In the days that followed, whenever I saw Zhou Chuanxiong's thin appearance, people would feel an irrepressible sigh.
The former "godfather of love songs", at the age of more than half a hundred, rushed to the third and fourth-tier cities to perform in the cave, which made people feel extremely sad.
He really shouldn't have been buried in the dust like this, but as bystanders, how could we know what Zhou Chuanxiong was thinking in his heart, and only he could understand it.
In July 2004, the 35-year-old Chow Chuan-hung held his first solo concert in Singapore.
He waited too long, too long.
This late concert made Zhou Chuanxiong cry silently at the scene, during which he shed tears three times and sighed with emotion:
"I thought I wouldn't make a record again, until one day, on the streets of a foreign country, I heard a song of my own, and this song was constantly being played in the streets, because this song changed me, because this song made me believe that as long as I persisted, even in the ice and snow, beautiful flowers would blossom." 」
That song is "Dusk", and Zhou Chuanxiong, now 52 years old, faces the dusk not far away, nostalgic for the past, nostalgia for the youth OfJin, and nostalgia for his innocent face.
He watched the crowd's cheap revelry, and in different predicaments, he used his emaciated body to break the fortress of fate and rebuild his inner order again and again.
In this era, he is not worthy.
The name Zhou Chuanxiong, I don't know when, became synonymous with sadness.
Perhaps it began when he stood in the open air, in a third-tier county-level city, where 50-year-old Zhou Chuanxiong stood on a small stage made of red carpets, with unprofessional music equipment at his feet, and a cold-faced crowd of onlookers below.
Zhou Chuanxiong was thin in stature, with a mottled beard all over his vicissitudes, looking distressing.
Almost no one in the audience listened to him sing carefully, just scrambling to hold up his mobile phone and keep pressing the shooting button, as if he was watching the spectacle, afraid of missing something.
No one applauded him except for the hilarity.
Zhou Chuanxiong was wearing a clean white shirt and neat black trousers, and on the background cloth behind him, the four words "Godfather of Love Songs" looked particularly dazzling at this moment.
Zhou Chuanxiong during the commercial performance
The microphone in his hand has a rough and inferior sound, but the voice is still sincere and moving, in order to let everyone see the best side of himself, this middle-aged man sings hard, and everything around him seems to have nothing to do with him.
The noise of the crowd was mixed with soulful singing, and no one knew what was going on inside him.
Zhou Chuanxiong in the dusk, no matter how you look at it, makes people feel miserable.
"Memory is a burst of flowers, we say that no one can forget..."
In 2001, the Taiwanese idol drama "Lavender" was broadcast, and the female protagonist Liang Yixuan, who suffered from congenital heart disease, met the male protagonist Ji Qingchuan when he was a teenager.
"On your twentieth birthday, it's also lavender blooming season, and I'll be back for you."
Liang clutched the lavender bottle tightly in his hand, waiting for the return of love.
The crowd is surging and the two lavender bottles have gone through the transformation of time and the torment of disease, and the pure feelings between each other are still irreplaceable.
The ending of the story is a tragedy, "but I know that some people refuse to go on the day of the occurrence", and the arrangements of the two theme songs of this drama, "Flowers" and "Happy Moments", are all written by Zhou Chuanxiong.
He also made a cameo appearance in it to dig up to Hideyoshi Toshio, a musician of Ji Qingchuan who was hidden by snow, and remembers that in the play, he said to Ji Qingchuan: "Is there no one in your life who deserves your cherishing, listening to your emotionless music is simply a waste of my time." ”
This is the first TV drama work starring Zhou Chuanxiong, and the identity and few lines in the play are now looking back with a strong foreshadowing.
At the time, he was still a few years away from becoming popular with Twilight.
Like most musicians who experienced ups and downs in their youth and talked and laughed after becoming famous, Zhou Chuanxiong's path to music was not easy and sad, with a bitter taste.
