I went back to Fresno's New Year on the last day and bought his album to support him. I didn't get a chance to ask him much, if anything, but he has a very nice and soft speaking voice (very different from his singing voice), and he seems like a kind and decent guy.
After scanning Choj Kub's second volume, I have come to the conclusion that "Tsim Kev Hlub Los Ua Chaw Nco" is probably the best song out of the album. It has a nice Lao country music beat and melody, and the lyric is pretty as well.
Tsim Kev Hlub Los Ua Chaw Nco - Choj Kub Lauj
Siab seev yuj yees kuv tseem nco txog
(My) heart flutters (or longs for you), I still remember
Ntawm lub qub zog
In the old village
Kev nkauj nraug ntawm koj thiab kuv
The courtship between you and me
Kuv nplooj siab hlub
My sweetheart
Tav li no koj dua twg lawm
Where have you gone to all of this time?
Vim yog uas tsov rog sawv
Due to the emergence of war
Thiaj sib ncaim mus txog tav no
(Causing us to be) separated for this long
Xyooj 78 koj puas nco tau
Can you still recall 1978?
Ntawm tsiab peb caug
At the New Year's festival
Me nroj paj dawb nws tawg nra paug
(Where) little white flowers bloomed brightly everywhere
Wb kev nkauj nraug
Our courtship
Hais seev yees pem tej ntav toj
(We) speak flowingly (to one another) in the hillsides (the words
"seev yees" refers to kwv txhiaj, so he's really saying that he and
his girlfriend exchanged kwv txhiaj verses to convey their love for one another
amongst the hills of the Hmong homeland)
Kuv tseem nco txog tav no
Even now, I still remember
Thiaj li seev lub suab nkauj nrhiav
That's why (I'm) singing this song to find (you)
Txij sib ncaim kuv noog tsis tau koj moo
Since (we've) parted, I haven't been able to find news of
your whereabout
Kuv tseem nco ntsoov kev sib hlub nyob hauv nruab siab
I still keep (remember) (our) love inside (my) heart
(liver)
Kuv tseem nco koj tus ntxhiab
I still remember your scent
Yuav khaws cia mus tag ib sim
(I will) keep it forever
Tshwm sim yug los tau caij nyoog phem
(Since we were) born during an unstable (bad) time
Thiaj sib ncaim tseg
It forced (us) to go apart
Tsim kev hlub los ua chaw nco
(But allowed us to) create love as a memory
Tsis hnov koj xov
Not hearing any news about you
Ncig tuaj txog tej me qub zog
(I've come) to revisit the old village
Wb tej me chaw so
Our resting stops
Me nroj me tsuag twb hlav npog luas
Are now covered with little grasses and weeds
Music Break
Since (we've) parted, I haven't been able to find news of
your whereabout
Kuv tseem nco ntsoov kev sib hlub nyob hauv nruab siab
I still keep (remember) (our) love inside (my) heart
(liver)
Kuv tseem nco koj tus ntxhiab
I still remember your scent
Yuav khaws cia mus tag ib sim
(I will) keep it forever
Tsov rog sawv ntxiv nyias thiaj khiav nyias
War stroke once more, (forcing) you and I to run our
separate ways
Wb thiaj plam kiag kev sib hlub nyob rau Nas Xus
We instantly lost (our) love in Nas Xus (a town in Laos)
Sib noog tsis tau thiaj muab sau ua zaj nkauj hu
Being unable to locate each other (I've decided) to write
(our story) into this song (to sing)
Koj nyob qab ntuj hauv ntuj puas tseem cim tau kuv suab hu
To see if you can still recognize my voice wherever you
are in the world (under the sky or above the sky)
Note: I realized that I often put words in parenthesis when I translate lyrics, so for clarification, words in parenthesis denote either a word that the singer didn't use but I inserted so that the translated lyric makes more sense OR it contains the literal translation of the previous word
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