Vietnamese songwriter Nguyen Van Chung told Tuoi Tre he was pleased that listeners still remembered Mua dong khong lanh, a song released in 2008. It came up again in early-November social media jokes about the weather in northern Vietnam. Some commenters suggested that he write another winter song called Mua dong khong nom.
The early composition that found a singer
Chung said it was the second song he wrote when he was starting out. He initially put it away because he was unconvinced by the melody and lyrics. He brought it back when arranger Minh Khang was looking for material for Akira Phan. Chung credits Minh Khang with recognising the song’s potential and hearing how it could suit Phan’s voice.
That decision gave the composition a route from an unused draft to a recording. Chung associates it with listeners who grew up with Vietnamese pop in the late 2000s. He also sees the winter imagery as part of its appeal for people familiar with colder places such as Hanoi and Da Lat.
Looking back at the writing
Chung lives in Ho Chi Minh City and described enjoying warm clothes, hot tea and hot food on cold days in Hanoi. He sees the recent jokes as another context in which the title became memorable. His current attention is on other music projects, and he has no specific plan for a new winter song. If he returned to the subject, he said, he would approach it with a different perspective from the one he had when he wrote the earlier piece at 18.