Category: Chinese Song

‘I’m Eating Fried Chicken at People’s Square (我在人民广场吃炸鸡,  Wǒzài Rénmínguǎngchǎng chī zhájī)’ was included in Shanghainese indie pop artist A Si ( 阿肆,  ā sì)’s first eponymous album, released on July 4, 2013. Although this song has been popular among Chinese “artistic youth” [hipsters] for some time, it didn’t reach the broader public until Xu Mingming, a contestant of literally China’s Dream Voice ( 中国梦之声,  Zhōngguó mèngzhīshēng) Chinese Idol covered the song on the July 14th episode.

‘Would You Make a Mistake for Me (你会为我犯错吗,  N ǐhuì wèiwǒ fàncuò ma)’ is one of the latest singles by 45-year-old Taiwanese singer Jeff Chang/Zhang Xinzhe (张信哲,  Z hāng Xìnzhé). Dubbed the “Prince of Love Ballads” in the Chinese pop world, Jeff Chang has been well-known across Taiwan, Hong Kong, Southeast Asia and mainland China since 1989. No music video has been released for this song yet, but controversies have been stirred up about whether this song encourages cheating and infidelity.

’For Whom Did I Come (我为谁而来,  Wǒ wéishuí ér lái)’ was included in the 25-year-old mainland singer Michelle Lee aka Li Xiaoyun ( 李霄云,  Lǐ xiāoyún)‘s first album All Blue which was released in 2010. Michelle Lee wrote 7 of the 10 songs for that album.

‘The Wonderful Life (美妙生活,   Měimiào shēnghuó)’ is included in 25-year-old Taiwanese singer Yoga Lin aka Lin Youjia ( 林宥嘉,   Lín Yòujiā)’s 2011 album Perfect Life (available on Amazon). Despite being only in his early twenties, Lin has proven his ability to deliver a wide variety of musical performances, and he continues to experiment with new music genres and vocal styles.’The Wonderful Life’ discusses the effect of modernity on interpersonal communication and our attitudes towards life.

‘Sky’ (天空, Tiānkōng) is included in 29-year-old mainland Chinese singer Zhang Jie (张杰, Zhāng Jié)‘s cover album The Love Songs We Once Encountered, recently released on November 26th, 2012. ‘Sky’ was originally sung by Wang Fei aka Faye Wong.

‘Red Dust Inn (红尘客栈,   Hóngchén kèzhàn)’ is included in the Taiwanese Mandopop artist Zhou Jielun ( 周杰伦,   Zhōu jiélún) aka Jay Chou‘s latest album Opus 12 (十二新作,   Shí'èr xīnzuò), which was released on December 28th, 2012. This ”Chinese-style ( 中国风,  Zhōngguó fēng)” song is about a swordsman who pursued a reclusive lifestyle with his love but was eventually killed by the enemy.

‘The Song of An Older Artistic Woman’ (大龄文艺女青年之歌,   Dàlíng wényì nǚqīngnián zhī gē) was created by Shao Yibei ( 邵夷贝,  Shào Yíbèi), a Peking University alumni from the class of 2006. This song discusses what kind of men an older “artistic” woman should marry. 大龄 (dà líng) means “older than the average age for marriage”. In China, the average age for a man to have his first marriage is 25.3 years old, and the average age for a woman to have her first marriage is 23.4 years old. This song first became an internet hit in 2009 but drew a lot of attention again at the beginning of 2013 because the female host Zhu Dan sang an adapted version of this song on Hunan Satellite TV‘s New Year’s Eve Gala without Shao Yibei and her record company’s permission.

Zhao Wei (赵薇,   Zhào wēi) aka Vicki Zhao‘s first movie So Young has been a hit with ( 致我们终将逝去的青春,   Zhì wǒmen zhōngjiāng shìqù de qīngchūn). Chinese audiences and a Chinese box office success, which in turn helped its theme song “To Youth (致青春,  Zhì qīngchūn) ” by Wang Fei (王菲,  wáng fēi) aka Faye Wong go viral. At time of translation, this song had 2,103,472 listens on popular Chinese online music streaming service Xiami.