sáng tác, nhóm Microwave, không bị phiền lòng vì mình đã thêm vào phần lời tiếng Anh và thay đổi giai điệu đôi chút. Nếu nhóm Microwave có đọc được bài viết hay xem đoạn video này, mình hi vọng họ biết mình là fan của họ, và mình thật sự rất yêu bài hát này.
Mình cộng tác với một người bạn, Dũng, và bọn mình đã biểu diễn bài này tại LSE Show 2009 ở London (Dũng là một tay ghita tuyệt vời và trình độ của anh ấy thì hơn hẳn mình đấy, như các bạn có thể thấy khi xem đoạn video này). Khi bắt tay vào thực hiện, bọn mình muốn sáng tạo một cái gì đấy thật mới mẻ, và vì thế đã chuyển từ thể loại nhạc rock sang acoustic. Một ngày khi bọn mình đang tập một bài hát khác ở nhà Dũng, trong khi Dũng đang bận dưới bếp, mình ngồi một mình và bắt đầu chơi bốn hợp âm chính của Tìm Lại và hát với giai điệu khác. Mình nhận ra rằng bài hát này có vẻ “Tây” và nhờ đó có thể chuyển lời sang tiếng Anh dễ dàng hơn. Tối đó mình đã cố gắng để cho ra phần lời tiếng Anh nhưng không thu được kết quả gì.
Vài ngày sau, trong lúc đi tàu từ Cambridge về nhà (bất cứ ai đã từng đi chuyến tàu muộn từ Cambridge đều biết rằng chuyến này đi lâu “dã man”!) sau buổi luyện giọng với Phương, một người bạn đồng thời là thầy dạy nhạc. Mình ngồi trên tàu chơi đi đi chơi lại những hợp âm chính, cùng với giấy bút và bắt đầu viết phần lời tiếng Anh. 45 phút sau, mình có phần lời tiếng Anh hoàn chỉnh!
Nhờ vào sự giúp đỡ của một người bạn rất thân, mình hiểu được ý nghĩa của bài hát này. Phần lời tiếng Anh mình viết dựa trên ý nghĩa gốc này, đồng thời bao gồm cảm xúc riêng của mình trong đó. Sau khi nghe lại bài hát, mình cảm thấy lời hai của bản gốc không hợp lắm với phần lời tiếng Anh này, và vì thế đã quyết định không hát nó.
Conversations in my head - Những mẩu đối thoại vang lên trong đầu
Hesitations in my steps - Bước chân ngập ngừng
Close my eyes and you’re standing there - Nhắm mắt và ta thấy người đứng đó
Long back hair, brown eyes - Mái tóc đen dài, đôi mắt nâu
Open wide and I look outside - Mở mắt tìm quanh
But there’s emptiness everywhere - Nhưng chỉ có nỗi cô đơn trống trải bao trùm
And it’s over now - Hết thật rồi
And I know that you don’t love me no more - Và ta biết người không còn yêu ta nữa
It’s been on your mind - Người đã biết từ lâu
Signs suggest sometimes - Hành động của người nói lên điều đó
Why not tell me before? - Tại sao người không cho ta hay?
Mình hi vọng các bạn sẽ thích phiên bản này!
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Ở bài blog trước, THD có góp ý Lee nên dịch sang tiếng Việt để nhiều bạn tiện theo dõi hơn. Mình đã nhờ một người bạn làm việc này. Bạn mình đã cố gắng dịch thật sát nghĩa, hi vọng bài dịch này có thể truyền tải hoàn toàn thông điệp mình muốn gửi đến mọi người. Mình đã phân vân không biết nên xưng hô thế nào, và bạn mình đưa ra ý kiến “mình-các bạn”, vì Lee khá thoải mái và thân thiện. Mình hi vọng các bạn cảm thấy thoải mái với cách xưng hô này. Có gì cứ góp ý với mình nhé! Bản dịch tiếng Việt ở dưới đây nhé. Hi vọng các bạn thích nó!
