preface
Hong Kong pop music has influenced the growth of generations, and "listening to pop songs" was also the biggest entertainment for young people at that time. Because Hong Kong music is delicate and direct in expression, some songs are very suitable for the life of listeners in private contexts, so many Hong Kong music fans also bury memories related to songs when they listen to songs. The relationship between stars and Hong Kong music is also the same, in the Beijing News interview with Li Wei, Yang Qianwei, Leung HanWen, Lin Xiaofeng, Yan Mingxi, Zeng Bit, Chen Shaoqi, Chen Guangrong, several creators, they said that at least one Hong Kong pop song in their lives has a profound impact on themselves. Some of these songs have witnessed the lives of themselves and their loved ones, and some have influenced their subsequent creations... In their memories with Hong Kong Le, we can also feel the unique vitality of Hong Kong Le again.
When the Wind Rises Again is included on the 1989 album Final Encounter.
Song Selection: "When the Wind Rises Again"
Original singer: Zhang Guorong
Lyricist: Chen Shaoqi
Composer: Zhang Guorong
"'May I be greeted with warm applause' Every time I listen, I am heartbroken."
Chen Shaoqi, the lyricist of "When the Wind Rises Again". Courtesy of respondents
[Memories] That Hong Kong music
Every time I listen to "When the Wind Rises Again", I feel sad
If you have to ask Chen Shaoqi to choose one of his favorite And most far-reaching Hong Kong music songs, the answer is probably insoluble, "This question is too difficult, I can only say that every stage has it." "He has written more than 3,000 songs and supervised countless golden songs, from "Song of the Sunset" and "This Winter Is No Longer Cold" to "When the Wind Rises Again" and "Flying Flowers", Chen Shaoqi has witnessed the ups and downs of the Hong Kong music scene in the past three decades of music production. Chen Shaoqi has been a great artist for many years, he has served as a music producer, concert director, and micro-film producer, witnessing countless singers from lonely and unknown to becoming extremely popular, and also expressing their sincerity to music at every stage of development in the music world.
There is a lyric in "When the Wind Rises Again", "When the wind rises again, silently this heart no longer cares about and gallops", this golden song sung by Zhang Guorong, expressing the attitude of no longer calculating and being indifferent to life, was compared to his "regret" by Chen Shaoqi, he said, "Many times when I hear this song, I miss my brother (Zhang Guorong's nickname), every April 1st, this song will be constantly replayed, and every time it is broadcast, it is mixed with my inner regret for his death."
Time pulled back to 1989, out of boredom with the entertainment industry, Zhang Guorong, who was at the peak of his career at the time, wanted to choose to retire. One night, Chen Shaoqi, Zhang Guorong, and Li Xiaotian (Zhang Guorong's producer) had dinner together, zhang Guorong proposed to create a song tailored for his retirement concert, Chen Shaoqi told Zhang Guorong, "Since your famous song is "The Wind Continues to Blow", then I write a song called "When the Wind Rises Again", so that when the wind rises again, your fans can think of you. This proposal made Zhang Guorong agree, and he said "good." Chen Shaoqi recalled that in less than five minutes, Zhang Guorong hummed the tune of this song, Li Xiaotian immediately took a pen and paper, composed the Jane he hummed, and took a copy to arrange the song after writing, chen Shaoqi took the simplified score home to write the lyrics: "Generally before writing the lyrics, I have melodic samples, but this song has nothing, I write according to Jane." My brother has come all the way, all the struggle process I understand, we go on tour together, go on a tour, are very good friends. But I never expected my brother to leave us when I wrote this song, and the song later fermented as a way for fans to mourn him. I remember that on the day of his funeral, when the hearse drove out of the spiritual hall, everyone would use this song to bid him farewell. Every time I listen to this song, I will think of the scene where the fans are crying and clapping at the same time, and every time I am heartbroken. ”
Chen Shaoqi has always been a person of great affection and righteousness, and the reason why "When the Wind Rises Again" is called "double regret" by him, in addition to the regret for Zhang Guorong, there is also the commemoration of Chen Baiqiang, and later Chen Baiqiang also sang this song, he found that these two people were gone, and he was extremely sorry. Including the "Sunset Song" filled in by Chen Shaoqi, which is also the last song sung by Mei Yanfang at the last concert of her life, Mei Yanfang wore a wedding dress to "marry" music, singing about life, all of which was seen by Chen Shaoqi and moved in her heart: "Later, I chose to go north to continue the music road, in large part because they left one after another, this matter hit me very hard, and I am also very clear that the 'spotlight' has gradually moved north." If I continue to do it in Hong Kong, one is that I will be sad, and the other is that it is difficult to wait for my second brother in Hong Kong, I want to change the environment to continue to make music, with the thought of my friends, continue to chase music, and leave traces in the mainland music market. ”
On April 1, 2020, Chen Shaoqi posted a photo of her former memory of her friend Zhang Guorong.
