Nhạc vàng

Nhạc vàng, literally 'golden music' and often rendered 'yellow music', is the sentimental popular song repertory of South Vietnam, formed from the 1950s and cut off by the fall of Saigon in 1975. Built largely on slow bolero, rumba and tango rhythms absorbed through French and Latin recordings, it sets Vietnamese lyrics of love, separation, war and homesickness to singable, aching melodies. Voices such as *Thái Thanh*, *Khánh Ly*, *Lệ Thu* and *Duy Khánh* defined its intimate delivery, accompanied by small dance-band ensembles of guitar, strings and accordion. Restricted for decades in unified Vietnam, the repertory survived through the overseas diaspora, whose reissues and concerts kept it in circulation.