Dạo gần đây Lee có nói chuyện với một vài người bạn. Một trong số họ đưa ra một ý kiến rất hay, nhưng lại bị người kia phản bác với lý do tại sao không thể làm điều đó. Lee nghĩ – tại sao mọi người chỉ chú tâm vào những lý do khiến ý kiến đó không khả thi. Để Lee giải thích nhé…
Bạn có thể làm được!……. Đúng! Bạn có thể làm được!….. Đúng, bạn đấy! Bạn có thể làm được!
Đã bao giờ bạn trình bày một ý tưởng của bạn với người khác và họ phản ứng bằng một thái độ tiêu cực chưa?
Rất thường xuyên, phải không?
Khi bạn đưa ra ý tưởng của mình, có vẻ như chuyện hiển nhiên là người khác sẽ chỉ ra mặt yếu kém của nó với những nhận xét như “Ừ, nhưng điều này có thể xảy ra…” hay “Ừ, nhưng bạn không thể làm được đâu bởi vì…” hay “Chuyện đó sẽ chẳng đi đến đâu hết vì…”
Đúng là nên coi trọng sự quan tâm lo lắng của mọi người, nhưng sự quan tâm này có phải đang giết chết sức sáng tạo không! Lee cho là như vậy! Tại sao chúng ta không trở nên lạc quan hơn?
Nếu bạn muốn đạt được bất kì điều gì, đừng để những ý nghĩ hay hành động tiêu cực ảnh hưởng xấu đến những thành công bạn có thể đạt được trong tương lai. Tất nhiên là bạn phải xem xét những yếu tố tiêu cực. Bạn nên đặt lên bàn cân những lựa chọn bạn có rồi hãy quyết định. Đặt chúng lên bàn cân không có nghĩa là bạn chỉ đưa ra những yếu tố tiêu cực mà không hề cân nhắc bất kì yếu tố tích cực nào để cân bằng chúng. Nếu bạn làm thế, như trường hợp hầu hết thường mắc phải, bạn sẽ chẳng bao giờ đạt được điều gì cả. Sẽ chẳng có ý tưởng hay nào được thực hiện!
Hai năm trước, Lee không thể chơi bất kì một nhạc cụ nào. Mặc dù lúc đó mình có một cây đàn ghita, mình chưa bao giờ thử chơi nó cả. Rồi một ngày, mình quyết định sẽ tập đánh ghita. Khi Lee nói điều này với các bạn, họ đùa rằng mình sẽ không làm được điều đó. Lee quyết tâm chứng mình rằng họ đã sai. Thật tình mà nói thì hai cô bạn này đều là những người rất dễ thương, và chắc chắn là họ không hề có ác ý gì. Chỉ có điều thái độ của họ phản ánh môi trường điển hình trong đó sự lạc quan của chúng ta bị “vùi dập”. Dù vậy, điều Lee muốn nhấn mạnh là rất thường xuyên, người khác sẽ chỉ ra lý do tại sao bạn không nên làm một điều gì đó. Nhưng những lý sao tại sao bạn NÊN làm nó thì sao?
Nếu bạn đang giữ một ý định bạn thật sự muốn làm và tin rằng mình chắc chắn sẽ làm được, đừng bao giờ để những suy nghĩ tiêu cực từ người khác khuyến khích bạn “block” (trong trường hợp này, với mình “block” nghĩa là bạn đang có một việc bạn muốn hay cần làm, nhưng vì một lý do nào đó bạn chần chừ không thực hiện). Hãy luôn tự nhắc bản thân rằng bạn có thể làm được điều đó! Nếu bạn thực sự tin vào bản thân, hầu như bất kì chuyện gì cũng có thể xảy ra. Tất nhiên là chúng ta loại trừ chuyện tình cảm nhé, vì bạn không thể nào ép buộc người khác yêu mình được. Chúng ta đang nói về những thành công của bản thân và mục tiêu phấn đấu, chẳng hạn như học chơi đàn ghita hay một ngoại ngữ, chạy một cuộc đua ma-ra-tông, giảm/tăng cân, trèo một ngọn núi, có đủ tự tin để dạy một ai đó, có thể hát được, vân vân. Tất nhiên là có rất nhiều việc bạn muốn làm nhưng cần rất nhiều thời gian. Dù vậy, điều quan trọng nhất vẫn là hãy cứ tin vào bản thân mình. Bạn cần phải có lòng quyết tâm cao độ và tin rằng bạn sẽ đạt được điều đó. Nếu không có những điều này, bạn sẽ chẳng bao giờ thực hiện được ước mơ hay mục tiêu của mình. Đừng nghe những suy nghĩ tiêu cực. Nếu mình nghe theo những suy nghĩ loại này, mình sẽ chẳng bao giờ đến Việt Nam chơi bóng đá, hay tập đánh đàn ghita, và sẽ chẳng bao giờ tham gia cuộc thi Voice Up để rồi bỏ lỡ một trải nghiệm tuyệt vời.
