Almost everyone has an unforgettable Cantonese song in their hearts. Whether it is brother Leslie Cheung, Beyond Wong Ka Kui, or Eason Chan... Fans regardless of region, regardless of whether they understand Cantonese or not, they will always be chanted deeply or singly, or chanted, or melodiously. And, touch the string deep in my heart.
Appreciating a language that one is not familiar with, and enjoying it as a sweetheart, is a wonderful cultural phenomenon. Some fans who have this feeling are still in their youth, and some are already parents. So, from Xu Guanjie, Luo Wen, Huang Zhan to the current rising stars in the music world, how can Cantonese songs sing what we think?
01
A bowl of rice and white rice
This is not a poem, but contains endless meaning of folk literature expression, is the portrayal of the birth of Cantonese songs in the 70s. The
documentary "Fishing Songs on the Shore" records black-and-white images of fishermen singing fishermen in the 1950s and 1960s:
a bowl of rice is white and white, biting the wick and biting the sugar; the people in the Bay are full of food, and the newcomers are full. To form a pair... the contrast between the shore and the space of the ship in the
movie, the narrow distance on the ship brings trust and intimacy, and the secretly proud love is filled with sorrow and joy, which makes "a bowl of rice white" become meaningless.
The three characters "white and boundless", like the verses in the "Book of Songs", contain the most everyday things, and trigger many imaginations about impermanence. Coupled with birth, old age, sickness and death, you will feel that this bowl of rice contains a lot.
In the early 1970s, after Hong Kong experienced disasters, the tenacious Hong Kong people quickly recovered the economy. A conscious, self-reliant and self-reliant "spiritual of the common people" rose from the hearts of ordinary citizens, and a new group of local musicians in Hong Kong rose. Started music creation in Cantonese.
"The First Generation of God of Singers" Xu Guanjie, after the band sang English songs for eight years, in 1974, he sang the Cantonese theme song and episode "Ghost and Horse Twin Stars" and "Double Star Love Song" for the film directed by her brother Xu Guanwen. Here comes a groundbreaking sensation in the history of Cantonese pop music.
He uses a straightforward, fluent, most natural and pure way to express the daily life full of Cantonese slang. The locals at that time just talked and lived like this. These city life songs, in the midst of laughter and scolding, portrayed and portrayed the sorrows of the civil class in detail.
Hong Kong movie "Working Rhapsody" stills
Most of the first generation musicians were born in the grassroots, and what they wrote was also about daily life experience and simple emotions. Feeling and righteous, sing while scolding, laugh at and pity, and feel at ease. This spirit is like gold for the people in the Cantonese-speaking areas that have always focused on secular life.
Since then, in the singing of "talents made in heaven, all have their uses. Flying high, no need to be in a dream", batch after batch of musicians have come under the Lion Rock, creating the glorious years of Cantonese songs .
02
There is you and me, there is love, there is life and death, there is righteousness
The new wave of Hong Kong movies in the late 70s and early 80s changed the pattern of Hong Kong films and laid the foundation for the heyday of Hong Kong movies for two decades.
At that time, Hong Kong-produced martial arts films and Jianghu films were developing rapidly. Even for the drama of urban romance, in order to watch the film, one or two fire-fighting shootouts had to be added at the end of the film. The Cantonese songs in the 1980s mostly displayed a strong rivers and lakes color, "I have love for you, life and death have meaning". The paranoia of affection has become a classic motif of Cantonese song creation.
1980 version of "Shanghai Beach" stills
Lu Guozhan, who won the lifelong achievement of the Hong Kong Composers and Writers Association, worked for TVB for many years and wrote theme songs for many TV dramas, especially martial arts films. In 1981, he composed the theme song for "Heroes Huo Yuanjia". "The Great Wall will never fall, the Yellow River for thousands of miles is surging; the country is beautiful, and the colorful peaks and ridges are beautiful. Ask my country which is like a disease?" The full-fledged singing voice and the masculine and mighty lyrics have inspired a strong sense of national pride for generations. .
and Gu Jiahui also called Huang Zhan "Huang Zhan". His influence has long surpassed popular music and has become a label of the times. The melody of "Men should be self-improvement" is based on the ancient folk song "General Order" in Guangdong. "Arrogant and arrogant laughs in thousands of waves, blood and hot like red sunlight" has become the endorsement of male masculinity; "The Great Wall of the Yangtze River, Huangshan and Yellow River, in My heart is heavy." And "My Chinese Heart", a Hong Kong singer in 1984Zhang Mingmin sang this song in the Spring Evening, and even to some extent promoted the ice-breaking of the relationship between the two places, which aroused strong resonance from the audience in front of the TV.
