Leaving a piece of record for my own days
As a songwriter, I have tried my best to express:
Melding the songs of Taixiang Li, the words of the poets, and the feelings of "me" into a single piece.
In the years of leaping forward: approaching different forms of life from different angles,
and then adding, subtracting, multiplying, and dividing them to shape a most satisfying self:
Something is beautiful in pace, and 'singing' is just a part of life for me,
I used to value it so much,
but in the young Dash, it was really just a gust of wind in the face!
When you command me to sing, it seems that my heart is bursting with pride - Rabindranath Tagore
But I know that in front of you, I should not be just a singer - Qi Yu
Qi Yu
Qi Yu
1979-1918
Biography of Qi Yu
Qi Yu was studying in the Department of Archaeology and Anthropology at National Taiwan University. She was still studying at the Department of Archaeology and Anthropology of National Taiwan University when she won the first prize of the second Golden Rhyme Award organized by Xin Ge Records.
She gives off an indescribable feeling,
saying that she is elegant, quiet and uncontroversial! But inside but has the quality of the original wild exuberance,
She sings the tone, the biggest feature is pure sweet, but not with half a bit of taste,
Style is roughly belong to the lyrical smoothness, like a stream gurgling,
In the steady and quiet slowly diffuse a regal force.
She sings new songs that balance the language of the poem with the music of the song, and
especially captures the lyricism of China without being clichéd.
Qi Yu originally started out singing Western ballads, but because she wasn't bound by the traditional Western academy style of pronunciation,
she was able to directly and naturally incorporate the Western lyrical part of the song, and express the Chinese singing voice and flavor.
Going to the masses, bringing literature to life - seeking his own songs
Lee Tae-hsiang (composer)
When I walk down the street, my heart is heavy. I often have a feeling of bewilderment. It doesn't matter if I'm sitting in a cab, or in a café, or even at home listening to the radio or watching TV. All that flows into my ears are petulant moans, or vulgar Eastern tunes, or else the stale rhythms of Western pop songs.
And what exactly is all this stuff? The vast majority of songs are mostly plagiarized or imitated from the West and the East. So the music lacks its own style, and the lyrics are rarely relevant to our society and our lives. But how can something like this survive in our society? It turns out that most of the popular songs circulating in the market are the result of the music producers of movies or record companies who, in order to promote their products, use various powerful means in the manner of a modern enterprise, including ingenious gimmicks, and intensive publicity in the mass media, or even the effective use of social news. The target audience for these products is mostly the working class or from junior high school to high school level, ranging from thirteen to nineteen years of age. This is evidenced by the knowledge and education level of the singers on TV, radio, and in concert halls.
The problem is that in addition to these target audiences, these music producers seem to ignore the existence of other college students and intellectuals and the possibility of trafficking. By making music a cheap, empty canned good, they're inadvertently relegating society to an even more downtrodden tone. The fact is that a significant percentage of the population seems to be college-educated and above. But because they are unwilling to accept or have grown tired of the low-speed fun, they have fallen into the arms of American country songs, soul music, rock music, and even the latest hits. In fact, the content of these songs is also vulgar, but only unknowingly blinded to a well-packaged.
Is it possible that our society and the masses are so blindly obedient, that there are no popular songs of our own, that there are no movies and popular songs that can be accepted by the intelligentsia and the wider public, and I ask myself, what have I ever done for society? Therefore, I can't hold back any longer. The time has come for musicians to take real action. Musicians can no longer hide in their ivory towers; musicians must also give love and concern to society, serve society, write songs for everyone, songs that are really close to us, and popular songs that express our feelings in our own way without being clichéd. I am determined to go into the masses from my serious musical work, to write with style, to express the most touching and exquisite feelings in our present popular life, to write about the joys and sorrows of the multitude and their feeling for the times, and to blend literature and bring it to the masses and into life through the form of popular songs.
My first step is to express China's inherent folk songs in the form of modern popular songs, in order to extend the life of Chinese folk songs and give them richer and newer meanings, as well as to awaken the people's attention to their own music. The second step of the work is to invite the nation's present-day poets,**** with them to create songs for the masses.