In the limited memories of his childhood, his parents would quarrel almost every day, and the sound of chattering quarrels made him feel the warmth of the family at all, only indifference.
Zhou Chuanxiong has loved music since he was a child, which is simply a fantasy in the eyes of his parents, in their view, engaging in art can not be regarded as a livelihood, he was depressed before he died, and he became famous after death, and it was not worth it.
Zhou Chuanxiong and his father when he was a child
In 1985, his mother could no longer stand the cold home, ran away from home, and never returned.
When his father saw this, the machismo in his heart made him feel very faceless, and he also left home, and Zhou Chuanxiong was forced to become a lonely child.
The only thing left for him is a milk name "Xiao Gang", when he was a child, Zhou Chuanxiong loved to cry his nose, and his parents wanted him to be stronger.
He was 16 years old.
Later, "Xiao Gang" also became his well-known stage name. But in the end, Zhou Chuanxiong still became Zhou Chuanxiong.
At that time, Zhou Chuanxiong did not expect that this sudden loss would appear repeatedly in the rest of his life.
Losing the protection of his parents, he became a working student on his own, working on his own to earn tuition. While attending classes, he also used his time to work outside the Taiwan Youth Association in addition to working in the winter and summer vacations.
At a young age, I have tried many industries, porters, decoration workers, waiters, stalls selling earrings... During those days, Zhou Chuanxiong saw all the cold and warm in the world.
Soon, the days turned around.
In 1988, 19-year-old Zhou Chuanxiong participated in the "Taiwan Campus Singing Competition" and was selected as the first batch of candidate members of the Little Tigers with his high-quality voice.
He gave up, Zhou Chuanxiong has always wanted to be a singer-songwriter like Luo Dayou and Li Zongsheng, did not want to take the idol route, he gave up the opportunity to become a member of the Little Tigers.
"Quitting the Tigers is partly because I don't think I'm as good as them, and on the other hand, I think the idol's road won't be that long."
Not long after, the Little Tiger Team composed of Wu Qilong, Su Youpeng and Chen Zhipeng spread across the Taiwan Straits and three places, and the first single "Green Apple Paradise" won the championship list for five consecutive weeks, becoming popular at a very fast speed, and the Little Tigers soon became an idol in Taiwan and even the entire Chinese-speaking region.
Tigers
Such a low-hanging fruit opportunity passed by Zhou Chuanxiong, and he did not feel regret.
"I think I should be persistent. I would ask myself, do I like this or that? At that time I wanted to be a singer-songwriter. ”
The remaining momentum of the Little Tigers is still more than thirty years later, he is really not a smart person, 19-year-old Zhou Chuanxiong turned around and launched his first original single "Dust and Smoke" under the stage name of "Xiao Gang", thus officially entering the music scene.
He sang "Remember last summer under the coconut tree, I carried a heavy guitar away from the old place", pushing open the door of his love song.
You can't imagine how civilized Zhou Chuanxiong was at that age, wearing a clean white shirt, slightly curly hair, no beard on his face, and Sven glasses.
A year later, Xiao Gang released his true debut solo album "Dialogue of Gemini Stars". In the same year, the second album "Finally Learned" was released, the song style was lyrical, very good to listen to, but did not stir up many waves.
Compared with the little tiger team that is red through half the sky, Zhou Chuanxiong, who has just debuted and is highly prolific, has no one to pay attention to, and since it is the path he chose, he has no complaints, and he still continues to immerse himself in creation.
Until 1992, a single "Hasa Yaqi" was sung for a while, which also established Xiao Gang's status as a "singer-songwriter" in the Taiwanese music scene.
"Remember the song I sang for you
The sound of plucking the strings again has become muffled
Wild Wind, please don't cry for me
Such a season is not suitable for a sad mood."
His lyrics do not have flowery words and strange words, they are straightforward and simple, but they are delicate, bringing comfort to many hearts.
At that time, Zhang Xinzhe, who was also popular in the same company, began to serve in the military, so the company customized a development route for Xiao Gang, who also took the love song route: instead of Zhang Xinzhe.
