<h1 class= "pgc-h-arrow-right" > [documentary] behind the classic: Sang Nan and "The True Colors of Soldiers"</h1>
Original
Author: He Shaoquan
"The True Colors of a Soldier"
Shi Shunyi lyrics Sang Nan qu
Famous songwriter Shi Shunyi (first from left), famous composer Sang Nan.
"You don't know me, I'm not lonely, you don't know me, I'm still me, if one day the wind and rain come, the wind and rain will show the true color of my soldiers..."
Whenever I hear the song "The True Colors of Soldiers", I think of the famous composer Sang Nan.
In 1979, he took a group photo with the teachers and students of the 76th Music Class at the Yanbian Art School in Jilin Province. (Second row, second from the left, Sang Nan)
I met Sang Nan in 1992. At that time, I was the chief of staff of the Second Garrison Division of the Chengdu Military Region. In that year, Sang Nan was transferred from the Chengdu Military Region Battle Flag Song and Dance Troupe to our division to train and experience life, and arranged to serve as a major officer in the propaganda section of the division's political department. There were three border defense regiments under the jurisdiction of our sub-district, which were later reorganized into two border defense regiments, and the troops were deployed on the border line of the Red River State, and the main task was to defend the motherland. Honghe Prefecture is located in the south of Yunnan Province, bordering Vietnam, the border line is 848 kilometers long, is one of the main settlements of the Hani and Yi ethnic groups in the country, during the ten years of border self-defense operations, it was the main war zone and important direction, the Red River is a mother river, a heroic river.
1976 Jilin Province Yanbian Art School Music Class Graduation Examination
At that time, Sang Nan was not fat and not thin, capable and handsome, intelligent and talkative, lively and cheerful, was a talented, and correspondence person, at the beginning left a good impression on me, the first impression was really important, he liked to often come to my office to chat, I never felt bored, sometimes walking in the division compound also often got together, although I did not know each other much, but I often met in the organ, plus the Secretary of State had to invest, contact and exchange more, I had more understanding of Sang Nan.
In 1982, when working in the Criminal Investigation Section of the Tumen City Public Security Bureau in Jilin Province, he took a group photo with his comrades-in-arms (the second row, second from the left, Sang Nan).
Born in Shenyang, Liaoning Province, Sang Nan graduated from the music class of Yanbian Art School in Jilin Province in 1979, majoring in violin. From 1980 to 1982, he worked in the Public Security Brigade and the Criminal Investigation Department of the Tumen City Public Security Bureau in Jilin Province, and later studied in the Composition Department of the Shanghai Conservatory of Music and the People's Liberation Army Art College, where he systematically studied and researched music knowledge, which laid a very solid foundation for his later music creation.
In 1980, he took a group photo with his comrades-in-arms while working in the public security brigade of the Tumen City Public Security Bureau in Jilin Province (sang nan in the second row, fourth from the left)
Sang Nan was specially recruited into the army in 1987, and served as a songwriter in the creation room of the Chengdu Military Region Battle Flag Song and Dance Troupe, and on the army's literary and artistic front, it was his duty to be a good soldier, understand the soldiers, and praise the soldiers, and he created a large number of songs that expressed the life of soldiers.
During the period when Sang Nan went to Yunnan for border defense work, China's reform and opening up has entered a new historical period; after ten years of combat, Yunnan border defense has greatly improved its relations with neighboring countries; the border areas have changed from "war" to "peace," the border areas have accelerated the pace of opening up to the outside world, the border defense forces have entered a transitional period from the period of combat to the period of peaceful construction, and the troops are facing the test of a peaceful environment.
In 1994, Sang Nan guided the veterans in the 5th Company of the 5th Border Regiment
After coming to the sub-district, Sang Nan once followed the working group of the organ to the Fifth Border Defense Regiment stationed in Jinping County to guide the veterans in the work of retiring from the army, and witnessed the nostalgia of the veterans for the barracks and their reluctance for military uniforms. When I went to the 4th Border Defense Regiment to investigate, I walked into the "Hero Company" and the "Dong Cunrui-style Combat Hero Li Chengwen" Company and witnessed the dedication and family and country feelings of the officers and men of the border defense; I heard many heroic stories of the heroes who shocked the world and wept ghosts in border operations, and learned that after many battle heroes, they put away their military merit badges, hid their honor certificates, and lived an ordinary life silently. Once, Sang Nan stood on the Silian Mountain, the first position in southern Xinjiang, and looked at the open Hekou City at the foot of the position, where people from both sides came and went, stalls were set up in the streets, and the goods were dazzling, and the former battlefield had become a city that never sleeps with green lights and red lights, and the officers and men who insisted on the Silian Mountain said to him: "The mountains are guarding the cards, counting the tickets under the mountain, the mountains are quiet, and the mountains are noisy all night, but we are still looking into the distance," which made him very moved.
He said to me: Every time he came back from the army, one after another touching things often appeared in front of him, and he wanted to cry.
