Not So Chill Song


Last year the song Bài Này Chill Phết was everywhere. It was released around summer I believe, and everybody was sharing it on facebook.

It took me a while to give the song a listen… and wow, I was immediately impressed. The song has a dreamlike and melancholic feel to it. The chorus, with the beautiful female voice, gives out this dreamy vibe of a peaceful place where you just long to be after a day of hard work. The lyrics sound like they come straight from the author’s heart — very genuine and touching. The wordplay is really good too. I’ve never heard anything like this song before. It really is no wonder why the song became so popular: it speaks to a young generation who would much rather ‘chill’ (being with their friends and having a good time) and express themselves rather than pursue the rat race of moneymaking.

I’m absolutely not a music connoisseur or an art critic. I just think that the song is really good. I’ve listened to it many times and have always enjoyed it. In September 2019, I actually attended a live show by Đen at Mỹ Đình stadium, and I enjoyed every second of his performance.

Until recently when I started to pay more attention to the lyrics… and wow, I’ve got to say, there’s quite a bit of the song that I don’t approve of at all. At least the first verse it is — I think it promotes a selfish and entitled attitude.

1st Half: Fuck Your Work

The first (rap) verse of the song is literally just the author lamenting the dreadfulness of a 9-5 job.


Đồng nghiệp của em thế nào, trong thang máy có chào với nhau?
Có nói qua nói lại và những cuộc họp có đào bới nhau?
Sếp của em thế nào, dễ tính hay thường gắt gỏng?
Anh ta có thương nhân viên hay thường buông lời sắc mỏng?

I don’t like this mentality. It sounds like the author is referring to a stereotypical toxic workplace where your boss treats you like crap, and your co-workers do nothing but gossip and play office politics.

This is just wild exaggeration. If you feel like you are mistreated by everybody, both your bosses and your co-workers, then maybe you are the problem. Stop whining and blaming the world. It’s like the saying, “if everyone around you is an asshole, then maybe you are the asshole”.

In my limited number of years alive, I’ve found that people are mostly nice. You do your thing well and treat people politely, and nobody will give you crap.

Now I know toxic workplaces do exist. Anyone who works in a government office has to deal with bullshit on the daily. But if it were me, I’d either try to change it, leave it, or just shut up and focus on my job. I don’t write a fucking song to badmouth my colleagues.

The next part, he talks about the stress of work which is actually rather relatable. But then he gets to this egregious line:

Và đừng để đời chỉ là những chuỗi ngày được chấm công
Miệng cười như nắng hạ, nhưng trong lòng thì chớm đông

So he’s essentially saying that your job is just a series of clocking in-clocking out throughout which you have to constantly fake it: smiley on the outside, dead on the inside.

This is a horrible attitude to have. I think that if you are given a job, any job, you should do it with all your heart. I don’t care how shitty or unpleasant the job is; if I am to do it, I will do my damn best. I’m not going to put on a facade and wish for the day to be over just so I can clock out and leave.

I’m not very good with words, so here’s a great quote by MLK: “If a man is called to be a street sweeper, he should sweep streets even as a Michaelangelo painted, or Beethoven composed music or Shakespeare wrote poetry. He should sweep streets so well that all the hosts of heaven and earth will pause to say, ‘Here lived a great street sweeper who did his job well.”

2nd Half: Live Freely

In the next verse, he talks about his life as a singer. And then he concludes the song with a bridge that basically says that you should always be young at heart, live freely, and focus on building memories and finding peace for yourself instead of getting caught in the moneymaking rat race.

Mình sướng hơn những người giàu nhỉ
Vầng trán mình chưa hề nhàu nhĩ

Sáng chúng ta làm, vì tờ bạc nhiều màu trong ví
Đêm về ta chill, riêng mình một bầu không khí

Chúng ta có những chiều vàng, dắt tay nhau lên đồi xa
Nắng khoác lên mình lớp áo, nheo mắt lại nhìn trời hoa
Và những đêm đen huyền dịu, cho tiếng lòng thêm dõng dạc
Ta thấy nhau bằng tâm hồn và không cần nhìn bằng võng mạc
Ta sẽ cố để có được những thứ mà ta chờ mong
Dưới ngọn đồi, căn nhà nhỏ
Nhìn ra bờ sông
Vì anh chưa từng mơ ngày nào đó mình trở thành siêu sao

I have no problem with this part. I quite like it actually — it promotes minimalism which is a great outlook on life. We should strive just enough to create a little corner of peace and contentment for ourselves, and the focus of life should indeed be on acquiring experiences and building memories. Our bottomless greed and the constant-growth nature of capitalism have fucked the planet and made society unfair enough as it is.

In other words, more of us should be more like Đen. Fuck money, live freely. (Just kidding! But totally — there’s even a similar slogan on the banner of my blog haha)

Final Thoughts

Now of course after all, it’s just a song. Đen is simply expressing himself. He is obviously a free-spirited artist who has issues with the rigidity of the modern 9-5 lifestyle.

Still — I think, at least for the first half of the song, it’s a horrible message to tell a young audience. Complain about all the shitty aspects of your job, and say how much you wish to get out to ‘chill’? Nope, that is not how you do it.

Instead, he should be rapping about this: work hard, treat your colleagues with respect, do your job with excellence, and then you can chill later. How much better would that be?

3 thoughts on “Not So Chill Song

  1. Can i ask you a question? “Do you ever feel “chill”?”

  2. In my opinion, Đen doesn’t encourage the young audience to complain about the 9-5 lifestyle or the toxic workplace. He just describes how a lot of young people think about their workplace. As the saying “If everyone around you is an asshole, maybe you are the asshole.”, many of the young generation are more likely to complain than to do their best or find a solution to a problem. Đen really understands the pressure and unpleasant side that any job can have, whether it’s an office job or a job as a free-spirited singer. In the part where he describes his job and performances, we can feel his passion and devotion. And then he promotes minimalism, optimism, and real happiness from our soul. I agree with you that the final message sounds like asking people to escape the rat race of moneymaking and find a place to chill. But who wouldn’t be chill, peaceful, and happy in a place with beautiful scenes like a sunset hill, a riverside house, a cloud in the sky… as he wrote? I think we shouldn’t always have the idea that we must get out or keep looking for somewhere else to get these feelings. We should live in the present and find these feelings even in our busy daily lives. I think he should be rapping like this: Work hard, treat your colleagues with respect, do your job with excellence, and here you can chill. 🙂

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