[In the local] music scene at that time
——Singers of that era were willing to do everything for their careers
Probably because of talent, Chen Shaoqi recalled that when he was seven or eight years old, he would write lyrics, without any training, nor did he deliberately complete the task, he would never treat filling in words as a job, there was no motivation to make money, he was "like it himself": "Not modestly summarizing my relationship with lyrics, probably 'innate'." From the beginning I had a creative ability. Writing words requires musicality, for example, I hear a melody and decide what theme to write, in this subject, I know very well which words to put in, which beat is heavy, which word to use, which word is suitable to rhyme. ”
Chen Shaoqi has written about love, family affection, friendship, true love, lost love, depicted scenery, daily life, thousands of songs tell the world, ask him where the inspiration and material come from, he smiled and replied that he is a "person who often betrays friends": "Many people tell me stories, I may be the first time to 'betray' his life (laughs). Everyone has a lot of life experiences and realizations, such as you telling me the story of your breakup, I think a little bit of it will be written the next day, that is, it is very good at converting life materials into lyrics. Writing words requires a high level of generalization ability, you have to use 150 to 200 words to tell the story, tell the truth of life, emotional pain, this is not nonsense. ”
In the 1980s, Chen Shaoqi entered the industry, when the stars of the Hong Kong music scene shone brightly, and Xu Guanjie, Zheng Guojiang, Lin Zhenqiang and other predecessors dominated the word world. Chen Shaoqi was not "intimidated" by strong pressure, but decided to stick to his own style and "create (create) a way". He insists on the precision of the lyrics and the sense of picture of the creation, and has written a lot of unique golden songs, in this process, Chen Shaoqi has also become a lifelong friend with many singers, he understands them, helps them, tailors many suitable songs for them, and jointly casts the prosperous music era.
In 2021, Chen Shaoqi was invited to participate in the exchange meeting of the movie "Mei Yanfang", and he posted, "That year, I wrote the theme song "Sunset Song" for her "Hero Nature 3", when I was 24 years old. I don't expect people to understand how I feel when I sit in the first row of the Red Pavilion 14 years from now, watching her wear the wedding dress she prepared for herself but ultimately not using, and singing the last song of her life. ”
In Chen Shaoqi's view, the reason why these singers are respected by everyone, both in their personality and works, lies in their acting attitude, willing to endure hardships, willing to do everything for their careers, and these efforts make them have super high quality that will never go out of style: "Zhang Guorong, Mei Yanfang, Tan Yonglin, Jacky Cheung, etc., they have all suffered a lot to succeed." In that era, they simply did not have the conditions now, for example, now a singer debuts in a company to market him, there are special cars, assistants, makeup artists and a bunch of people to take care of, the singers of that era have nothing, may have to go to work during the day, sing in the night at night to make some money, in the fierce competition in a medium opportunity to stand out. I remember that in the 1980s, Zhang Guorong was already very popular, but the tour could not bring an assistant, and a director at that time went to the backstage of the American concert venue to visit the class, and saw Zhang Guorong himself ironing clothes there, and the costume modeling was arranged by himself. Being a singer is really not a simple thing, at that time there was no high-tech to help you tune and repair the sound, thousands of spectators waited, and when there was no microphone, you also had to sing by yourself, singing clearly to everyone. I think that the current conditions are too good to spoil a singer, which is not OK. The spirit of hardship and dedication needs to be inherited, and like them, any problem can be carried by themselves and can be solved by themselves. ”
[Symbiosis] and now Hong Kong music
- There is no decline, Hong Kong musicians are still insisting on creating
To this day, Chen Shaoqi continues to create, not only many works have been "renovated" and adapted by the popular program "Sound and Endless", but also continue to create highly sung songs such as the theme song "Before" celebrating the 25th anniversary of Hong Kong's return to The Motherland, which brings a new atmosphere to today's music scene and also witnesses the lyricist's strength whenever and wherever he is.
In life, Chen Shaoqi is also a photographer, painter, model enthusiast, he has a wide range of interests, unlimited vitality, can achieve a good song in any environment, but also actively promote newcomers to contribute to the music world: "Creation is as logical as painting and modeling. Over the years, many people have asked me how this song came to be, such as painting, you need to compose, and the same is true for writing songs. When I write lyrics, I usually construct the theme first, find the motivation for creation and then do the copywriting, regardless of the number of words, regardless of rhyme, to find the soul of the song to create naturally. If you always write a second sentence of 'holding back', the song has no soul and attraction, why write lyrics? [Laughs]"
Chen Shaoqi's daily painting practice.
Chen Shaoqi has been creating all his life, he has a deep affection for Hong Kong Music, and he also hopes that the new generation of creators can continue the glory of Hong Kong Music, and he wants to generously share his experience with the new generation of creators. Chen Shaoqi said that she was a lucky person who could have the talent and creative opportunities to fill in words. When countless honors are added, he still soberly realizes that creation must be a good song that is loyal to music, not a fast food culture that caters to the market and capital profits: "For so many years, I have insisted on making works, not commodities. I remember when I first came to Beijing in 2005, the cremation was very hot, and everyone told me that the CRBT only needed ten seconds, and used ten seconds to catch people's eyes, and you could make a lot of money by writing these, but in my opinion these are more like fast-selling products. I do the work, and the audience needs the work, so I will insist on making the pieces that can really stay. ”
Over the years, many commentators have described the Hong Kong music scene as "depressed", especially "Hong Kong music is difficult to return to the glory of that year" and "Hong Kong music is in decline". Chan does not agree with this statement, he believes that Hong Kong music has never been impossible, but the spotlight has moved to other markets after the millennium, but people who like music and work hard to make music still insist: "The reason why Hong Kong pop music was so brilliant in the 1980s and 1990s was because we started early, so it can radiate to the whole country, and even a generation of singers are popular all over the world." Later, the music scene is developing everywhere, and the music that everyone focuses on is different, which may make people feel that 'no one listens to Hong Kong music', but Hong Kong has never left the stage, and Hong Kong musicians are still insisting on creating. We can't control the market, and it's difficult to open up the audience, but we can be responsible for the work, and how many people listen to it has nothing to do with the quality of the work. Similarly, there are a lot of popular songs, all of which are not of good quality. ”
Beijing News reporter Zhou Huixiaowan
Edited by Tian Kaini
Proofread by Wu Xingfa