Zhou Chuanxiong, who gave up the opportunity of the members of the Little Tigers, did not refuse this time, and it turned out that he was right.
Xiao Gang caught fire, and even Zhang Xinzhe himself sang his songs while serving in the military.
However, the phrase "stories have beautiful endings, often so unsatisfactory" in the song "Hasa Yaqi", which made Xiao Gang popular, broke his subsequent path.
After his return, Zhang Xinzhe experienced a period of ups and downs, but soon in 1993, because of a song written by Li Zongsheng many years ago, "Love is Like a Tide", it became popular overnight in the streets of China.
After weighing up, the record company decided to re-promote Zhang Xinzhe as the prince of love songs.
The picture on the left is Zhang Xinzhe, and the picture on the right is Zhou Chuanxiong
Xiao Gang knew that the trough of his life was coming, and he had grievances and unwillingness in his heart, and he could only choose to accept it.
The reality is so cruel that there is no way back, and it was not long before the record company decided to hide Xiaogang in order to consolidate the status of Zhang Xinzhe's "Prince of Love Songs".
For a singer-songwriter, snow hiding means the end, Xiao Gang feels despair, but he does not believe in fate, "the songs written can be listened to by no one, I write for myself."
Next, he released three albums in succession, all of which sank into the sea without any echo.
In the following days, Zhou Chuanxiong experienced the biggest trough in his life.
That feeling of helplessness and uncertainty made him feel lonely, or a little embarrassed that he didn't know how to get along with himself.
At the most difficult time, Xiao Gang could only live in his sister's house, and his mood was extremely depressed, he once said: "The real hardship of money can still be endured, but the feeling of sending people under the fence is sad." ”
In the mid-to-late 1990s, the wave of Hong Kong artists seizing the Taiwanese market struck, and Taiwan's local record companies were almost all packaging new idol singers, and there was no room for musicians like Xiao Gang who concentrated on original musicians.
That song "My Heart Is Too Messed Up" became a bitter monologue in his heart during that time.
"It's hard to fall asleep at night, what can be anesthetized."
There are too many emotions to face
My heart is too messed up and I want some blanks
If you understand, let me leave for a while."
After Xiao Gang's record company was acquired, he did not continue to have the opportunity to make records, but chose to go to the United Kingdom to study music and language professionally.
The momentary light of the times never stops for anyone, and when Zhou Chuanxiong returns, the Chinese music scene has undergone earth-shaking changes.
He changed the image of the creamy xiaosheng in the past, the innocent face had more vicissitudes, grew a beard and half-long hair, abandoned the stage name "Xiao Gang", changed back to his real name "Zhou Chuanxiong", and also became a music producer from a singer.
No matter how the outside world changes, Zhou Chuanxiong insists on expressing himself with music, and during the time when he first became a producer, he still suffered from nostalgia and did not encounter, and the songs he wrote were rejected by major record companies.
Around the turn of the millennium, people's hearts were restless, and almost no one was willing to stop and seriously feel the loneliness and story in his songs.
Someone advised him to give up and find another way to make a living, but Zhou Chuanxiong showed a bitter smile and did not respond.
The turnaround occurred on the eve of the arrival of the 21st century, and one day, Fumao Records approached Zhou Chuanxiong and hoped that he could produce a transformation song for singer Zhang Kefan.
He was overjoyed, seized this hard-won opportunity, and spent half a year to produce "Lonely Bombing".
Zhang Kefan
As soon as this song was released, it became popular, Zhang Kefan successfully transformed, and also allowed Zhou Chuanxiong, who was in a desperate situation, to find confidence.
For a while, almost everyone was asking:
Who is Zhou Chuanxiong?
"Lonely Bombing" is just the beginning, Zhou Chuanxiong has become a famous online producer, and the songs he writes are lyrical and warm, deeply rooted in people's hearts, and extremely highly sung.
Zhou Chuanxiong's era is coming.