One day in 1996, Sang Nan took out a collection of lyrics given to him by the famous songwriter Shi Shunyi during the first songwriting seminar in Xi'an in July 1994, and read the same book in a different environment, listening to the same sentence, feeling absolutely different, when Sang Nan read the word "The True Colors of Soldiers" in the book, he immediately touched Sang Nan's heartstrings, remembered the bittersweet and bittersweet and moody sorrow in the military life, remembered what he saw and heard in the border defense troops, Remembering the touching stories of many soldiers, I asked myself: What is a soldier? What is the true color of a soldier? Sang Nan's creative passion burst out...
Sang Nan adopted the folk song style of the Central Plains region, which was widely accepted and loved by the officers and men of the army, and created the song "The True Colors of Soldiers". The song is 4/4 beat, the long tone does not exceed two beats, try to beat it as much as possible, the song style does not exceed the two-part body, and the five-tone scale is biased "fa" and "xi". In addition, work the words and rhymes of the melody, whether it is gentle and beautiful, or heroic and exciting, whether it is a single tone, or a legato, try not to pour a word, catchy, and touch people's hearts. Sang Nan used his heart and emotion to synthesize in one breath and completed the creation of the classic work "The True Colors of Soldiers".
Sangnan
One day, Sang Nan handed me a list of songs, and it was a handwritten manuscript, saying, "You sing." When I looked, the title of the song was called "The True Colors of Heroes" at the time, and later this song was called "The True Colors of Soldiers", which was the first time that Sang Nan gave this song to an unprofessional person to audition. I like to sing since I was a child, but only by virtue of the innate good voice, not very professional, very good at the person, maybe at that time Sang Nan thought it was suitable for me to sing, let alone the friendship between the two of us!
I had been touched by the lyrics of this song "The True Colors of Soldiers" about the voice of the soldiers and the high-pitched, melodious, and affectionate melody, and for two months I held it in my arms and sang it as soon as I had time, as if I were singing it myself. The song is sonorous and powerful, magnificent, simple and unpretentious, full of affection, and dissolves the lofty ideals, heroic spirit and home and country feelings of the soldiers into the song, and every note seems to be stirring the blood in my heart, and I immediately hate myself for not being able to sing this song well. Later, I learned that Yan Weiwen had sung the first song and won the gold medal in the 1997 National Military Song Television Competition held by CCTV, and I really felt regret in my heart.
Soon, Yan Weiwen's singing version was selected as the theme song of the General Political Department of the People's Liberation Army, a large-scale flood-fighting documentary film "Decisive Battle of the Three Rivers", and broadcast on CCTV, which was deeply loved by the officers and men of the troops, and the theme song did not go all the way, and in the city parks across the country, every day there were many citizens and friends who loved singing, spontaneously singing for their own amusement.
Music is the art of time, as long as it has a clear theme, life, passion, energy, coupled with perfect creative techniques, the works written will surely deeply impress the audience and spread widely.
Singing badly does not prevent my love for the song "The True Colors of Soldiers", because this song is first of all my own song, telling my own story, and my military experience has made me have a more direct experience and deeper understanding of the true colors of soldiers. Later, in the more than twenty years of the army, I walked on the Sino-Vietnamese, Sino-Lao, and Sino-Burmese border defense lines, and I always softly sang the song "The True Colors of Soldiers", and every time I sang it, I silently asked myself: What is a revolutionary soldier? What is the true color of a soldier? What is the original intention of a soldier? After retiring, I did not weaken my love for this song, but I understood it more deeply and more profoundly than in the past.
with Li Dezhu, former director of the State Nationalities Commission
When this song was born, it was a peaceful day after the yunnan border defense war, that was the era of chasing stars in society, the years were quiet, but countless people were still carrying weights, and it was fortunate that Sang Nan personally witnessed this process in the border defense.
When my niece was in kindergarten, once from Mengzi to the first-line company of hekou, I once taught her to sing the song "The True Colors of Soldiers", and now my niece has graduated from graduate school and worked in Shanghai, but every time we come back together, we will still talk about learning to sing "The True Colors of Soldiers" when we were young. My grandson, who is already in the fifth grade, listened to me playing the song "The True Colors of Soldiers" and exclaimed, "This song is so good, I want to learn to sing."
In 2018, accompanied by Director Kim Sung-moon (first from right) of Wonju Tourism in Yanbian Korean Autonomous Prefecture, he experienced life at Longjing Biyan Mountain (second from right is Sangnan).
Why does a song resonate so much for three generations? Why is this song so widely disseminated and resonates with people's emotions? This is a question that is difficult to answer in a few words, it truly expresses the spiritual world and soul foundation of contemporary soldiers, its melody is the blood flowing from the bottom of the composer's heart, and it is the awakening of thought and spirit. It is not enough to sing well, and to really understand this song, we really need to walk on the road of enlistment in the army for a lifetime.
Sang Nan (first from left) with the famous music critic Jin Zhaojun (second from left) and the famous composer Meng Weidong (first from right).
