ABSTRACT
This book is about Vietnam’s popular music at the end of the twentieth century and beginning of the twenty-fi rst century. It is based on my research in Ho Chi Minh City, Hanoi, and elsewhere throughout the country during the summers of 2002, 2004, and 2005. As the above epigraphs suggest, the Vietnamese popular music scene in 2005 was, as it is today, colorful, loud, diverse, vibrant, and intertwined with many hidden and often complex issues. In the twenty-fi rst century, many of the young people of Vietnam (i.e. those under 30), all of whom were born after the American War (what the Vietnam War is often called in Vietnam; the terms may be used interchangeably), have been greatly affected by the economic changes in Vietnam, as the country, and especially Ho Chi Minh City (formerly Saigon), embraces the current world market economy and experiences globalization in its many forms.