Để được chọn vào vòng bán kết của Voice Up, mỗi thí sinh phải gửi hai bài hát lên trang web của cuộc thi. Những ý nghĩ tiêu cực của mình lúc đó nói rằng bản thu âm mình đang có không hay chút nào và mình nên thu lại chúng. Những ý nghĩ này có thể đã dẫn tới việc mình chẳng bao giờ gửi chúng đi và điều đó cũng có nghĩa rằng mình sẽ không tham dự cuộc thi này. Cảm ơn trời đất là mình đã nói cho bạn mình nghe về điều này và để vượt qua nó, mình khuyến khích họ gửi “hộ” mình hai bản thu âm mình có. Không để cho những ý nghĩ tiêu cực cản trở bản thân đã giúp mình có được một trải nghiệm tuyệt vời. Đôi khi bạn chỉ nên tin vào bản thân và mặc kệ những chuyện khác. Hãy để những ý nghĩ lạc quan chiến thắng, dù đôi khi điều này dẫn đến một số sai sót. Cố gắng đạt được điều gì nhưng thất bại thì không hẳn là thất bại bạn ạ. Lặp lại nhé, cố gắng đạt được điều gì nhưng thất bại thì không hẳn là thất bại.
Còn… không hề cố gắng… hmm, thế có nghĩa là chúng ta đang tiến dần tới thất bại.
Bạn có thể làm được.
Bạn có thể học chơi một nhạc cụ.
Bạn có thể học một ngoại ngữ.
Bạn có thể tăng/giảm cân.
Bạn có thể học cách giao tiếp hiệu quả hơn.
Bạn có thể trở thành một người chồng/vợ hay bạn trai/bạn gái tốt hơn.
Bạn có thể trở thành một người bố/mẹ tốt hơn.
Bạn có thể làm được hầu như mọi chuyện, chỉ cần bạn tin vào bản thân mình! Và “HÃY LÀM ĐIỀU ĐÓ!”
Cuối cùng, xin lưu ý là nếu mình để những ý nghĩ tiêu cực quyết định thì mình sẽ không bao giờ post bài blog này. Mình đã tự nhủ “Hãy làm điều đó!”. Hi vọng là các bạn thích bài viết này và hãy cho mình biết suy nghĩ và cảm nhận của bạn nhé!
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“GO FOR IT”
I was speaking to some friends recently. One of them suggested a very good idea, the other told them why this very good idea would not work…. I wondered, why did they focus on why the idea would not work? Let me explain….
You can do it! ……………. Yes! You can do it! …………………Yes you! You can do it!
How often in life when you tell someone your ideas they respond with a negative attitude?
Very often right?
When you present an idea to someone, it seems so natural for them to point out the negative aspect of the idea with comments like “Oh, but that could happen…” or “Oh, but you can’t do it because…” or “That’s not going to work because…”
I appreciate people’s concern, but is this concern stemming creativity? I think so! Why not inject some positivity?
If you want to achieve something, do not let negativity adversely affect the chances of your potential future achievement. Of course you must consider the negatives. Weigh up your options and then decide, but make sure you WEIGH-UP your options. Weighing up your options does not mean putting all of the negative reasons forward with no positive one’s to balance them. If this happens, which often does, then nothing will happen. No good idea will materialise!
Two years ago, I couldn’t play a musical instrument. Although I had a guitar, I had never played it before. One day, I decided that I would learn to play the guitar. When I put this idea forward to my friends, they kind of teased me about it. I was determined to prove them wrong. To be fair, these two friends in question are two lovely people and I know that they didn’t mean to cause any offence. Their response was just typical of the environment that encourages us to suppress our positivity. However, my point is that very often people will tell you the reasons why you shouldn’t do something. Yet what about the reasons ……WHY YOU SHOULD DO SOMETHING?