Nowadays, we have entered the era of intelligent information, no matter how colorful the creativity is, how advanced the technology is, how fast the dissemination is, how diverse the appreciation is, but the pursuit and reverence of the classics will not change, and the classics that represent the spirit of the times and praise justice will not disappear, because the core values revealed by these classics, whether you personally like it or not, it is a common need in human life and a need to be followed in the process of historical development.
Sang Nan (second from left) with famous writers Meng Weidong and Wang Fulin (first from right).
In 1997, I left the Mengzi Military Subdistrict due to work transfer, and Sang Nan was also transferred back to the Chengdu Military Region Battle Flag Song and Dance Troupe in 1998 as the director of the creative studio, in January 2005 to the Shanghai Armed Police Corps, and in January 2007 to the Song and Dance Troupe Of the Political Department of the Second Artillery Corps. Sang Nan has experienced different services, different troops, different positions, different environments, and he has a deeper and more far-reaching thinking about the life of soldiers, the mission of soldiers, and the meaning of soldiers. He has made amazing achievements along the road to music. His works have participated in various large-scale evenings organized by CCTV, the General Political Department of the People's Liberation Army, the Battle Flag Song and Dance Troupe of the Chengdu Military Region, and the Song and Dance Troupe of the Political Department of the Second Artillery Corps. They also composed music for CCTV's large-scale flood-fighting documentary film "Decisive Battle of The Three Rivers" and the former PLA General Political Department and CCTV's large-scale special series "Pioneers of the Army" dedicated to the 80th anniversary of the founding of the CPC. He has won more than 70 military and national awards such as the First Prize of the Red Star of the Central Organization Department, the "Five One Project Award" of the Central Propaganda Department, the "Wenhua Award" of the Ministry of Culture, the "Golden Eagle Award" of China Television, various awards of the China Musicians Association, the Gold Award of CCTV and the First Prize of literary and artistic creation of the whole army. In particular, the songs "The True Colors of the Soldiers" and "Green Military Uniform" were produced and collected by the "Tribute to the Classics" column of CCTV Channel 4 in 2020. At the same time, the three songs "The True Colors of Soldiers", "Green Military Uniforms" and "Hello Comrades-in-Arms", as classic songs of the military, were selected into the "Innovation Network +" project of the 13th Five-Year Plan of the whole army, which will be permanently preserved as historical materials and included in the third episode of the four-episode large-scale art feature film "Military Song Loud" produced by the PLA News and Communication Center, which will be publicized and broadcast nationwide. It is worth mentioning that these three songs were all composed during his work in the political department of the Mongolian Autonomous Military Sub-district in Yunnan Province.
In 2020, Sang Nan (fourth from left), Li Meiyu, chairman of the Yanbian Literary Association of Jilin Province (fourth from right), vice chairman Xia Guangjiang (second from right), and Black Duck group, were filming the MV scene of the song "Unforgettable Day".
The reason why Sang Nan has created so many popular and popular classic songs throughout the country is because he has always kept up with the pace of the times, rooted in the special position of the military camp, closely followed the hearts of the soldiers, exalted righteousness, praised the times, called for great love, and arranged scattered notes into melodious and beautiful sounds to dedicate to people's hearts.
Famous composer Sang Nan
In the days of leaving Sang Nan, only because of "The True Colors of Soldiers" and he has always been clear in my memory, not long ago, the sky was just dark, the morning light just came from the window, Sang Nan sent me the original version of "The True Colors of Soldiers" with mobile phone WeChat, which is the first time we have been separated for 23 years, it has activated a relationship between me and Sang Nan, the composer of "The True Colors of Soldiers", today, I am telling a true story.
Author: He Shaoquan
<h1 class="pgc-h-arrow-right" > Sangnan's winning works</h1>
Songs: "Hello Comrades-in-Arms", "Wishes for You", "The True Colors of Soldiers" (sung by Yan Weiwen, Wang Li, Tang Fei, and Black Duck Group), "Green Military Uniform" (sung by Geng Weihua and Zhou Wei), "Motherland Auspicious" (sung by Dong Wenhua), "China's Hope" (sung by Zhang Ye), "Mother is My Home" (sung by Li Danyang), "Everything for You", "Welcome the Old Chief to the Old Army" (sung by Lu Jihong), "White Blue Pigeon" (sung by Lei Jia), "Unforgettable Day" (Sung by Park Yinhua and Tong Na), "Everything for You", "Welcome the Old Chief to the Old Army" (sung by Lu Jihong), "White Blue Pigeon" (sung by Lei Jia), "Unforgettable Day" (Sung by Park Yinhua and Tong Na), " Serve the national anthem (sung by Tan Jing), "A Proud Name" (sung by Zhao Jingchun), "This Life Goes with You" (sung by Tong Na), "Hometown of Spring" (sung by Bian Yinghua, sung by Tong Na), "XinTianyou Sings Dongfang Hong Again" (sung by Wang Hongwei), "Silent Song" (sung by Cao Fujia, Maya Jun, Tong Na). Instrumental works violin and piano "Rhyme", symphonic chorus "One Inch of Land", symphonic epic chorus "Long March Forever on the Road".