"You'll wrap your arms around my sleeves, and I'll put my hands in my pants pockets and walk to the end of Yulin Road and sit at the door of the tavern."
The soothing and beautiful melody, simple and clear lyrics, without too much skill and gorgeous words, but it is very graphic, instantly evoking the memories and expectations of the listeners.
In 2017, a song "Chengdu" was popular all over the country, whether it was in the streets and alleys, or buses, or the roadside stereos in shopping malls, different places were playing the same song.
31-year-old Zhao Lei, because of "Chengdu", became popular, the audience praised him, fans are crazy for him, the original folk songs can be so good, so charming.
But after the explosion, Zhao Lei has not been active in the audience's sight, after the wave, he "disappeared", the most recent Weibo, stayed on July 20, 2020, the commercial performance stage can not see his figure, the latest single, or December 19 "Little People".
Let the fans call, he just doesn't come out, is this a retreat?
If you want to explore the reasons for Zhao Lei's disappearance, you have to start from his past.
<h1 class="pgc-h-arrow-right" data-track="56" >, because of a movie on the road to music</h1>
Audiences who have heard Zhao Lei's song must have been touched by a certain lyric, and the reason why he can write so many touching words is because he has traveled many roads, suffered a lot, and experienced too many stories.
Zhao Lei is a native of Beijing, his parents rely on small business for a living, life is not rich, but it is still passable.
Originally, like ordinary children, he went to school every day and played freely during the holidays, and he didn't think about what he would do when he grew up.
One day, he watched a movie called "Brave New World", Wu Bai played a wandering singer in the film, carrying a guitar, walking in the crowded underground passage all day, others saw the heartache, but for the teenager Zhao Lei, he only felt so cool, began to rip open his throat, learn to sing singers on TV.
When he was in high school, Zhao Lei took out the pocket money he had saved for many years and bought the first guitar in his life.
A movie that gave him the dream of becoming a singer, a guitar, let him completely fall into the whirlpool of music, and has not come out since.
In order to pursue his musical dreams, he, like the people in the movie, carried the guitar to the underground passage, playing one song after another with his less skilled hands.
At that time, he didn't think about making money at all, and he had a little money in his pocket and used it to buy kebabs to eat.
This free, carefree, and stress-free life fascinated Zhao Lei, and when the university sent a notice, he did not hesitate to give up, when he was 17 years old.
After singing in the underground passage for a while, he felt that he was not new, so he went to the bar to sing and made more money.
But in the bar is to work for others, everywhere is restricted, the boss said: "If you want to sing, sing Xu Wei Wubai, who will listen to your own songs." ”
Zhao Lei, who was not willing to rely on people's sniffles, once again chose to leave, but this time it was very special and bold, he was going to travel, and he wanted to walk and sing along the way.
<h1 class="pgc-h-arrow-right" data-track="56" > second, the years of "wandering" outside</h1>
The green-skinned train that could not see the end at a glance, station after stop, took Zhao Lei from Beijing to Lhasa, from the hustle and bustle of the city, to the empty and flexible, blue sea and blue sky of the holy land, a flower and a grass, a person and a scene, all let this twenty-year-old boy, let out a sigh.
Here, he meets a group of like-minded wandering singers who gather in a bar, watching the scenery and basking in the sun during the day, and singing in the bar at night, full of blood and vitality.
However, not long after the bloody days passed, the bar was closed and demolished, and several partners who met in Pingshui were separated and disbanded.
It doesn't matter, I can still sing with the guitar in my hand, because he said: Some people can sing, some people have to sing, and I am the latter.
After bidding farewell to the Sky City, Zhao Lei stepped on the train again and came to Chengdu, the rongcheng city that countless people yearn for.
The illuminated night, the quiet tavern, the gentle drizzle, and the Yulin Road full of poetry and fireworks suddenly evoked Zhao Lei's memories, and a pile of past events surged into his heart, writing down our favorite "Chengdu".
Rongcheng's enthusiasm did not stop Zhao Lei's footsteps, he once again took the train, south to the mysterious ancient city of Lijiang, the bridges, the roads paved with red breccia, the historical sense of Sifang Street, Mufu, WufengLou, and Zhao Lei was fascinated, and wrote that period of time into a song.
In addition, Zhao Lei has also been to Shaanxi, Gansu and other places, not only to feel the desert smoke in the north, the vast sea of clouds, but also to see the beautiful mountains and rivers in jiangnan, cooking smoke.
This journey spanning thousands of miles has increased Zhao Lei's insight and made his songs full of artistic conception and stories.
However, the story can not be eaten as a meal, at the end of the trip, he has already spent all his money, want to go to the underground passage to sing and make some money, but is told to queue.
Finally, when he sang, there were not many people around him, only earned the pitiful five yuan, there was really no way, he had to ask his family for help, let them pay the fare, and then he was able to return to Beijing.
Perhaps it was this slightly awkward little thing that made Zhao Lei feel that in pursuit of spiritual freedom, he also had to consider the material of reality, not to mention that he was not small.