Chen Huilin and Zhou Chuanxiong
Later, there was "Notepad", "Betrayal", "Is there a song that reminds you of me", "Autumn Sea"...
A song "Betrayal" directly opened na Ying's mainland market, beating Faye Wong's "Fable" to win the Golden Melody Award for Best Female Singer.
Zhou Chuanxiong and Na Ying
That "Notepad" made Chen Huilin's career to a higher level, and the song was extremely popular, and it was successively covered by foreign singers into various language versions.
Some fans once said:
"Those lyrics of his, those tunes can really penetrate deep into people's hearts, especially at night when they are quietly listened to alone. The kind of heart that was knotted in his heart and could not be told to others was guessed by his singing, touching the softest corner of his heart. ”
Even today, twenty years later, these works are still entrenched in the major gold song charts, irreplaceable.
These songs serve as containers for Zhou Chuanxiong's thoughts, precipitating his deepest emotions.
He said: "Since my debut, I have prided myself on being a creator, recording every wonderful moment of my life. My lifelong ambition is to leave ten songs in my career that I can still sing in 50 years."
From singer to music producer, he has walked this path for nearly a decade.
Looking back on the road when he came, Zhou Chuanxiong felt bitter.
In 2001, as a music producer, Zhou Chuanxiong came to the mainland to help Manchu Wenjun produce the album "I Need You".
He walked through the unfamiliar streets of Beijing, and every few steps he heard his own "Dusk", "still remembering to say goodbye from your mouth as resolute as iron, and there is an illusion of scorching the sun in the darkness."
Zhou Chuanxiong felt trembling all over his body, and he had the illusion of being in another world.
Listening to the "Dusk" coming out of the streets and alleys, the people of the whole city seem to be crying silently, watching the best sold by the video store is his own pirated album, his heart is full of mixed feelings, but also some touched.
Fate makes people's hearts and minds, but Zhou Chuanxiong said:
"When I first started out, I didn't know I could make music, and I even thought it would be nice to be able to play the piano and sing in a bar. So now, as long as you can make music. ”
Without a hint of hesitation, he actively and decisively regained his identity as a singer, with a sense of tragic rebirth.
After that, there are many classics "Lonely Sandbank Cold", "Closed Windows", "Men's Ocean"...
"The wind on the river is blowing recklessly and desperately, stirring up tears for no reason..."
These songs make the image of Zhou Chuanxiong's "godfather of love songs" completely stand, his voice is as clean as glass, and it has the vicissitudes of autumn leaves, and this hoarse voice has its own sense of narrative.
In July 2004, Chow held his first solo concert in Singapore.
"Hey, have you ever had a dream? Or I have lost my dreams, I have but also been shattered, from playing college students in the orchestra, to the xiaogang period, to the writing and production of songs, I thought I would not make records again, until one day, in the streets of a foreign country, I heard a song of my own, this song is constantly played in the streets, because this song has changed me, because this song makes me believe that as long as I persist, even in the ice and snow, beautiful flowers will blossom."
The song that saves him is "Twilight."
"The night will be dark again."
Still remember to say goodbye from your mouth as firm as iron
There is an illusion of the scorching sun in the darkness."
The lyrics have a strong sense of picture, the melody is sad, and the delicate voice of Zhou Chuanxiong is touching.
This year, he was 35 years old.
Zhou Chuanxiong was facing the window of the northwest in the cold winter, and he looked at the audience who came for him under the stage, with tears in his eyes.
He thought he was really going to see the light this time, but the light of dusk was never short.
The script of fate is never merciless.
In 2014, 45-year-old Zhou Chuanxiong was diagnosed with a stomach helicobacter pylori seriously exceeded the standard, a height of 1 meter 78, due to the torture of illness, instantly lost to 40 kg, the whole person is as thin as wood, singing is also more than heart and lack of strength.
In order to prevent the disease from worsening, he was forced to withdraw painfully.
