Expats sing happy birthday to Ha Noi

Joe Ruelle, a Canadian who has lived in Ha Noi for eight years, has turned his love for the city into a humorous song.
The idea for the song came on a winter’s afternoon when a group of Westerners decided to contribute to the city’s 1,000-year anniversary celebrations. They wanted it to be casual and, most importantly, fun since anniversaries can get heavy.
After a few months, they ended up with an old-style pop song with a catchy melody and cheeky Ha Noi references, Ha Noi Boogie.
"I wanted the song to have a real doo-wop feel yet be dripping with references only those with some connection to Ha Noi would pick up on. I think it works; it’s fun, which was the whole point," Joe said.
The song’s simple lyric is about a love affair of a couple, who hang out around the city on a motorbike, try the favourite drink of many local young people – lemon and soda – and experience their first kiss in a park.
I used to drive around this lake I did
I did I did each Saturday with you
With you, with you ka-choo ka-choo koo
Japan on to Korea, where we’d write down our ideas who loved who
The city’s famous spots, including Korean Road and Japanese Station – two sections of the road around the West Lake where youths often gather to adorn the road surface with colourful chalk paintings – The Turtle Tower and Old Quarter, are mentioned in the song.
The days are slowly marching on,
The city that I adore is marching on too
Ooo-ooo Ha Noi is moving on too
So take the stage and take your bows and take your birthday number thousand make it true – old and new
"This song is our way of saying ‘Happy Birthday’ and thanks for the good times," Joe said.
Although Joe wrote the lyrics and melody, he got improvisation help from the band and assistance from international choir leader Graham Sutcliffe who wrote chorus harmonies.
The three-verse tune was led by vocalist Lee Kirby, who burst on to the Vietnamese music scene in 2009 with an impromptu recording of Vietnamese songwriter Trinh Cong Son’s Diem Xua (Diem of the Old Time). TheYouTube video quickly racked up 250,000 hits.
"I saw this guy singing and accompanying himself on the guitar when I dropped into a coffee shop in the Old Quarter," Joe said of his first meeting with Kirby.
"I didn’t realise it was Kirby, and asked him if he wanted to join us in the song as the lead vocalist."
The backup vocals feature Viet Nam Television’s Channel 4 (VTV4) presenter and actress Ruth Mortimer, Australian teacher and trained soprano Kate Cameron, Dutch NGOer Meke Kamps. The chorus harmonies feature Australian embassy worker Michael Hoy, German radio specialist and actor David Frogier and NGO Englishman Chris Bane.
Joe (Vietnamese nickname Dau) maintains a popular blog in Vietnamese and has hosted various television shows.