<h1 class="pgc-h-arrow-right" data-track="56" >3, from pop red to "disappear", what Zhao Lei experienced</h1>
In 2010, 24-year-old Zhao Lei, signed up to participate in the "Happy Male Voice", he transferred from Changsha Division to Guangzhou Division, all the way through the barriers, and finally reached the top 20 in the country, the joy of victory, let him can't help but shout: "I want to set off a new wave of folk songs." ”
Unfortunately, he was not strong enough at that time, and in the subsequent national round of twelve, he stopped here with a difference in rank.
Probably no one knows, at that time, his mother was seriously ill, and the doctor told Zhao Lei that his condition was critical and could deteriorate at any time, and he was singing on stage under pressure and grief.
In 2011, his mother finally passed away, he wrote "Mother", expressing his inner sorrow and thoughts, and wrote "Painting", showing his yearning for a better life.
The loss of the competition, the departure of his mother, did not overthrow Zhao Lei, he rented a house in the courtyard, borrowed money from friends to buy singing equipment, he had to treat the singing career well, 12 years and 13 years, and a group of friends rode motorcycles, walking through twenty cities, carrying out a vigorous national tour.
In January 2014, he went non-stop to participate in "The Voice of China" and sang "Painting", which was highly praised by Liu Huan, saying that this was the best lyrics I had heard in my time, so beautiful.
However, "Painting" did not make Zhao Lei popular, and he still had to continue to work hard.
In February 2017, Zhao Lei came to the stage of "Singer" with a guitar on his back and sang "Chengdu" quietly and affectionately.
At that time, he really longed for fame, but he did not expect this song to be so popular.
During that time, Zhao Lei did not dare to look at the mobile phone, which was full of telephones and information, advertisers and commercial performance organizers looked forward to the stars and the moon, all wanted him to sing "Chengdu", and even said that the salary was set casually, and people came.
Zhao Lei once said in shock: "Those friends who have not been in contact for many years and have nothing to do with each other suddenly sent messages on WeChat, all kinds of cordial greetings, and caring, as if they were old friends who had not been seen for many years." ”
At the beginning, Zhao Lei's commercial performances and music festivals were not excluded, and they all agreed to go, but after a long time, they were asked to sing "Chengdu" every time, and they were about to sing vomit, was he only this song? He wanted to stop and take a break.
But the organizers of the show, regardless of this, still arranged intensive work for him, singing songs that were repeated many times, and the pressure backlog was too much, and it was inevitable that they would explode.
When he was on tour in Shenyang, the organizers arranged 23 songs for him that night, but only 6 were new songs.
Zhao Lei sang to the middle of the way, can't stand it, he has always been calm and decent, but unexpectedly opened the conversation box, told the fans about his feelings, said that he was in a bad state recently, frankly said that such a mechanical tour continues, not only himself, many singers will be invalidated, at the end, he pointed the spearhead at the organizers, said: "I especially want to talk to them about FUCK." ”
This was probably the most wayward one he had ever had, but if he thought about it carefully, he could understand Zhao Lei's words and deeds.
Whether it is a singer or an actor, who can say that they don't care about fame and fortune at all, and even Park Shu, who has always been considered the most indifferent to fame and fortune, has also said that I am on the show to make money.
But if artists want to go long- and must cherish their feathers, they must not rush forward desperately, nor can they retreat too much, and the degree must be properly grasped.
Out of love for feathers and creation, after the explosion of popularity, Zhao Lei chose to slowly reduce the speed, reduce the performance and reduce exposure, and stay in the house in his spare time, either hoeing grass in the yard, planting flowers, feeling the comfort of "picking chrysanthemums under the eastern fence", or closing the door to create, not smelling the wind and rain outside.
Because he felt: "In fact, musically, if you can be like a cockroach, you can always shout and be happy." ”
From 2003 to 2017, Zhao Lei has been walking outside for 14 years, freedom, finding self is what he wants, fame and fortune will only bind him, life is short, why not live happily and freely?
<h1 class="pgc-h-arrow-right" data-track="56" >4</h1>
After the mother left, the father was Zhao Lei's closest person, the father-son relationship was very close, so good that he often slept in a bed, and every time he went to perform in other places, he had to take his father with him.
Zhao Lei said: "My father is my home, and when the old man is not there for a day, I am not at ease in my heart." ”
Zhao Lei, who "wandered" thousands of miles when he was young, although he had the debauchery of rock people, he also had the warmth of folk songs, and he was a kind and filial piety child in front of his father.
He likes to sing, only to persist all the way to the present, but also after the explosion of popularity, will protect himself, he does not want to repeat all the time, when the traffic consumption is over, will the audience still pay attention to him? Will you remember the name Zhao Lei?
Everything is unknown, after all, the traffic is only temporary, the explosion of popularity may also be cold, only the work, in order to go long.
In the song "Calm Down", he wrote: "I think I should calm down and sleep, I think I should calm down and think about being alone, I want to calm down and forget about those losses, I just want to calm down and reflect on myself." ”
The road ahead is long, there are still many opportunities hidden, and Zhao Lei, who has calmed down, is not to escape anything, but to accumulate thick and thin hair, the future can be expected, I hope that on the stage, I can also see his style.