Songs of the moment for today :) (updated)
Hands down winner for Koala's Song of the Moment is You Move Me by Susan Ashton (which bro and forg by say are nice and cute respectively :) but there's also a link to Xavier Cugat's dreamy version of Perfidia and also ..... a song from Spanish Jews in the 15th century! ;) There's a bit of blathering about the Wong Kar Wai movies 2046 and Days of Being Wild but no spoilers to worry about :)
Prince. Not my cup of tea, but maybe others may like
For any Prince fans out there (*cough* definitely not me), over at audio_binge someone named dangermouse98 whom I always think is dangermousie is posting the entire Prince discography. He is up to part 4, no idea how many parts there are but scoot over if you like Prince. You'll have to apply for membership of the community but the links posted should still be current by the time you get accepted.
2046, Perfidia. Wong Kar Wai worship from me
The next song is Perfidia and I'm posting it because I recently read a post by snacktastic who liked 2046, a movie by the brilliant director Wong Kar-wai.
Given that 99% of the people I know hated that movie or fell asleep during it, I got very excited.
2046 takes 'elements' of previous Wong Kar Wai movies and blends them together. The beauty is that you don't have to have seen any of the previous movies, but if you have seen them, it really brings an amazing new layer of understanding and context when you watch it. This version of Perfidia is performed by Xavier Cugat. In 2046 it is used for "Lulu", the showgirl who we first encountered in another Wong Kar Wai movie In the mood for love.
Perfidia is also used in Days of Being Wild which starred Leslie Cheung, who was one of the few openly homosexual celebrities in Hong Kong. He was a popular actor and singer but battled with depression. In 2003 he jumped to his death from the Mandarin Oriental Hotel in Hong Kong.
I was in Hong Kong at that time and it was the strangest thing in the world. Hong Kong people flocked to the Internet for news, to tell one another, to discuss things. As the Hong Kong entertainment industry is small, all of the other actors and singers knew him.
I had never been witness to such a strange outpouring of grief and emotion. I was thinking: "Well he was just an singer/actor, right?" The lawyer in the office next to mine who was usually a very buttoned up, serious young man was almost in tears he was so upset. Then I realised that these people grew up with Leslie, he was part of all their childhood memories. They watched him on television, heard his songs as they grew up and fell in love so I think one person actually said to me that Leslie's death not only reminded them that they were getting old, but it was a reminder that their childhood/teenage days were behind them forever.
I couldn't think of a similar 'Western' or Australian equivalent. I was sad when River Phoenix died but I didn't cry and it wasn't grief so much as thinking what a shame that someone so talented had died and that I would never see him in a movie again.
If anyone has seen the powerful but incredibly sad movie Farewell my Concubine that also featured Gong Li, Leslie played the very damaged, tortured young actor/Beijing opera performer whose mother 'sold' him to the troupe when he was a small child - after brutally chopping off his sixth finger. His deformity would have made him unacceptable to the troupe.
I linger on Leslie but Perfidia is actually the song used for the Maggie Cheung and Andy Lau story. Days of Being Wild is called 阿飛正傳 in Chinese (The True Story of Ah Fei). I didn't want to watch it because I have always found Leslie Cheung's 'beauty' rather cold and repelling. The problem was, I had just bulliedconvinced my Chinese teacher Grace to watch 2046 so when she gave me Days of Being Wild, I had no choice.
The movie is set in 1960 in both Hong Kong and in the Philippines. The main character played by Cheung is called 'Yuddy', or 'York' in English. A very cruel, selfish and self-destructive playboy, York has a very large number of issues to resolve. To be honest, the character was probably pretty much Cheung playing himself. Wong Kar Wai sometimes does that with his actors - selects performers on account of their personalities and asks them to be themselves onscreen. For Faye Wong, because she's pert, alluring, cheeky and mischievous - that's the character she usually plays.
Maggie Cheung plays the simple-hearted Su Li Zhen who plays one of York's many victims who is treated very badly. One day when weeping by the side of the road, a young policeman played by Andy Lau lends her money to get home. As time passes, they occasionally walk together, skirting at the edge of romance and friendship. He gives her the number of a public phone near his beat.
Music is an integral part of Wong Kar Wai's movies, the soundtracks to his movies are always gorgeous. For most of the scenes of dialogue between Maggie Cheung and Andy Lau's character, they take place in silence. They walk down a street, they stand on a street corner speaking - all you can hear are street sounds and the sound of their voices.
Suddenly though, in one scene, as Maggie Cheung walks away .... the incredibly sweet sounds of Perfidia wash over you like a gentle wave and the first I saw the film, I started smiling .... so glad that Grace had made me watch it.
For me the piece is wistful, sweet and romantic and feels like it comes from a completely different age. Not everyone will like Days of Being Wild, it's very slow and almost heavy in feel. It's also strange. Nonetheless, it's worth watching and the 'legless bird' comment in 2046 will make much more sense if you've seen Days of Being Wild.
Edit:: As per Madam Parker's request, here is the main theme from 2046, and the main theme with percussion. I find the main theme a little sombre myself, but I agree that it's very striking.