Huang Zhan
"Together with you in the miserable wind and rain, with the stars and the moon, and with you for a thousand miles of life. With you flying in the barren land, with you exiled in the wind, the sand is rolling, I would like to cherish each other." Zhou Yaohui's words always express the meaning of the young man. , Revealing a commotion chased by the times.
Life is quite different. The listeners fall from the whimsical world of these songs into the normal mainstream society. They feel tired and discouraged when encountering difficulties on the road of struggle, but they still have a good look when they hear "love, life and death." Feiyang, in the most decadent and sad time, has a youthful spirit. Each beat of
03
testifies to this era.
Malaysian singer Huang Mingzhi and Lu Qiaoyin jointly released a new song "Sing Cantonese Songs", concatenating more than 40 Cantonese golden tunes, a panoramic review of the 1990s-the golden age of Hong Kong Music.
"I remember that aunt and aunt back then, she loved the best songs. The language spoken by the people in the border was called Guangdong. Aaron Kwok danced with me, and Jacky Cheung accompanied me to lose. Wah Tsai taught me how to take a motorcycle and take my daughter, and Liming downed Disco. The four most Chok in the class are the four kings. The hair is adjusted to the Hornan pheasant, which is prestigious."
At this time, the maturity of Cantonese songs brought carnival prosperity, and the selection of materials was from traditional love and chivalry. Move to a wider space and make more sounds.
Ye Qianwen's "Treasure" describes the feelings of a woman who wants to leave her lover and go abroad. "Where is I still eagerly caring about you, I miss you for the endless long night." Singing the protagonist's nostalgia for lovers and imagination of the future.
In 2015, the film "Old Friends of Mountains and Rivers" directed by Jia Zhangke used "Treasure" as one of the episodes of
Beyond's "Lover". It opens with "I hope you will not cry for me again in secret". It is a melancholy image. The voice of the Lord speaks of the love of giving and forbearing the love of love, understanding and tolerance with each other.
"How many changes in the spring and autumn, how many rugged and unchanging love, how sad you are in the crowd." The emotional atmosphere it creates has crossed the ages, and listeners of different time and space can find their own ways of interpretation. The deep affection and sorrow are combined, making the love in the song chaotic and charming.
Although the spotlight of the great age cannot shine on everyone, it is precisely because of the existence of these songs that the sorrows, joys and sorrows of ordinary people can be paid attention and expressed. The cliché story of
Beyond
is no longer heard, but the bits and pieces recorded in Cantonese songs have become a subtle little witness in this rapidly changing era. A generation of people re-examined themselves and recognized themselves.
04
The sunset is infinitely good
Now I ask the listeners in the mainland, what is the first impression of the "Cantonese song"? The most frequently heard answer is Leslie Cheung or Wong Ka Kui, familiar Cantonese songs such as "Shanghai Beach" and "Red Sun". There is no doubt that these musicians have contributed to the promotion of Cantonese songs.
But a new question also arises: Can Cantonese songs really decline? Since
entered the 2000s, after the "four kings" trend, the sales volume of the recording industry has fallen sharply than in the past. It seems that there has never been a "phenomenal" Cantonese song, or the pomp when the drama was broadcast. The recording industry of
is just a miniature of the times. The so-called that the present is not as good as the past is nothing more than a commercial calculation. In terms of content, the selectivity of fans is higher than before. The golden age is gone, and with it comes the brilliance of the music genre. While
is used to hearing "Don't cry and be sad, let alone give up", I also heard the depression of "learning to offer the wreath after it is covered, and some battles can't be fought with all strength".
We can appreciate the pure love affair "When you were six years old, you were already my idol", and we can also see the ordinary love "If you like weirdos, in fact I am beautiful"; "People are worth a few seconds less hits, buy one more "Only Watch" "Tourbillon" makes people realize that time is precious...
These carefully made songs more than ten years ago, even if I listen to them now, they are still deeply touched. They transcended time and gained recognition in a broader sense. The era of "one song, one life, loyalty to the end" has passed, but the Cantonese songAltar has ushered in a broader development prospect. Some plots in the movie "Sewing Machine Band" show a group of northeastern rock youths' remembrance and remembrance of Hong Kong rock and roll. The final ending of "The Sunset is Infinitely Good" may be able to confirm the current development of Cantonese songs:
There are many scenery, the sunset Ordinary things. However, what I see every day is never similar.
Cantonese songs developed from folk verbal expressions. With the efforts of generations, a delicate balance between popular and classic has been achieved. No matter when and where you listen, you will have the familiarity and resonance of "the situation has changed and the feelings have not changed".
This is because the Cantonese song has penetrated into our lives. It may be hidden in the eyes of a passing cat, in the grass, in the arms of a white rice fish that has dived in the sea.
