中文金曲推荐
Chinese Songs I enjoy a lot. Some in Cantonese some in mandarin. Introduction to be followed. Keep in mind that I don’t listen to Chinese songs very often, so… I’m really not the best people to make recommendations music-wise. I do find listening to the language you want to learn very helpful though.
I hope you enjoy some of them.
This is from my favorite choir (based in Shanghai). They had some really hilarious productions. This one talks about overwork culture from the point of view of someone who’s exhausted from work.
And this one is a commedy piece （小品）. (It does have an English subtitle if you turn it on). A bit of context that would make you understand some of the humor: Wujiaochang/五角场 is in the Yangpu District (Guoding Road is also in this district), and is very far from Minghang District (where I grew up!). It’s basically from the north eastern northern part to the south western part of Shanghai. Eastern China Normal University locates somewhere very far from the city center too. It’s still an extravagent way of complaining about the matter because Shanghai is really not that huge… but it’s a commedy piece.
In case you are interested in how I feel every once in a while reading all the news about the country I come from. Just kidding. It refers to a tragic event of bombings in Shijiazhuang on March 16, 2001. The mood in the song also responds to the sense of disillusion in the North East region of China after privatization of state-owned enterprises (as part of market reform started in 1970s), which resulted in stagnation in the area which they still haven’t escaped from today. (In mandarin)
This one surely has a lot of satirical political references, which prevent the songwriter from having any works available in mainland China. Not necessarily my favorite song but surely an interesting work. (In mandarin, but probably Malaysian Chinese, and I can’t really tell much differences)
Related to 1989 Tian’anmen square mascare, which effectively makes them banned in China. I do think they are trying to explore the “oriental” style in the track, but I’m not that familiar with music genres in general. (In Cantonese)
This one is about HK… I do like the structure of the song as a math nerd lol (in Cantonese)
Isabelle Huang certainly has a special talent. I think this song follows this very popular genre of retro classic (古风). Usually I don’t like it, but this one might be an exception. The opening lines are from a classical poem 静夜思, which expresses nostalgia with the motif of moon. (In mandarin)
A little on the context: in the news report of sexual violence and crime victims, “小娟” is widely use as a seudo-name. While this act is to protect the family’s feelings, the frequency of this name is shockingly high, and slut-shaming is still very wide-spread.
I would include the full album here, because I like all of them. (besides one in Taiwanese, all the others are in mandarin)
I realize maybe I should include more upbeat songs as well. I promise I don’t have mental health problems…ok I do. I really like this one though. The recurring lyrics in the bridge is very interesting：
命運就算顛沛流離 命運就算曲折離奇
命運就算恐嚇著你做人沒趣味
別流淚 心酸 更不應捨棄
我願能 一生永遠陪伴你
which translates as
Even if fate is upside down, even if fate is twisted and bizarre
Even if fate threatens you, that it’s not fun to be a human being
Don’t cry, [or] be sad, and don’t give up
I wish to be with you forever
which is… I don’t know… Sort of uplifting？？I guess？？
Beyond is a very famous band (from HK) in China. This song was written as a tribute to Nelson Mandela. (in Cantonese)
Alright I know I have a weird taste of music, and I do realize I don’t have many songs in mandarin to recommend… Sorry, but not really, because trust me I tried.
P.S I swear I recommend them not because they are banned (some of them aren’t…) I have no idea how this happened. I swear. I swear.