If you’ve put something on hold, which you really want to do and feel that you could achieve it, then don’t ever let people’s negative thoughts encourage your block (in this context I use block to mean having a task that you need or want to do, but for whatever reason you put it off). Remind yourself that you can do it! If you honestly truly believe in yourself, then almost anything is possible. When it comes to matters of the heart, you can’t make someone else love you, so lets leave that one alone for now. However, lets focus towards personal achievements and targets such as learning the guitar or a language, to run a marathon, to lose/gain weight, to climb up a mountain, to have the confidence to teach, to be able to sing and so on. Of course there are lots of things you want to do which would take a huge amount of time. However, the most important thing is to believe in yourself. You must have a strong determination and believe that you are able to get things done. Without that belief, you will never achieve your dreams and goals. Don’t listen to the negativity. If I had listened to the negativity, I wouldn’t have gone to Viet Nam to play football, I would have never learned to play the guitar and I would have never performed in the “Voice Up” show and had such a wonderful experience.
In order to qualify for the semi-finals of the “Voice Up” competition each contestant needed to post two songs online. My negative thoughts kept telling me that my songs were no good and I should make a different recording. However, this negativity could actually have led to those songs never being posted online and subsequently would have meant I would have never joined the competition. Thankfully, I told my friend about my negativity and in order to help me overcome this, I encouraged them to post my 2 clips online, which they kindly did for me. Not allowing my negativity to control this situation enabled me to have a wonderful experience. Sometimes you just have to believe in yourself and let it go! Let positivity win, even if sometimes that leads to mistakes. Trying to achieve something but failing is not actually a failure. I repeat, trying to achieve something but failing is not actually a failure.
However….. not trying at all…. Well now we are moving towards failure.
You can do it
You can learn to play a musical instrument.
You can learn a language.
You can lose/gain weight.
You can learn to communicate more effectively.
You can be a better husband/wife or boyfriend/girlfriend
You can be a better father or mother.
You can do almost anything, just believe in yourself! And “GO FOR IT”!
Finally, please note that if I had let my negative thoughts decide, then I would never have posted this blog. I just told myself “Go for it.” Hope you enjoyed and please share with me what you think.
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Hành trình âm nhạc – phần 1
Some of you might wonder how I have made my way to where I am now. Well, I am going to tell you about my journey. It’s not very long in terms of time length, yet it has been an exciting, emotional and full of self-driven forces, as well as involving lots of tremendous help and support from friends and people. I would like to say that the phrase “Karpe Diem” (meaning seize the day) and adopting a “go for it” attitude has also had a strong influence on my progress.
Learn Guitar and Ashbourne Revue
Two years ago, I decided to do something I had never really tried before: to learn an instrument. I chose the guitar. Many people told me that I should understand the basics and hence would need to take proper lessons. I agree that in order to truly understand something the basics are essential, yet I also realised that I am the type of person that needs specific inspiring goals. To complete drill after drill in order to learn guitar basics was never going to inspire me, well, at least at the beginning. Therefore, I focused on some Bob Dylan songs, and most importantly for my development, the picking guitar version of “When you say nothing at all” by Ronan Keating. After two months of learning the guitar, Ashbourne College was preparing for a Christmas show. This is not a traditional show and involves over half of the student body performing drama, dance, singing, fashion shows and quite often other random acts, such as a martial art exhibition. I am a perennial model in the show, wearing many amazing outfits designed by a teacher from my college (I recall two years ago having a bird on my head! ). She has quite amazing ideas. I have also performed in other acts, including my first ever singing performance, where I sang “Đêm thấy ta là thác đổ” acapella.
Since we were very thin on acts for this particular year, I discussed with my colleague the idea of us performing in the show. To be fair it was a long shot. If I was more sensible I would have never attempted it. But something deep down inside said “Karpe Diem” and “go for it!” Therefore, I decided to challenge myself and sing and play, “When you say nothing at all.” It is difficult to say how many hours it took to prepare for this performance, but I remember one particular weekend, where over 25 hours were spent, and some other very long nights practicing the song.
