Trống Cơm

arr. UE Tran (Vietnam – Canada)

"Trống Cơm'' is a Northern Vietnamese folk song commonly sung by children and accompanied by traditional musical instruments. This song prominently features the "trống cơm," a rice drum – "trống" meaning drum and "cơm" meaning rice. The rice drum is a small cylinder-shaped instrument with two ends connected by a strap. The artist places a small amount of cooked rice inside the two stretched drumheads' skin to enhance the texture and adjust the sound quality. When performing, the artist wears the drum in front of their belly. Within the song's context, the image of the drum being carried in front of the belly symbolizes pregnancy. However, the song delves into the lives of unmarried, pregnant women. The children born from unfortunate circumstances follow the drumbeat to their mothers, who carry the drum for nine months and ten days. Yet, these mothers continue to wait for their "predestined fate," figuratively referred to as "khách tang bồng," signifying travellers who have ventured far away. This evokes the question, "Longing for whom?" Who are these women longing for? An unknown figure who will never return. The song portrays the blindness of love through the metaphor of half-closed eyes, entangled in the intricate silk web of pinkish love, spun like a spider's thread. Some may interpret the difference between the sombre context and the upbeat and joyful rhythm as a means of satirizing the plight of unmarried pregnant women. However, diverse perspectives abound, and discerning the precise intentions underlying this folk song remains an elusive pursuit.