About <Qingmenghu> Rongzi (poet)
"Poetry" and "song" were not separate in the primitive ballad era, but in the "rhymed text era" we already have the "music" of the "Lefu" and the "poetry" of the "non-music"; to the modern society, where the division of labor is precise and everything is professionalized, the poems and the songs have long been separated for their different functions, heading in different directions. In modern society, where the division of labor is sophisticated and everything is specialized, poetry and song have long been separated and developed in different directions due to their different functions - although they are still cousins, with many similarities in appearance, such as: they both use "words" as the medium of creation; and they both attach importance to the "qi yi music nature". It is said that "poetry is the content of harmony", however, from my personal experience of writing for many years, "harmony" is only one of the qualities of modern poetry - it has other more important qualities, and for lyrics, which can be sung as a song, the requirement for "harmony" seems to be particularly stringent. Because the important task of "lyrics" is to appeal to people's sense of hearing, it cannot be independent, but must depend on music (there is no "song" in the world that is only to be seen but not sung). Unlike a poem, which is complete and independent, and which emphasizes "imagery" - painterly, and which tends to dig into the depths of people's spirituality, a poem is far less extensive and less popular than a song that can be sung.
Personally, although I have published ten books of poetry, I have had very little experience of writing songs - the only exception being when I was asked to write the lyrics to the Chinese anthem for the Women's International Zonta Society (WISTS) when it was founded in Taipei more than ten years ago (and sung at every meeting).
The song "Green Dream Lake" is a new song based on a poem I adapted by the famous music composer, Mr. Tai-Cheung Lee, at his "Tradition and Prospect" - New Songs, New Music and Multi-Media Conference in the fall of 1967. It is based on an earlier poem of mine entitled "April", but it has been rewritten and reassembled for music - it is not the prototype of my poem. It only adopts part of the mood of that poem, expressing the life of a young girl, like a boat waiting to set sail, moored in the cool dewy light of the morning, so pure, beautiful and serene; just because the next moment she will face the strange and unknown world, start her moored boat, and glide into the sea of life ...... may be incomparably splendid; but may be The next moment she will be facing the strange and unknown world, launching her moored boat and slipping into the sea of life. Only this moment of her happiness is so crystal sweet, not a little wind and waves, covered with the shade of hope, the future is so wide. What I captured was the feeling and mindset of this moment, and the poem was born.
While this work is not the most unique among my many works, it has been greatly beautified by Mr. Li Taixiang's excellent artistic skills; coupled with Ms. Qi Yu's pure and beautiful voice, it is really an ideal match; it is no wonder that the Xin Ge Company wants to record it as an album, so that more people can enjoy it - this is also the most practical and effective action to enhance and purify the general pop songs! It's also the most practical and effective way to elevate and clean up pop music in general!
Singing with freshness and liveliness, Luo Qing (poet)
In recent years, a spring breeze of self-awareness has been blowing in the domestic music and singing scene. Many young people feel that Chinese people should sing Chinese songs, and Chinese songs must be integrated with the audience and society, reflecting the joys and sorrows of our generation, as well as all the other things and problems that concern us.
In such a climate, the number of amateur composers who play and sing their own songs and who can write their own lyrics and music has gradually increased and become a trend, which, in turn, has improved the quality of singers who can only perform and interpret songs. There was a closer understanding and cooperation between the lyrics, the voice interpreting the lyrics and the performance, so the "sincerity" of the performance was greatly increased, and the emotional distance between the listener and the singer was also shortened a lot.
In the past three to four years, the modern ballad has gradually left its initial stage. As the number of listeners increased and the standard of songwriting improved, the requirements for songwriting gradually became stricter. After composing for some time, many amateur ballad singers have come to realize that talent alone is not enough, and that it is imperative that they strive to enrich their professional knowledge of music. So the demand for rigorously trained talents to join the call of folk song composition, will be from time to time from the four sides of the sound. However, it is one thing to recognize an opinion, but another thing to participate in the action. Few academically trained people have been able to take on songwriting in addition to theoretical criticism, and one of the most notable is the musician Lee Tae-hsiang, who has been working hard on songwriting for the past two years.
Li Taixiang, with his wealth of professional musical knowledge and experience, has been brave enough to intervene in the creation of modern ballads, expanding the scope of folk song activities and injecting fresh blood into modern ballads.
With great perseverance and enthusiasm, he once independently organized two "Tradition and Prospect" music presentations within a year, gathering various talents in music, dance, singing, literature and ...... etc., utilizing a variety of media, and conducting experiments in various aspects. The result is not 100% ideal, but it has brought a brand new weather to the current stage of ballad development.