In all honesty it was not a great performance at all. However, the effort that led to this performance had put me in a position where I could take my music forward. The pressure I put myself under to get ready for this show, was critical to my development of learning an instrument.
Writing own Music
A few months later, after lots of experimentation with different basic chord structures and some lovely summer days in Hyde Park, I wrote my first song, “Searching.”
“So then one day, I built up all of my courage. As we sat there, discussing one of many subjects,…”
It was quite a high temp song, but most importantly it was the beginning of a musical production journey, which has led to further 8-10 songs, 4 or 5 of which I feel comfortable playing and sharing with others. The tracks are usually story based.
LSE show 2008
In October 2008, Vy, a lovely friend of mine, having listened to me playing some of my songs convinced me that I should try and perform in the LSE Vietnamese society show. Had it not been for her enthusiasm and interest in my music, I probably would not have attempted to perform in the LSE show. Luckily I did and luckily they invited me to perform. This show was a pivotal moment for me, as the feedback received after this event encouraged me to take my music more seriously. The show would represent the first time that I played the guitar and sang a Vietnamese song in a live show. I sang the song “Đêm thấy ta là thác đổ.” I really enjoyed the LSE experience. Ngoc Anh who organised that years event is a lovely guy and I have a lot of respect for how he handled himself. He truly is the king!! (did anyone see his performance this year?)
“With or Without You” Influence
In the lead up to the LSE event, I went to several practice sessions, one of which was on a Saturday morning. The practice was supposed to start at 10am, but I needed to leave the theatre at 11:30am to play a semi-professional football match near Dover later that afternoon. Therefore, time was at a premium. I recall waking up late, running around the house to get ready, then jumped in a cab (lets not talk about the costs here) and arrived at the theatre in Holborn on time. I waited to perform for 90 minutes (keeping to the football theme), and unfortunately left without performing as many of the other acts also needed to practice. The day would get worse however, especially after a two-and-a-half-hour journey by train and then replacement bus to Dover. In soaking rain I came on as a substitute and after 2 minutes damaged my calf. I had to play for the rest of the game, as we had used all substitutes, despite the fact that I could barely walk. Thankfully a team-mate drove me back to London, but there was still a considerable journey home from a train station in South East London. Those 30 stairs and that 200-metre walk down the platform, more stairs and then further walking, are something which is so vivid in my brain that it makes my inspiration for football at a high level diminish further. However, two hours later, when lying on my couch watching TV (something I rarely do), eating Chinese take-away (almost a daily activity! remember I am “Leeconheo!”), I finally had time to reflect upon this day. From reading above, it seems to be an utterly depressing day. However, two very important things happened on this day, which are both connected. Firstly, I met again with Dung and Vu, the two fabulous guitarists, and secondly through this, I got to learn the chord structure for “With or without you,” which they would be performing at the show for a Vietnamese female singer called Phuong. As I sat there on my couch, I took the guitar and practiced this song. What a song, and what a chord structure! This chord structure led to me writing a couple of my favourite songs.
“Lizzie” and music emotion
A couple of months later, I was walking to work with John, my flatmate. I had my guitar in hand and as we walked along, I was strumming the chords for “With or without you” but in a different arrangement and for whatever reason we decided to write a song. Four minutes later, after we arrived at the college, we had “Lizzie”!
“And then she asked me, and she convinced meeeeeeeeeeeee. Well I didn’t want to play until she looked at me with those eyes… oh those sparkling eyesssssss…. Ohhhhh lizzie!”
A month or so later, I was strumming these chords at work, in a much softer way, in fact very softly and very slowly. It was about 8pm, and I remember being all alone. As the chord arrangement changed, so did my mood. “Lizzie” is quite an upbeat song, but the feelings I started to have at this point were far from upbeat. In fact, they were searching, somehow depressing, with self-negativity playing a dominant part. As these feelings came to my mind, stories jumped into shape. For the next two hours, I played these chords over and over again, and sang whatever came into my head. Slowly my emotions grew, and then, BOOM, tears. It was unbelievable! I had cried at Operas before, but this was the first time I cried during my music making. Wow those tears flowed! It re-enforced my theory that music was so much more than lyrics, singing and playing a musical instrument.
