After I asked KI-Media to post my dedication to Ms. Chhun Vanna last week, a reader suggested that I should also post songs and information of other Khmer singers who survived the KR regime. That reader suggested Ms. So Savoeun and Ms. Chhuon Malay.
Over the years, I heard that Ms. Chhuon Malay now lives in the US, but, unlike Ms. Chhun Vanna, there is not much information about her at all. As for Ms. So Savoeun, she currently lives in France and she still performs there. Therefore, this week, I would like to share with you some of her songs.
I collected the first two songs below when somebody posted them online sometime back. Every time I listen to “Sranos M’lob Dong”, I always have goose bumps reminiscing about my childhood. It was a sunny and hot afternoon before the war in 1970 when, one day, my oldest brother came home with a brand new record of Ms. So Savoeun (see jacket below). He managed to set the old record player to work and all of us gathered around it. The first song he played was “Sranos M’lob Dong” and I can still picture in my mind, even after all these years, where each of my siblings was sitting around that record player. Of course, not all of us survived the KR regime, but this song always bring back to my mind a time when we were all living harmoniously together in peace.
Ms. So Savoeun’s repertoire included a vast range of music genres, from classic Khmer song, such as “Kaun Meas M’day” to Saravan song, such as “Oh Popech Chieb”, and everything else in between as you will discover some of them below.
There are a few Youtube videos available about Ms. So Savoeun also. I have enclosed below, a song she performed in France in the late 70s or early 80s and a song she performed at the Olympic Stadium in 1986, right during the occupation of Cambodia by the Vietnamese forces. Finally I have included a more recent interview of her in France where she provided a glimpse of her life and the tragic fate of her four children who all perished during the KR regime. I was able to coax Mr. Luc Sâr (or Luxor?) of the KI-Media team to provide an English transcript of the interview.
I hope you will enjoy the talent of Ms. So Savoeun as much as I do.
Until next time ... Yours truly,
P from LB and elsewhere…
So Savoeun - Sranos Mlob Dong
So Savoeun - Oh Popech Chieb
So Savoeun - Ké Leng Phleng Hoeuy
So Savoeung - Kaun Meas M'day
So Savoeun - Prey L'bas Khiev Kchey
So Savoeun singing "Oddam Duong Chet" in France circa 1980:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QHVdYMG6uNU&feature=related
So Savoeun sang at the Olympic Stadium in 1986, during the Vietnamese occupation of Cambodia:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M7WnoP6hlYE
Recent interview with So Savoeun in France:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m8pF3cGsc0o
Transcript of the 4 min. of the interview, translated from French by Luc Sâr:
Following the 1975 events in Phnom Penh, numerous artists and intellectuals fled Cambodia. Biv Chhay Lieng, born in 1930 in Kampong Cham, Cambodia, is part of the Cambodian artists living in exile in France. Before the Khmer Rouge took over power, Biv Chhay Lieng was a well known author for his dramas and movie scripts. He wrote 30 novels and produced 16 movies.
So Savoeun was a very popular singer in Cambodia. She fled to Thailand when the Khmer Rouge arrived. Nowadays, she lives in France and she sings every weekend in a Chinese restaurant.
So Savoeun (SS): For me, when there was the Phnom Penh government [Lon Nol regime] … when the KR arrived, I left.
Biv Chhay Lieng (BCL): When the KR arrived, I was busy producing a movie.
BCL: Following the fall of Cambodia to the KR, I left Cambodia with all my family to Vietnam.
Interviewer (I): Your first husband…
SS: That was my music composer, he was my teacher since I was young, I was 16 back then.
I: How many children did you have at the time?
SS: At that time, I had four.
I: They all passed away during the KR regime? … All together? Was it?
SS: Nodding, sobbing
BCL: When we arrived in France, we were lodged at a refugee camp in Colmar (Northeastern France).
SS: I started to work in Sino-Cambodian restaurants in Paris XIII.
I: As a singer?
SS: As a singer, I was always a singer.
SS performing
BCL: When I was able to leave Cambodia, I tried to write novels in Cambodian and French. For the remainder that was left in Cambodia, everything was lost, I couldn’t find them anymore.
SS: I am very happy with the youths nowadays, they are taking over my songs. But, sometimes, maybe it was not the fault of the young singers, but it was the fault of the organizers, they got mistaken with my songs, when they sang them, instead of giving me credit, they credit them to somebody else. I believe they don’t know them.
BCL: Lately, there are people who published my novels – there are many novels, 10 or 20 of them – but they did not ask for my authorization.
SS: I sing every day because I love it. I love my job. I love to sing … for my pleasure and I love it, I love my job, I love it to death.
Remainder of the interview with movie producer Rithy Panh.
