The Extreme Bitterness and Sweetness of Ngọt’s lyrics
In recent years, Indie music has been spreading amongst the Vietnamese youth like wild fire. Many Indie artists are finally getting the recognition and popularity they deserve for their music and their hard work. A few prime examples include Đen Vâu, with his 1,500,000 YouTube subscribers (https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCWu91J5KWEj1bQhCBuGeJxw), and Vũ, with his 380,000 subscribers on YouTube and over 137,600,000 total video views (https://www.youtube.com/user/VMaxTV), among others.
Among the constellation of rapidly rising Indie artists, Ngọt is a shining star that has been making noticeable waves ever since the release of their first studio album in 2016. After the release of their second album ‘Ng`bthg’, the band saw vast critical and commercial success. In 2018, the band received 2 honourable Cống Hiến awards: ‘New artist of the year’ and ‘Song of the year’. They also quickly sold out all 3000 tickets of their live shows in Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh city.
(Lê 2017)
A major part of Ngọt’s massive appeal to Vietnamese audiences is thanks to the band’s excellent lyrical range, brought about by Ngọt’s lead singer and songwriter – Vũ Đinh Trọng Thắng. That is, the band’s music has two very contrasting musical flavours. Sometimes, the ‘feel’ of the songs can be sweet and positive – but at times it can be bitter, dark, and intensely philosophical as well. Let’s take a closer look.
(Zingmp3 n.d.)
I. The sweet
The ‘sweet’ side of Ngọt is what launched the band towards massive commercial success, particularly with the song ‘Em Dạo Này’. This song amassed 8,500,000 views on YouTube (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-6s_eRHYqVM), and acted as the leverage that helped Ngọt reach such a large audience with their newest album.
In this song, Ngọt combined elements of both Indie Pop and Waltz to create a romantic and almost dream-like ‘feel’, then sprinkled in the magic of the words to make the perfect cherry on top. The lyrics are down-to-earth but ever so sweet and tender. ‘Em dạo này có còn xem phim một mình? Em dạo này có đồ ăn và shopping?’ The narrator in the song wonders what his ex is doing – whether she’s going to the movies alone, and whether she still does the things she did when they were still together. These romantic words pluck at the listener’s heartstrings, the exact way a love ballad should.
(Zingmp3 n.d.)
II. The bitter
The more bitter side of Ngọt’s music is less popular than the sweet side, but it is what keeps Ngọt’s fans coming back for more, time and time again. In fact, even though sweet songs like ‘Em Dạo Này’ launched the band’s second album to commercial success, for the most part, the album consists of ‘bitter’ songs – songs that are deep, philosophical, and can be considered ‘dark’.
One prime example of such a song is ‘Bartender’ – the fifth song on the album (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1u0ygl9vJHI). With heavy emphasis on electric guitar and drums, this musical element of this song sets up a serious tone, which is once again confirmed by the grim lyrics. With lines like ‘What goes around comes around. Người ta gieo gió rồi gặp bão. Để bây giờ lòng đầy sám hối, đến xưng tội bên tai tôi’, the narrator of the song ponders themes of karma, heartbreak and death. This proves the very diverse spectrum of Ngọt’s music. One minute, they can be sweet, upbeat and dreamy. The next, they can ponder life and death themselves.
Reference list:
Cầm, Đ 2019, ‘Nhạc indie: Họ là dòng chảy của những gương mặt đẹp với âm nhạc đẹp’, Tuổi Trẻ, 2 July, viewed 28 July 2019, <https://tuoitre.vn/nhac-indie-ho-la-dong-chay-cua-nhung-guong-mat-dep-voi-am-nhac-dep-20190702095042926.htm>.
Đen Vâu 2019, Đen Vâu Official, YouTube, viewed 28 July 2019, <https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCWu91J5KWEj1bQhCBuGeJxw>.
Kaye, D 2018, Ngot’s Lead Singer Vu Dinh Trong Thang On How To Be Normal, Vietcetera, viewed 28 July 2019, <http://vietcetera.com/en/ngots-lead-singer-vu-dinh-trong-thang-on-how-to-be-normal/>.
Lê, MG 2017, Ngọt: ‘Chúng tôi mỗi lúc một kiểu, có cả tăm tối và dễ thương’, photograph, viewed July 2019, <https://news.zing.vn/ngot-chung-toi-moi-luc-mot-kieu-co-ca-tam-toi-va-de-thuong-post783097.html>.
Linh, T 2018, ‘Ngọt Band: Từ hát không cát-sê ở quán cà phê đến ‘cháy vé’ liveshow’, Thanh Niên, viewed 28 July 2019, <https://thanhnien.vn/van-hoa/ngot-band-tu-hat-khong-cat-se-o-quan-ca-phe-den-chay-ve-liveshow-959118.html>.
Ngọt – Bartender, YouTube, Ngọt, viewed 10 July 2019, <https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1u0ygl9vJHI>.
Ngọt – Em Dạo Này, YouTube, Ngọt, viewed 10 July 2019, <https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-6s_eRHYqVM>.
Nguyễn, Đ 2017, ‘Nhóm nhạc Ngọt ra mắt album mới’, VNExpress, viewed 28 July 2019, <https://vnexpress.net/giai-tri/nhom-nhac-ngot-ra-mat-album-moi-3644301.html>.
Thư, Q 2018, ‘Những chàng trai 9x đa tài của Ngọt band vừa nhận giải Cống hiến là ai?’, Tiền Phong, viewed 28 July 2019, <https://www.tienphong.vn/giai-tri/nhung-chang-9x-da-tai-cua-ngot-band-vua-nhan-giai-cong-hien-la-ai-1253390.tpo>.
Vũ 2019, Vũ Official, YouTube, viewed 28 July 2019, <https://www.youtube.com/user/VMaxTV>.
Zingmp3, n.d., Bartender, photograph, viewed July 2019, <https://zingmp3.vn/bai-hat/Bartender-Ngot/ZW9BUUAI.html>.
Zingmp3, n.d., Em Dạo Này, photograph, viewed July 2019, <https://zingmp3.vn/bai-hat/Em-Dao-Nay-Ngot/ZW8IFZOZ.html>.











