Tag: Chinese Song

‘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.

‘Can’t Leave You’ (离不开你,  Líbùkāi nǐ) is the song that brought 44-year-old singer Huang Qishan (黄绮珊,  Huáng Qǐshān) aka Susan Huang to national attention on China’s internet over the past two weeks. Though she entered the music business 27 years ago, Huang Qishan did not become a household name until recently when she appeared on Hunan Satellite TV’s I’m A Singer (我是歌手,   Wǒ shì gēshǒu), a singing competition reality show imported from South Korea’s Munhwa Broadcasting Corporation. This singing competition has featured famous artists from the mainland, Hong Kong and Taiwan, such as Qi Qin aka Chyi Chin, Paul Wong Koon-Chung aka Huang Guanzhong (former guitarist from the Hong Kong rock band Beyond), Sha Baoliang, Chen Ming, Shang Wenjie aka Laure Shang, and the former members of the pop duet Yu Quan—Chen Yufan, and Hu Haiquan (these two singers also took turns hosting this reality show).

“Running Away” is included in 27-year-old mainland singer Zhou Bichang‘s latest album Unlock, released on May 16, 2013. At time of translation, this song has generated 38,355 listens on Xiami.

“For the Loved” (or literally “Dear Passersby”) (亲爱的路人,    Qīnài de lùrén)  is included in 43-year-old Taiwanese singer René Liu aka Liu Ruoying ( 刘若英,  Liú Ruòyīng) ‘s latest eponymous album, released on May 10th. This song is the ending theme song for the popular TV drama Drama Go Go Go (or literally Big Sister Marching Forward) ( 姐姐立正向前走,   J iějie lìzhèng xiàngqiánzǒu). At time of translation, this song has generated 993,903 listens on Xiami.

’I Miss You’ (我好想你,  Wǒ hǎoxiǎng nǐ) is included in Taiwanese indie band sodagreen (苏打绿,    sū dá lǜ) ‘s eponymous album, released on June 17th. The band’s vocalist Wu Qingfeng ( 吴青峰,  Wú Qīngfēng) aka Wu Tsing-Fong said he wrote this song five years ago and experienced an emotional meltdown when recording it. This year, this song was chosen to be the theme song of the movie Tiny Times (小时代,   Xiǎo shídài) directed by Young-adult Fiction writer Guo Jingming (郭敬明,  Guō Jìngmíng). At time of translation, this song has generated 770,516 listens on Xiami.