Yo Menamori
The following song Yo M'enamori is by a group called La Rondinella from their album Songs of the Sephardim - Music of the 15th Century Spanish Jews.
Obscure I know but very haunting. Seriously - worth a listen :)
Biggest Chinese love anthem of all time?
I don't think I'm exaggerating when I say that At least there is you by Sandy Lam is "the" love song that not only every single Chinese person in Hong Kong, Singapore, China, Taiwan and Malaysia seems to know, people from places like Indonesia, Japan and Korea know it, too.
It's anthemic, it's romantic and I really love it. Plus, Sandy Lam has a gorgeous voice. The song can be downloaded here. Thanks to papakoala for helping with the translation.
至少還有你 (At least there is you)
我怕來不及 我要抱著你
I'm afraid that there isn't enough time. I want to hold you.
直到感覺你的皺紋 有了歲月的痕跡
Until I feel your wrinkles - the traces left by the passing of time
直到肯定你是真的 直到失去力氣
Until i am sure you are real; until I exhaust my strength
為了你 我願意
For you, I'm willing
動也不能動 也要看著你
Even if I am no longer able to move; I will still want to look at you
直到感覺你的髮線 有了白雪的痕跡
Until I feel the traces of snow (greyness) in your hair,
直到視線變得模糊 直到不能呼吸
Until my vision becomes blurry and dim, until I am not able to breathe
讓我們 形影不離
Like body and shadow, let us never part.
* 如果 全世界我也可以放棄
If I have to relinquish the whole world
至少還有你 值得我去珍惜
At least I will still have you for me to treasure
而你在這裡 就是生命的奇蹟
And you're here, that is life's miracle
也許 全世界我也可以忘記
Perhaps I was able to forget the whole world
就是不願意 失去你的消息
I am simply unwilling to lose news of you
你掌心的痣 我總記得在那裡 *
The birthmark in the palm of your hand - I will always remember where it is
我怕來不及 我要抱著你
I'm afraid that there isn't enough time. I want to hold you.
直到感覺你的髮線 有了白雪的痕跡
Until I feel the traces of snow (greyness) in your hair,
直到視線變得模糊 直到不能呼吸
Until my vision becomes blurry and dim, until I am not able to breathe
讓我們 形影不離
Like body and shadow, let us never part.
我們好不容易 我們身不由己
It's not been easy for us, we cannot control it
我怕時間太快 不夠將你看仔細
I fear that time goes too fast, not enough time to carefully look at you
我怕時間太慢 日夜擔心失去你
I fear that time is too slow, day and night I worry about losing you
恨不得一夜之間白頭 永不分離
I wish we could grow old overnight, to forever never be parted
Repeat *
在那裡
Where?
Hard Drive Sorrows
I'm a bit glum. I have a LaCie "Giant Harddrive" which I bought in preparation for my trip to China since I couldn't bring all of my cds and discs. It's 500 gig and his name is Big Yoda. I pretty much put a copy of my Gigantic Music Collection on Big Yoda. One day I unplugged him without doing the usual right click on icon, disconnect thing and before my eyes, everything vanished.
Stephen came to my rescue and was able to rescue a huge amount of the data, but there was a lot of stuff that went missing and simply because of the size of it, I still bump into what I'm missing.
Yesterday to my absolute horror, I discovered that I was missing a very significant part of my music collection. All of my Ella Fitzgerald songs and Louis Armstrong songs were gone. I had a really huge collection of their stuff because I love Ella and Louis.
Fortunately I've turned to emule where they have giant discography collections so chances are I'll be able to download more than I had before - it was just a horrible feelng to see everything gone. I mean I've been collecting my Ella/Louis collection since highschool ..... like back in the eighties man when a whole bunch of people in LJ weren't even born yet or just being born :)
Anyway, 's all for now.
Prince. Not my cup of tea, but maybe others may like
For any Prince fans out there (*cough* definitely not me), over at audio_binge someone named dangermouse98 whom I always think is dangermousie is posting the entire Prince discography. He is up to part 4, no idea how many parts there are but scoot over if you like Prince. You'll have to apply for membership of the community but the links posted should still be current by the time you get accepted.
2046, Perfidia. Wong Kar Wai worship from me
The next song is Perfidia and I'm posting it because I recently read a post by snacktastic who liked 2046, a movie by the brilliant director Wong Kar-wai.
Given that 99% of the people I know hated that movie or fell asleep during it, I got very excited.
2046 takes 'elements' of previous Wong Kar Wai movies and blends them together. The beauty is that you don't have to have seen any of the previous movies, but if you have seen them, it really brings an amazing new layer of understanding and context when you watch it. This version of Perfidia is performed by Xavier Cugat. In 2046 it is used for "Lulu", the showgirl who we first encountered in another Wong Kar Wai movie In the mood for love.
Perfidia is also used in Days of Being Wild which starred Leslie Cheung, who was one of the few openly homosexual celebrities in Hong Kong. He was a popular actor and singer but battled with depression. In 2003 he jumped to his death from the Mandarin Oriental Hotel in Hong Kong.
