Reich mir die Hand

Annotation — Vietnamese Boat People / Refugee Crisis

Reich mir die hand (Vietnamesischer Flüchtlings-Chor Europas) (Vietnamese Refugee Choir Europe) Meine heimat ist Vietnam (Vietnamesischer Flüchtlings-Chor Europas) German, post-war 70s. Vietnamese children refugees from the war. Now living in Germany.

Annotation by Justin A. Brummer

Lyrics

English: I am a little Vietnamese girl / A child in a foreign land / They say this is your home now / This is my new homeland... Reach out your hand to me for a new life, / Reach out your hand, say yes, say yes to me / Brotherhood—let us foster it." __________ German: "Ich bin eine kleine Vietnamesin / ein Kind in einem fremden Land / es heißt, hier ist jetzt dein Zuhause / das ist mein neues Heimatland... Reich mir die Hand zu einem neuen Leben, / reich mir die Hand, sag ja, sag ja zu mir / Brüderlichkeit, laß sie uns pflegen

Notes

A side; music Lothar Neuse / Peter Beil, text Lothar Neuse, arranged Wolfgang Dyhr; 3:48; ℗ 1979 Compact Musikverlag GmbH; EMI Electrola Columbia 1 C 006-45 900, LC 0162, Cologne; sleeve printed by Druckhaus Maack, Lüdenscheid. The sleeve shows the choir — young Vietnamese refugees in yellow áo dài with two guitarists — under a row of European flags, and prints the full German lyric: a small Vietnamese girl, "a child in a foreign land", asking for friends and a hand "to a new life" in a world full of the confusion of war. [From the record sleeve and labels]

About the artist

Choir of Vietnamese child refugees from the war living in Germany, credited as the 1st Vietnamese Refugee Choir of Europe.

Themes

Refugees · Vietnamese Children · Child · Vietnamese Perspective

In collections

Amerasians, Orphans & Vietnamese Children · European Songs · Vietnamese Refugees & Boat People