The emergence of Li Taixiang proves that hard work and experimentation are as important as rigorous training and self-enrichment. If we don't take the first step, we will never know in which direction to take the second step; if we don't exercise ourselves diligently, we won't have the power to turn the rugged path into a smooth and straight avenue. Of course, in view of the present achievements of modern ballads, poor and childish works are everywhere. The only way to overcome this is to gather talents from various fields, to work together as a group, to contribute what they have learned, and to sharpen each other's skills. If we do not unite our efforts, share our knowledge and criticize each other, we will never be able to get rid of the ridicule of "poor and childish" quickly.
I hope that poets and musicians in China, as well as those interested in songwriting and singing, will unite together, regardless of whether they are professionals or amateurs, academics or jaded, to discover good works, sing good works, and then create good works; so that in the future, Chinese people will be able to listen to more songs with a modern Chinese flavor, and to sing more of their own modern Chinese songs.
I collaborated with Li Taixiang on <Star>, <Answer> and other short lyrical songs, hoping to express ordinary hints and great tensions in concise modern vernacular, with a view to fighting against the literary syntax and presenting a new sense of modernity and rhythm.
Yes, the creation of modern ballads is supposed to grasp the feeling and rhythm of modern people. A solemn work should be able to be fresh and move people's ears, and a light work should be able to be lively and touching, so that people's minds are broadened. If the song can have these two elements, it will be loved by the public and spread far and wide.
Let's write songs that are fresh, lively and profoundly touching, and bear witness to ourselves and our times.
Written before the publication of Lee Tae-hsiang's new collection of songs Romain (poet)
Singing is the human voice, reprocessed through music to a more beautiful sound, which not only stimulates people's emotions and joy of life, but also beautifies and sublimates people's feelings, based on this and his personal interest, composer Lee Tae-hsiang, in consideration of the general public's ability to appreciate the principle of the requirements of the art itself, created the popular "Country Song". After composing the popular "folk ballads" and putting them on record, he now uses poets' poems as lyrics for music, and has put together this new collection of songs with a novel style and rich in lyrical and ethereal tones, which is generally characterized by the following features:
(1) Adopting a form that is acceptable to the general public, but with a tone different from that of popular songs, because it has gone through a real and rigorous artistic process, and adopts a more clear and fresh poem for music, with the whole collection being composed in a clear, fresh style. Fresh poetry into the music, completely excluded from the pop song of the stereotypes and its nearly numb and corrupt state, and establish a new singing environment of elegant sound quality and color, vivid rhythm, rhyme and beauty.
(2) The moving tone rhythm and rhyme in the song, even if the listener loves pop songs, can accept and get the pleasure of functional satisfaction, but it does not only stop here, but further enables the listener to rise to the level of the beautification of the feelings and purification of the soul. This is a significant help to save many listeners from sinking into the current pop songs, and is even a kind of spiritual civilization and echo.
(3) The lyrical tone, rhythm, rhyme and form of the song, because of its simple, bright, smooth and beautiful, so it has a universal audibility and susceptibility to different levels of knowledge of the listener's **** song, can really achieve the requirements of elegance and vulgarity **** appreciation, and to facilitate the popularity of the influence and produce good.
(4) The song is sung by Ms. Qi Yu, who studied at the National Taiwan University, because on the one hand, she is gifted with excellent conditions, her voice is loud, distinctive, exquisite, far-reaching, and she has the talent to sing, and on the other hand, because of the true feelings in her heart, she is able to sing out the real feelings; in addition, what is more important, is that her voice has always been very well protected, and is not contaminated by the voices of the variety shows and nightclubs, and is able to remain popular and produce good influence. More importantly, her voice has been well protected from the contamination of "variety" and "nightclub" sounds, and she has been able to maintain the original beautiful cleanliness and pure quality of her voice, which is why she not only sings well, but also sings in an outstandingly touching and mesmerizing way.
(5) Adopting poems into songs is a worthy conception to make singing advance into an ideal way and a good situation. If we can make practical cooperation, the songs will be elevated in style because of the poems, and the poems will be popularized because of the songs, and they will be mutual, which will surely refresh the environment of our singing, and then improve the temperament of our people and beautify the morale of our society.
Album Tracks Olive Tree Green Dream Lake Death of Love (Performance) Answer I Cried in My Dreams Lullaby Hilarity Walking in the Rain The World of Love Premonition Chase and Reunion (Performance) Hilarity (Performance)