An unfortunate slip of my Vietnamese tones then caused me to confuse Radio Voice of Vietnam with Pissing Voice of Vietnam . After hearing tapes of my experimental music there were no further questions. One method of bridging the conceptual gulf, repeated with success, was for me to sing Appalachian ballads. On counting the tones and reaching five, proof would be apparent that we are all one people, our blood equally red and our music basically pentatonic. The myth of music as a universal language can occasionally be a useful platitude.
Folk song is especially powerful as a symbol of the Vietnamese identity.
In some cases the musicians are in their 80s and used to perform for the emperor himself. They are teaching the younger generations and, because these genres admit of little variation or free improvisation, little has been modified. The best known star of Chau Van and Ca Hue is Ai Hoa, a singer in her 40s, whose voice explores all the sensuous slides and cracks inherent in the Hue dialect. Others mentioned a waste of blood and money. Even visiting homes where pictures of relatives shot down by my compatriots hung above the family altar, care was taken that I would not feel uncomfortable.