Does it really matter if you don’t understand the language? There is still much to enjoy in these. I can love Piaf or Aznavour, for example (and do) even if despite allegedly having done French at school I don’t understand every word. And as I remarked on Facebook yesterday: We do need to continue to think of China as rather more than a THEM and political/strategic rival. I am all in favour of not falling into another Cold War (though for many it seems that is too late) let alone, God forbid, a hot one.
OK, Heart-throb #1 — Elvis Wang. Yes, you read that right.
First a ballad about a woman called Chongqing Wild Rose.
I’m back in my city Like a wronged child The hazy drizzle was so unbridled It’s up to me I remember the way you looked The loose hair was wet by the rain The poignant lights were so persistent Tow me in pursuit of your shadow Chongqing Wild Rose Do you fall asleep? I thought about forgetting to forget Still suffering for you Chongqing Wild Rose The beauty of your thorns My tears don’t run out and I don’t hurt Just a little regret
The machine translation surely does not do this justice, but I get the drift. Non, rien de rien/Non je ne regrette rien…
And this is quite a MandoPop classic, A Spray of Plum Blossoms:
True love is like the broad grassland
Winds and rains times and times cannot separate it
Finally clouds will disperse, and the sun shows up
Glowing sunbeams shine on you and me
True love is like plum blossoms blooming
Cold ice and snow cannot cover it up
Just on the coldest branch it blooms
Watching spring comes to you and me
Snowflakes flying / north winds blowing
Heaven and earth are blurred and broad
A branch of plum blossoms in winter / stands proudly in the snow
Just to diffuse fragrance for her
Love whom I love / with no grievance and regret
This feeling for long has been present in my heart
Lovely tune. Mind you, I do note this about young Elvis: “He graduated from Liaoning Arts Vocational College with a major in pop singing and then studied at the Shenyang Conservatory of Music. He is also a youth singer of the Chinese People’s Liberation Army Naval Political Department…”
Heart-throb #2: Timmy Xu. “Xu Weizhou (許魏洲 born October 20, 1994), known internationally as Timmy Xu, is a Chinese actor and singer-songwriter, best known for playing the character Bai Luoyin in the Chinese web series Addicted. He was the first artist to achieve the top spots on the Billboard China V chart and Mandarin chart within the same week. Xu was the first solo artist from mainland China to hold a concert in South Korea, and to be officially invited as a guest to the Billboard Music Awards in 2017.”
This rather angst-ridden song from China, uploaded November 2020 sounds good and the video is very good. Sadly, the English auto translation this time was far too machine-like really to use.
The singer (also a well-known actor) is easy on the eye (Xu featured on the cover of the June/July issue of Elle Men Hong Kong, his third time on the cover of the magazine in three years) and ear.
Neil's Commonplace Book 