21 Famous Vietnamese Songs

“Khuê Mộc Lang” by Hương Ly feat. Jombie G5R

Song Year: 2021

Couched in poetic lyrics telling a story that incorporates legend and fantasy, “Khuê Mộc Lang” is, at its heart, a song about lost love, as so many songs are.

When Hương Ly sings, her verses are about an ancient being named Khuê Mộc Lang who has lost his beloved. When Jombie G5R makes his rapping cameo, he does so as the title character. He tells his story of leaving immortality behind to be with the one he loves only to lose her to death.

“Mang Tiền Về Cho Mẹ” by Đen feat. Nguyên Thảo

Song Year: 2017

As a tribute to his mother, Đen’s ode “Mang Tiền Về Cho Mẹ” is heartfelt. The Vietnamese rapper ticks off all the things that his mother did for him and offers his love and gratitude to her.

The lyrics also address how hard life is as an adult and how moms are the ones who prepare us for that harsh reality.

Nguyên Thảo’s angelic voice chimes in to remind listeners how important mothers are in molding the people those listeners grow up to be.

“Muộn Rồi Mà Sao Còn” by Sơn Tùng M-TP

Song Year: 2019

This melancholy song finds Sơn Tùng M-TP singing about regrets. The narrator can’t sleep because of his bad fortune in love. This puts him in a tough spot, since all he wants to do, now that he doesn’t have the one he loves with him anymore, is dream about being with her.

The music video shows Sơn Tùng M-TP trying to sleep, but it also depicts some surreal scenes that connote the dreams he’s unable to have at present.

“Muộn Rồi Mà Sao Còn” has almost 200 million YouTube streams.

“Răng Khôn” by Phí Phương Anh feat. RIN9

Song Year: 2018

With 80s-era vibes “Răng Khôn” contains lyrics about first love. And that 1980s reference isn’t an insult. The song has a nostalgic feel to it, which goes well with the lyrical content. You can almost hear Debbie Gibson singing this one.

The ballad finds Phí Phương Anh applying her beautiful voice to an emotional set of lyrics to great effect. Fans agreed as the song was one of the bigger hits in Vietnam in 2018.

“Sài Gòn Hôm Nay Mưa by Hoàng Duyên and Jsol

Song Year: 2020

In “Sài Gòn Hôm Nay Mưa,” we hear Hoàng Duyên singing about how it’s raining in Saigon, and that reminds her of the rain in her heart. When Jsol chimes in, he reveals that he’s sad about a breakup, as well. The song finds two ex-lovers talking through their feelings of loss.

While many songs use rain to show that there’s a rainbow at the end, there’s not much hope in Hoàng Duyên’s assertion that the rain will only serve to melt her away. That’s a sad woman.

“Sợ Ta Mất Nhau” by Châu Khải Phong

Song Year: 2014

Do you remember, back in the 80s, when “Every Breath You Take” was everywhere? And remember how everyone thought it was this beautiful love song, but it was quite creepy, as the narrator was straight up a stalker?

There’s some of that going on in “Sợ Ta Mất Nhau,” which borders on being a power ballad. The narrator sings, rather dejectedly, not about lost love but about the possibility that his girl might leave him.

Listening to the music and not the words would make a listener think this is a song about terrible heartache. But it’s really about being scared that terrible heartbreak is around the corner. You get the idea the narrator might be following his girl around the city in a paranoid state.

“Thế Nào Là Tình Yêu” by Kai Đinh

Song Year: 2019

As soulful ballads go, you could do a lot worse than Kai Đinh’s “Thế Nào Là Tình Yêu.” It’s got a plaintive guitar line and a touching melody. The lyrics touch on the challenges that face even the healthiest of romantic relationships and remind us that heartbreak isn’t just reserved for single people.

The title means “what is love?” and presages the emotional delivery we get from Kai Đinh in this bittersweet song.

The swelling bridge is pretty cool, too.

“Trốn Tìm” by Đen feat. MTV Band

Song Year: 2018

Đen uses the childhood game of Hide and Seek (the English translation of the title) as a metaphor for the search for love in a cold world.

But it’s also about how we go about finding ourselves, as the two kids in the song who are playing Hide and Seek try to navigate the garden in which they play.

Đen is a hugely famous rapper in Vietnam, likely due to his singular delivery— he doesn’t sound like any other rapper, and not just because he’s not rapping in English. It’s a distinctive sound, and coupled with the song’s occasional Spanish musical flairs, it makes for a cool piece of music that Đen’s fans absolutely devoured.

“Tết Hà Há Ha” by Trúc Nhân

Song Year: 2019

Trúc Nhân’s “Tết Hà Há Ha” is a fun pop song that’s a lighthearted celebration of the Lunar New Year, also known as Tet.

Think of the joy inherent in most Christmas carols in the West, and you have an idea of what the Lunar New Year holiday is and what “Tết Hà Há Ha” brings to the musical celebrations surrounding it.

It’s not exactly Mariah Carey’s “All I Want for Christmas Is You,” but it was a pretty big hit in Vietnam.

“Yêu Là Cưới” by Phát Hồ

Song Year: 2020

“Yêu Là Cưới” is a wedding song, and the title means “Love is a wedding.” It’s about how love can be a challenge and evokes some Western marriage traditions. Anyone who’s been involved in a big wedding knows that “challenge” might be a euphemism for all the stress weddings can bring.

But more than just about weddings, Phát Hồ’s upbeat song is also about the happiness that love can bring and how that joy is worth all the troubles.

Best Vietnamese Songs, Final Thoughts

Popular Vietnamese songs have Western influences, to be sure, but they also constitute a genre of music with its own cultural and musical identity. While some of the best Vietnamese songs are about lost love, Vietnamese artists run the gamut of subjects the write, sing, and rap about.