A week later I would take the outline of the song I talked on that special night, and wrote the words for “Are you sure” in 25 minutes. This is another story based song focusing on four key events in my life, which caused a lot of emotion. The song has evolved since this time and now has a completely different ending.
(to be continued)
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How I learn a Vietnamese Song?
Many people have asked me how can I learn to sing Vietnamese at this level. Well, no, I am not an English-Vietnamese guy, nor do I have a Vietnamese girlfriend, and nor am I a superman! Constant and intense practice, together with tremendous help with vocal, pronunciation and song interpretation from different people, brought me to where I am now.
To begin with, let me tell you how I started learning Vietnamese first. After listening to My Tam’s version of “Dem Thay Ta La Thac Do” for about 1000 times, something stuck in my head (you would have to question if it didn’t right!), and after endless days singing in the shower, I decided to do something about it. My friend Chau, had originally helped me with the basics of Vietnamese, so I could use this basic understanding to read Vietnamese in order to understand how it should be pronounced. Well approximately! After practicing this for a while and memorising the lyrics, I then got additional help from students who were studying at Ashbourne at the time such as Huong, who is a friend of mine today. I also recall a weekend where I travelled to meet another ex Ashbourne student Linh in Hull, or Hell as I used to call it. That weekend was definitely hell for me, as I had to learn each sentence and practice of and over again. Linh and her friend Van Anh, had to put up with me. Thank you!
When I learn a new Vietnamese track, there are many different factors I have to tackle before I am ready to sing it. It could take weeks before I actually get a really good feel for the song. Memorising the lyrics, understanding the lyrics, pronouncing the lyrics as close to a native speaker as possible, understanding the exact tones of the song, working out how to break up the words in order to make the song sound more beautiful, translating the lyrics, understanding the meaning of the song, find out why the song was written and possibly, if I don’t know already, find out more about the composer of the song. You then have to add to that, I need to learn how to play the song on the guitar, and you could easily add 2 or 3 more things that I do here.
Lyrics are usually the last thing I choose to focus on when trying to understand how to sing the song, and I used to find that it prolonged the learning experience if I tried to memorise the actual word-by-word content of the song. Although when I recently learned “tim lai” I was able to understand the meaning of each word before I could actually sing the song. I found this really helpful, and I will now changed the way I learn future songs before I sing them. Whatever the case, I think it is very important to keep the learning fresh and use different techniques to make sure it stays fun.
When I first started to learn Vietnamese, I actually had a certain degree of reluctance to find out the true meaning of the lyrics. I think maybe I related my feeling towards Vietnamese songs, with the same feeling I had with Opera. I recall the negative feeling that I had when I found out the meaning of one of my favourite opera songs. However, as I started to know more about the overall contents of Vietnamese lyrics, I slowly started to realise that the lyrics of Vietnamese songs are a critical element to the whether the audience will enjoy the song or not. Having said that the melodies of both, “Diem Xua” and “Que Nha” managed to have a deep emotional impact upon me even before I knew what the song actually meant.
I recall the day I learned about Trinh Cong Son’s behind story of his love for a girl called Diem in the old capital city of Vietnam, Hue.
“….Han len noi dau, buoc chan em xin ve mau…”
My feelings and interpretation of how the song should be sung then changed dramatically. Similarly, the line “Em di lay chong, anh van mot minh” definitely changes the way I sing ‘Que Nha”.
Regardless of how I have learned Vietnamese songs, I can never ever say thank you enough for all of the help I have received. Without this help, then I am sure I would never be where I am today.
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Một kỷ niệm đặc biệt về Việt Nam
Due to an interesting story which involved my friend and I missing a train from Ha Noi to Sa Pa, the return journey meant that we would stay in the main carriage of the train rather than the sleeper section. I am now very glad we missed that original train. Half way through, this long, uncomfortable but extremely interesting and enjoyable journey, a group of musicians and singers entered our carriage. They initially sat down and stored their instruments away. However, after we started to make conversation with them, they felt compelled to play some traditional folk music. I am lost for words as I re-count those faces……..
Hope you enjoy
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Đêm thấy ta là thác đổ
This is my version of “Đêm thấy ta là thác đổ” by Trịnh Công Sơn. This was the first ever Vietnamese song that I learned.