Skinny Zhou Chuanxiong
There was a lot of talk in the outside world, some people said that he was addicted to drugs, some people said that he was willing to degenerate... All kinds of slanderous voices surged involuntarily.
After the comeback again, the Chinese music scene has become a vicissitude, and things are not human.
Countless new generation singers have made their debuts, making many older generation musicians feel cramped and difficult to survive in the cracks of the times, and Zhou Chuanxiong is no exception, and his popularity continues to decline.
Zhou Chuanxiong, who was suffering from diseases, once lost nearly 40 pounds, and his body was like a piece of paper.
In one video after another, he looks emaciated and haggard, the only constant is the sincere singing, he has just recovered from a serious illness, but he is still singing with deep affection, which is painful.
There are even people who once heard the singing of Zhou Chuanxiong next door in the community, "Hearing him sing live at home, it feels very wonderful, and there are some emotions."
The former "godfather of love songs", at the age of more than half a hundred years old, in the third and fourth-tier cities to perform the cave, let people feel extremely sad.
Zhou Chuanxiong, 52, embarked on "The Voice of Heaven" this year, and he is one of the most talked about players.
Wearing a white shirt, he has aroused the memories of many people and caused a lot of controversy. The 23-year-old Meng Meiqi sat on the "mentor chair", even if she remained silent the whole time, she was also pushed to the cusp of public opinion.
The most disturbing thing is that when Hu Yanbin, Zhang Shaohan, Tao Zhe and others praised Zhou Chuanxiong for a round, it was he who eliminated him.
Zhou Chuanxiong finished singing "I'm Sad" and left in disgrace.
The back of his departure humiliated everyone present, and some people said that such an arrangement and a well-set ending unveiled the fig leaf of the Chinese music scene.
In the face of capital and flow, good works become worthless. Times are sloppy, and no one cares about people who make music with their heart.
As a result, as the music industry becomes more developed, we can hear less and less good music. First-class musicians, first-class recording equipment, first-class production team, diversified to explosive publicity channels... All of this is gone; the only thing that is lacking is a first-class original.
Zhou Chuanxiong returned and soon left the long-lost stage, some people felt resentful, some people were sentimental about this musician who had influenced a generation, and lamented that his life was not timely.
In the complex entertainment industry, Zhou Chuanxiong has been creating from the sidelines, but no matter how he looks at it, it makes people feel lonely, just like what he wrote in his song:
"The wind and frost that cannot be repaired over the years seem to be particularly desolate, and when the wind comes, it stirs up the sorrows of the past, like the cheap carnival of the whole season ..."
Zhou Chuanxiong tries to fight against fate through music, and the process is long and satisfying.
His life is full of ups and downs, as illusory as NanKe's dream, true and false, and some praise is nothing but empty talk in the end.
Some people once said that Zhou Chuanxiong is a pearl of our time, he himself is so low-key, never rely on the manufacture of gossip, has been silently making his own music.
After suffering the hammer of life again and again, his smile retained an innate warmth and a little more trepidation.
In 2020, also on such a day in the early autumn of September, Zhou Chuanxiong released a new song "Fearless Teenager".
"Look up at a few pieces of story roots
It's going to be tears or laughter
The whole city was turned upside down
In the blink of an eye, the scars were healed."
Zhou Chuanxiong's inspiration for the creation of this song is "Zhuangzi", in an instant a cloud floats in front of his eyes, I don't know how many thousands of miles, only to see the wind blowing back to the past.
The years always continue unabated, the 52-year-old is no longer a teenager, he can only miss the past in his own songs, miss the youth Jin, miss his innocent face.
This man breaks the fortress of fate with his emaciated body in different difficulties and feels the situation of life. In the eyes of others, Zhou Chuanxiong, who is always frustrated in life, is rich and comfortable in his heart, and he rebuilds his inner order again and again.
The world is in the fog, Zhou Chuanxiong is struggling, people are sighing, the music world has failed him, he has never failed the music.
Perhaps, it is this era that does not deserve him.