14 comments:
thanks for a little glimpse of so savoeun. she was on of the more famous older singers from the 1960s up until the KR took over. i think she was fortunate to escape the KR killing fields. younger generation of khmer recognized her songs, but they don't really know she much at all. i think partly due to she's not showing herself again to the public i.e. she seemed secluded and not travel much to cambodia, thus the younger generation of singers or artists in cambodia don't get to know her that well. she even mentioned that artists who use her works or her songs don't even give her credit, that i think is because they don't know her and thought she was dead during the dark years of the KR era, etc... she was one of the handful of famous female vocalists from her time. it must be devastating for her to take a long hiatus from the career she loved the most, singing. and she mentioned she lost her children when she escaped from cambodia. that's devastating for her as well. anyway, just to let people know, she was one of the most famous and popular female vocalists of her time. she had many many hits during her performance at that time. she's from the old contemporary of ros sereysothea, pen ron, etc... i bet she still remembered the good old time then. god bless her heart.
because of the devastation of the KR, famous people like her lost their credibility as there were no copyright laws to protect their works. people took that opportunity to reap benefits from the famous, talented people's works. i don't blame them for doing that, it's the change in society, the change in cambodia that caused this to happen. now that cambodia have copyright laws, etc, it's sort of too late for the famous people to reclaimed their works. look at the songs of sin sisamouth, ros sereysothea, pen ron, etc, although peole did acknowledge the works of those talented, past artists, they still sell, and exploit their works without considering copyright law, etc, for their own benefit. yes, it was the KR that changed cambodia in a bad way i.e. lawlessness. i think that's why people like so savoeun stopped performing in cambodia since. she realized there was no copyright law in cambodia to protect her works. it may sound cruel, but people want to be recognized for their works, you know!
I love reading this kind of information...very interesting. I love to know more about the Khmer artists. Nowaday typical Cambodians are struggling with making ends meet because they are affected with all kinds of "illnesses" mentally, physically, emotionally, and etc.
I love all her songs. They are so meaningful.
Dear LOK P FROM LONG BEACH,
Thank you so much Sir for your efforts bringing back all the good old memories of the past....as I do love her songs and personally I am a big fan of NEAK NEANG SO SAVOEUN , She had been involved deeply in Political War against the aggressions of the North Vietnamese and Vietcong Troops during the KHMER REPUBLIC.
NEAK NEANG SO SAVOEUN played importantly a mojor role with our KHMER REPUBLIC handsome and nationalist Captain TOCH TENG singing the songs PREY L-BASS KHIEV KCHEY ...and it was nation-wide broadcasted on T.V ..staring a young Commnader got wounded in his both eyes by North Vietnamese troops the battlefield somewhere in PHOUM CHONG SROK where he was safely hidden and treated by a young girl and her farmer father.....
Best Wishes with my condolences to our KHMER PEOPLE who lost their lives in defending our beloved country from the Vietnamese and SIAM aggressors.
The Young KHMER REPUBLIC
This is a great peiece of history, KI Media. I love to see the old glimpses of the time bampe arom/soul comforters.
Thank you so much for posting it.
sdy
I love the old songs and listen to them over and over. The vocabulary is so rich and meaningful. Too bad we don't find the same quality in new songs. Artistically, we still have not recover from the KR tragedy. A bit chunk of the Nation artistic values and talents have lost for ever.
according to my parents, ms. so savoeun was known as "rey kondoeung meas".
Mr. P from Long Beach,
Once again, thank you very much for the songs by Ms. So Savoeun.
PreyLbasKhiev Kchey is my favorite. Hearing it brings me right back to 1972 when the war was still raging in Cambodia.
Despite the tragic war, I had quite a few good souvenirs with this song. One of them was during the wedding reception when Ms. So Savoeun's beautiful voice singing PreyLbasKhiev Kchey could be heard from the 4 loud speakers, 2 of them at the corner of Vithey Trasak Paem (sweet cucumber) and Vithey Samdach Tieng.
As a young boy I was playing around Sala Noukan (private high school by the name of Noukan) and that day I decided to sit down with my fellow young friends listening to the songs coming out from the speakers.
The smell of the Cambodian and Chinese food coming from the wedding reception was a torture as it was really good, in fact, so good that we wished we had been invited to sit at one the tables reserved for invited guests.
Well, obviously nobody invited us as we were just kids and not related to the wedding families so we ended up going to eat at home that evening, but the songs and the smell of the food certain left a big memory in my heart.
The sad thing from this souvenir is that all of my friends who were then sitting with me (six of them) except one had died during the KR regime from starvation and murder.
So today I listen to this song again and dedicate it to their memory.
Anet Khmer
i think khmer arts never lost. actually, i believe once cambodia activates new law for copyrights, etc, talented people will be reborn once more in our country. you have to convince and gain people's confidence, trust, especially with the rule of law, etc, etc, ok! that's all! i noted there are now a lot more talented young khmer people in cambodia. plus, most of them speak flawless khmer language, etc, and they are all smart, educated and intelligent and beautiful, and they all love and care for cambodia and khmer way, etc... talented new generation of khmer people are out there. you'll be surprise to find out there are millions of them in cambodia. they are brave, intelligent, speak khmer language so well and are educated and so on. i'm proud of them all. god bless cambodia and all our beautiful khmer people and citizens.
Hi
Ki-media i am too happy to hear from you that released old singers their songs and pictures. I would like you to release them again and again i like to visit every time , whenevre you release.
We are proud of oueself our culture.
Chao tamok
was ms. So a singer in the Yothea Phirum band. as a young school boy i used to sneak a peek into the lower level flat where the band used to practice on Neruh (?) blvd.
Those wonderful recordings that survived the Holocaust in Cambodia bring those artists, So Savoeun was so fortunate to know and work with back to life again, serving as a call to people everywhere to confront those who would commit genocide, because there will be more Holocausts, and those who would do such a thing must be stopped the moment they open their mouths calling for the destruction of their fellow human beings.
She Resembles Jeong Sang Kyung a 1900s era Singer from Korea
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