The Song VietJet Plays When You Land: Hello Vietnam

If you fly VietJet to Vietnam, there is a song that plays on loop as the plane taxis to the gate after landing. Frequent flyers probably know it by heart.

The song is called Hello Vietnam. It is VietJet Air's signature welcome tune.

What Is This Song?

Hello Vietnam was originally Bonjour Vietnam, written and composed by French singer Marc Lavoine in 2005, performed by Belgian-Vietnamese singer Pham Quynh Anh. It was an unreleased demo until a friend uploaded it online. During Lunar New Year 2006, it went viral across Vietnamese diaspora communities.

In 2008, an English version was released. That same year, it was performed on Paris By Night episode 92, the largest entertainment show for overseas Vietnamese. It became one of the defining songs of the global Vietnamese diaspora. Combined YouTube views number in the tens of millions.

Why Did It Go Viral?

Over six million Vietnamese live overseas. Many are refugees who fled after the war, along with their children and grandchildren. For second- and third-generation Viet Kieu, Vietnam is a place that exists only in their parents' stories.

The song captures that feeling precisely: a mix of curiosity and distance toward a "homeland" that is both foreign and deeply personal.

After circulating online in 2005, the song spread from Paris to California, Sydney to Toronto. It became known as the "unofficial national anthem" of overseas Vietnamese.

Why Does VietJet Use It?

VietJet Air plays Hello Vietnam as its welcome song on all flights landing in Vietnam. It loops from touchdown through taxiing to the gate.

VietJet has called the song "a gift from the heart" for passengers, meant to welcome everyone back to Vietnam through a familiar melody. The airline positions it as "an envoy connecting Vietnam and the world" -- a channel for homesickness for overseas Vietnamese and a first impression for foreign visitors.

Besides Hello Vietnam, VietJet switches to festive tracks like Happy New Year before Lunar New Year. During the April 30 Reunification Day and May Day holidays, cabin crews also film special onboard video versions.

Where Can You Listen?

The song is on Spotify, YouTube, and other platforms. Search for "Hello Vietnam Quynh Anh" or "Bonjour Vietnam."

The English and French versions share the same melody but have slightly different lyrics.

English Lyrics

Tell me all about this name, that is difficult to say
It was given me the day I was born
Want to know about the stories of the empire of old
My eyes say more of me than what you dare to say

All I know of you is all the sights of war
A film by Coppola, the helicopter's roar

One day I'll touch your soil
One day I'll finally know your soul
One day I'll come to you
To say, "Hello Vietnam"

Tell me all about my colour, my hair and my little feet
That have carried me every mile of the way
Want to see your house, your streets
Show me all I do not know
Wooden sampans, floating markets, light of gold

All I know of you is the sights of war
A film by Coppola, the helicopter's roar

One day I'll touch your soil
One day I'll finally know your soul
One day I'll come to you
To say, "Hello Vietnam"

And Buddha's made of stone watch over me
My dreams they lead me through the fields of rice
In prayer, in the light, I see my kin
I touch my tree, my roots, my begin

One day I'll touch your soil
One day I'll finally know your soul
One day I'll come to you
To say, "Hello Vietnam"

One day I'll walk your soil
One day I'll finally know my soul
One day I'll come to you
To say, "Hello Vietnam"
To say, "Hello Vietnam"
To say, "Xin chao Vietnam"

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