Hope you enjoy
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Xin chào mọi người!
Hi guys! Here is a short clip to introduce more about myself! Hope you enjoy!
PLEASE SUGGEST NEW SONGS
I am currently learning a number of Vietnamese songs, but if you have any suggestions, then please let me know. I would really appreciate your feedback.
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Thank you!
Hello all! ☺
It’s Lee here from London. The past few days have been really amazing. Thank you so much for all your feedback, support and encouragement. My facebook has nearly crashed after all the friend requests but this has been such a fantastic experience. I have received many touching messages and emails which have been wonderful to read and have offered me much inspiration. I will keep going and improving myself, promise!!! If you ever have any comments or feedback about my singing, then please be honest and tell me if you think any of my pronunciation is incorrect, and feel free to offer advice about what areas you think I should focus on.
At the moment I am preparing myself to perform in an upcoming show organised by VNLSE at London this November. An (my friend, the one who posted the clip) is uploading a few more videos very soon and you should check her facebook for further updates. Some of you even found my Youtube Channel, which surprised me a lot!!!
I am trying to reply to all the messages that you sent me and hopefully would be able to do all these soon!! An has a thought about making a short clip to answer some general questions about me, and I am planning to do this with her on Wednesday. By the way, I hope you are fine with my asking An to translate this entry into Vietnamese. I am at work at the moment (*cough cough*) so I’d better write short and quick instead of pulling my hair out to use my limited Vietnamese. 
Have a lovely day and hope to catch up with you guys soon!
Lee.
Bản dịch tiếng Việt:
Hello mọi người
Những ngày vừa qua thật là tuyệt. Cảm ơn mọi người vì những lời động viên, phản hồi và cả sự ủng hộ của mọi người nữa. Tài khoản Facebook của Lee tí nữa là “sụp” bởi Friend requests nhưng đây thực sự là một trải nghiệm cực kì thú vị. Tôi đã nhận được rất nhiều tin nhắn và email mà tôi cảm thấy rất vui khi đọc chúng cũng như là cho tôi thêm nhiều niềm cảm hứng. Tôi hứa rằng mình sẽ tiếp tục cố gắng và cố gắng nhiều hơn nữa. Nếu như mọi người có ý kiến hoặc góp ý, hãy cứ thẳng thắn mà nói nhe! Tôi không ngại nếu mọi người chỉnh cho tôi về phát âm, hoặc là cho tôi lời khuyên về những điểm cần trau dồi hay tập trung thêm chẳng hạn.
Tại thời điểm này, tôi đang chuẩn bị khá ráo riết cho một show diễn sắp đến do Hội sinh viên Việt Nam ở trường LSE tổ chức vào cuối tháng 11 tại London. An (bạn của tôi, người post clip “Diễm xưa”) đang upload trên mạng thêm một vài video clip nữa nên có gì các bạn cứ check facebook của An để cập nhật thêm nhé. Một vài bạn còn tìm ra được kênh Youtube của tôi, điều này làm tôi ngạc nhiên hết mức!!!
Hiện giờ tôi đang cố gắng trả lời toàn bộ những tin nhắn và email mà các bạn gửi về và hi vọng rằng tôi có thể hoàn thành điều ấy thật sớm. An có đề nghị về việc làm một cái clip nhỏ nhỏ để tôi tự giới thiệu về mình, cũng như trả lời một số câu hỏi chung chung của các bạn, và tôi đang dự định sẽ quay clip này với An vào thứ Tư. À nhân tiện, tôi hi vọng các bạn không phiền việc tôi nhờ An dịch lại entry này sang tiếng Việt. Sự thật là Lee đang ở văn phòng vào lúc này cho nên tốt nhất là nên viết ngắn và nhanh một chút (e hèm e hèm), thay vì ngồi đấy cả ngày vò đầu bứt tóc với vốn tiếng Việt có hạn của mình.
Chúc các bạn có một ngày vui vẻ và hi vọng sẽ được gặp mọi người nhanh!
Lee.
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Tags: Blog
“Diễm xưa” – Lee Kirby
Me performing “Diễm xưa” by Trịnh Công Sơn
Enjoy!
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