oh but before I start, I just wanna give a shout-out to him:
HAPPY BIRTHDAY LEEHOM!!!!
it felt like I had just wished you hbd. but here we are, another trip around the sun later.. w00t!
anyway, I adapted my concert card for LH to make him this birthday card, a physical copy of which is supposedly on its way to him (if the fan club wasn't pulling my legs).. so exciting! thanks to D for rallying the few of us together to do this! ^_^
#1 龍的傳人 Descendants of the Dragon
what's special to me about this song was that I actually remember watching a live performance of this song on TV some 13 years ago in 2000 when it first came out, and I remember thinking that, wow, this version is awesome! (I'm kinda a sucker for contemporary remixes of anything old :).. I already knew of him then, but too bad that while i enjoyed the fresh twist, I didn't give him any more thought hehe.. mm, around that time, the only Chinese singer I was into then was David Tao.. :)
I really want to tell you more about the song, because this is not just any other old patriotic Chinese song. if you go through its lyrics, you would probably see as I did see why it appeals deeply to the Chinese, in particular first and second generations of the Chinese diaspora who must have missed home (theirs or those of their ancestors) like crazy back in those Internet-less days---case in point, my parents (who definitely had something to do with me knowing the original version of the song)(and Leehom of course). anyway, I have never really relate to this song, maybe because I identify more as a Malaysian (srsly, if I ever hear another pendatang comment... grr! nevertheless, I found this for you:
Notes: [...] The verse in the original version about cannon fire breaking through a tranquil night refers to the Opium Wars. China’s defeat in the two conflicts (1839-42 and 1858-1860) led to the “unequal treaties,” which not only opened treaty ports and carved up part of the Chinese coastline with foreign concessions, but were also instrumental in opening the country to western contact and legalizing Chinese emigration. The treaties were often referred to as a “national humiliation.”
This song was written by Taiwan singer/songwriter Hou Dejian (候德建) in December of 1978, in response to the American decision to break off diplomatic relations with the Republic of China (Taiwan) and establish relations with the People's Republic of China. Though it gained popularity as a patriotic song, in fact, Hou’s metaphor of growing up “under the claw of the dragon” demonstrates a certain amount of ambivalence toward China. As scholar Geremie R. Barme has noted, "'Heirs' [the song is also known as Heirs of the Dragon, hence, Heirs] had originally been written after the U.S. abandonment of the Republic of China in 1978 to express profound frustration with the traditions that the song appeared, at least superficially, to romanticize."
"Heirs" was first recorded by singer Li Jianfu (李建復), and it quickly spread across Taiwan as a nationalistic anthem. A Cantonese version was recorded by Hong Kong patriotic singer Zhang Mingmin (張明敏). In 2000, Chinese American Leehom Wang (王力宏) recorded his version, adding an English-language rap and changing the last verse to reference the experience of Taiwanese immigrants in the United States instead of the Opium Wars. Li Jianfu is Leehom's second cousin (表叔), and the one responsible for getting Leehom involved in the Taiwanese music industry.
In 1983, Hou Dejian violated Guomindang travel restrictions and traveled to mainland China. “Heirs of the Dragon” became wildly popular in China, where it was embraced as an expression of Chinese nationalism and the importance of reunification. Hou’s recording career continued on the mainland, and he met up with many of the illustrious figures of 1980s Chinese music. In the spring of 1989, “Heirs of the Dragon” was adopted alongside songs like “The Internationale (國際歌)” and Cui Jian’s “Nothing to my name (一無所有)” by the student democracy movement in Tiananmen Square. Hou became deeply involved in the movement, and he helped lead a hunger strike in the Square beginning June 2. Because of his actions, he was deported from China back to Taiwan in 1990.
In May, 1989, at a concert in Hong Kong to support the students in Beijing, Hou made two changes to the lyrics. In the line "surrounded on all sides by the appeasers' swords," he replaced "appeasers" with "dictators" (四面楚歌是獨裁的劍). The second change was even more profound. During the course of his years on the mainland, Hou had met many individuals (including the student leader in Beijing) who were Chinese nationals, but ethnic minorities. In other words, he learned that not all of the Chinese people had "black hair, black eyes, yellow skin." He changed that line to, "Whether you are willing or not, forever and ever an heir of the dragon" (不管你自己願不願意，永永遠遠是龍的傳人). The change reflects the ambivalence in the song's original message, though the version later recorded by Leehom Wang is far more uncritically nationalistic and reverts to the original "black hair, black eyes, yellow skin" line.
Over the years, the song fell out of favor with those advocating for independence for Taiwan, but continues to hold strong pull as a patriotic song in China (none of the popular songs sung at the protests seem to have had their popularity damaged by association). Scholars have suggested that “Heirs of the Dragon,” with its illustration of the how ethnic ties can overcome geographic distance, has also been embraced by Chinese communities overseas, though the song’s popularity surges and retreats. In recent years, it has experienced a resurgence in interest as a result of Leehom's introduction of his rock/pop version and its status as a standard at his concerts.
[via One Day in May]
#2 花田錯 Mistake in the Flower Field
As I've mentioned, this is my all-time favorite LH song. I love everything about it, the poetic lines with obscure (to me) Chinese literature references, the infusion of Chinese musical instrument (the erhu), the melody.. so Chinese, and yet, so..... I don't know how to describe it leh, so I'll let none other than the b'day boy himself explain it (excerpt from a 2008 interview by acclaimed writer Tash Aw):
Tash: You used this (the incorporation of sounds from the music and songs of ethnic minorities into contemporary music in trying to change the way we approach the contemporary form) to stunning effect, I think, in your 2005 album Heroes of the Earth. I remember being completely blown away the first time I heard Hua Tian Cuo (translated roughly – and unsatisfactorily – as Mistake in the Flower Field). To me, it seems to capture the spirit of East Asian pop culture today.
It was so musically innovative – the erhu (Chinese two-string violin) was totally unexpected, as was the vocal line making reference to Beijing opera. It’s really not what you’d expect in a Chinese pop song. It’s a breath of fresh air – even today. Did you set out to be consciously innovative with that album?
Leehom: Very much so. It’s interesting that you picked up on the vocal line, because there’s a lot of melisma (the singing of a single syllable of text while moving between several different notes in succession, as heard in plainsong or the blues) in that song.
I wanted that melismatic line to refer to traditional Beijing opera and kunqu (traditional Chinese theatre) because language is something that’s really important to me. I like to explore the potential of the Chinese language, to see how it can offer a more satisfying experience than English.
With Hua Tian Cuo I asked to study with some of the greatest Beijing opera singers to study their technique, but these guys don’t teach in the formal Western sense. They just imitate their teachers at first, then develop their own style.
It’s very hard training, because it isn’t structured, and by the age of 50 their voices are gone! There’s a lot of pain involved, physical and emotional.
[via]
okay i gtg sleep dy. don't wanna be zombie in class again. tas!
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