My ears have seemingly taken an uncanny route. After “settling down” last year, now I listen to…Mando- and Cantopop. Something that I would never think of some ten years ago.
I regularly listen to these nowadays.
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Leslie Cheung – 當年情 (In the Sentimental Past)
Although I watched A Better Tomorrow [in 2014], I wasn’t interested at its soundtracks back then. Now I listen to this again after watching its sequel, which features this song overlaid with the next song.
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Leslie Cheung – 奔向未來日子 (Will Rush Toward Future Day)
Now this is the best Cantopop song ever. Listening to this makes me feel like listening to a summary of Leslie Cheung’s entire life (although I need to put a disclaimer that I don’t really know his story very much, and I don’t know what this song is about). Plus that scene in the movie.
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Hu Xia – 那些年 (Those Years)
I watched You Are the Apple of My Eye a couple of weeks ago and hint hint: it is a top 5 candidate for this year.
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Eason Chan – K歌之王 (The King of Karaoke)
I have no idea what this song is about—oh let me google it. OK now I know what it is about. I find [two] [links] that tell slightly different translations. Are the Mandarin and Cantonese different? But nonetheless, how funny it is, as I’ve been known to sing melancholic songs…melancholically.
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Wang Jie – 別讓明天的太陽離開我 (Don’t Let Tomorrow’s Sun Leave Me)
Wang Jie and this song embody the late 1980s/early 1990s atmosphere: a clean-shaven man with leather jacket singing a heartbreaking ballad.
Mando- and Cantopop. How many % you’re interested in these songs because of :
– language ?
– lyrics ?
– melody style ?
Hardly the lyrics, as I generally don’t know what they sing (the same goes for Japanese songs). I think it’s usually the atmosphere, the mood that you get after listening to them.
I see…. *pukpuk*