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An ode to Hong Kong’s extradition bill protesters, penned by Vietnamese-American dissidents
- Sea of Black started life as a melody inspired by the ‘umbrella movement’ of 2014, but it wasn’t until this year that it got all its lyrics – and title
- The song draws parallels between Hong Kong and Vietnam, which has been a one-party communist state since the end of the war there in 1975
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When Vietnamese-American musician and television producer Trúc Ho came to Hong Kong to join the “umbrella movement” in 2014, a melody came to him, along with the words “freedom, democracy, is all that we need”.
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These beginnings of a tune would not gestate into a fully fledged song until June 16 this year, however, when the musician read about the close to 2 million people who took to the streets of the city to demand the withdrawal of a controversial extradition bill.
“The image of 2 million people in black standing up for freedom inspired me once again and I picked up a guitar and started writing the song,” Trúc Ho said. His two children, Lala Truong and Ly-Bach Truong, helped him finish the lyrics for what they went on to name Sea of Black.
“I want [my children] to know what is going on in Hong Kong and to understand the struggle Vietnamese people are going through as well,” Trúc Ho said.
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The lyrics to Sea of Black include the lines “Hong Kong, land of free, land of you, land of me” and “today Hong Kong, tomorrow Vietnam”, invoking solidarity between the two.
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