I was in Hong Kong at that time and it was the strangest thing in the world. Hong Kong people flocked to the Internet for news, to tell one another, to discuss things. As the Hong Kong entertainment industry is small, all of the other actors and singers knew him.
I had never been witness to such a strange outpouring of grief and emotion. I was thinking: "Well he was just an singer/actor, right?" The lawyer in the office next to mine who was usually a very buttoned up, serious young man was almost in tears he was so upset. Then I realised that these people grew up with Leslie, he was part of all their childhood memories. They watched him on television, heard his songs as they grew up and fell in love so I think one person actually said to me that Leslie's death not only reminded them that they were getting old, but it was a reminder that their childhood/teenage days were behind them forever.
I couldn't think of a similar 'Western' or Australian equivalent. I was sad when River Phoenix died but I didn't cry and it wasn't grief so much as thinking what a shame that someone so talented had died and that I would never see him in a movie again.
If anyone has seen the powerful but incredibly sad movie Farewell my Concubine that also featured Gong Li, Leslie played the very damaged, tortured young actor/Beijing opera performer whose mother 'sold' him to the troupe when he was a small child - after brutally chopping off his sixth finger. His deformity would have made him unacceptable to the troupe.
I linger on Leslie but Perfidia is actually the song used for the Maggie Cheung and Andy Lau story. Days of Being Wild is called 阿飛正傳 in Chinese (The True Story of Ah Fei). I didn't want to watch it because I have always found Leslie Cheung's 'beauty' rather cold and repelling. The problem was, I had just bulliedconvinced my Chinese teacher Grace to watch 2046 so when she gave me Days of Being Wild, I had no choice.
The movie is set in 1960 in both Hong Kong and in the Philippines. The main character played by Cheung is called 'Yuddy', or 'York' in English. A very cruel, selfish and self-destructive playboy, York has a very large number of issues to resolve. To be honest, the character was probably pretty much Cheung playing himself. Wong Kar Wai sometimes does that with his actors - selects performers on account of their personalities and asks them to be themselves onscreen. For Faye Wong, because she's pert, alluring, cheeky and mischievous - that's the character she usually plays.
Maggie Cheung plays the simple-hearted Su Li Zhen who plays one of York's many victims who is treated very badly. One day when weeping by the side of the road, a young policeman played by Andy Lau lends her money to get home. As time passes, they occasionally walk together, skirting at the edge of romance and friendship. He gives her the number of a public phone near his beat.
Music is an integral part of Wong Kar Wai's movies, the soundtracks to his movies are always gorgeous. For most of the scenes of dialogue between Maggie Cheung and Andy Lau's character, they take place in silence. They walk down a street, they stand on a street corner speaking - all you can hear are street sounds and the sound of their voices.
Suddenly though, in one scene, as Maggie Cheung walks away .... the incredibly sweet sounds of Perfidia wash over you like a gentle wave and the first I saw the film, I started smiling .... so glad that Grace had made me watch it.
For me the piece is wistful, sweet and romantic and feels like it comes from a completely different age. Not everyone will like Days of Being Wild, it's very slow and almost heavy in feel. It's also strange. Nonetheless, it's worth watching and the 'legless bird' comment in 2046 will make much more sense if you've seen Days of Being Wild.
Edit:: As per Madam Parker's request, here is the main theme from 2046, and the main theme with percussion. I find the main theme a little sombre myself, but I agree that it's very striking.
Yo Menamori
The following song Yo M'enamori is by a group called La Rondinella from their album Songs of the Sephardim - Music of the 15th Century Spanish Jews.
Obscure I know but very haunting. Seriously - worth a listen :)
Biggest Chinese love anthem of all time?
I don't think I'm exaggerating when I say that At least there is you by Sandy Lam is "the" love song that not only every single Chinese person in Hong Kong, Singapore, China, Taiwan and Malaysia seems to know, people from places like Indonesia, Japan and Korea know it, too.
It's anthemic, it's romantic and I really love it. Plus, Sandy Lam has a gorgeous voice. The song can be downloaded here. Thanks to papakoala for helping with the translation.
至少還有你 (At least there is you)
我怕來不及 我要抱著你
I'm afraid that there isn't enough time. I want to hold you.
直到感覺你的皺紋 有了歲月的痕跡
Until I feel your wrinkles - the traces left by the passing of time
直到肯定你是真的 直到失去力氣
Until i am sure you are real; until I exhaust my strength
為了你 我願意
For you, I'm willing
動也不能動 也要看著你
Even if I am no longer able to move; I will still want to look at you
直到感覺你的髮線 有了白雪的痕跡
Until I feel the traces of snow (greyness) in your hair,
直到視線變得模糊 直到不能呼吸
Until my vision becomes blurry and dim, until I am not able to breathe
讓我們 形影不離
Like body and shadow, let us never part.
* 如果 全世界我也可以放棄
If I have to relinquish the whole world
至少還有你 值得我去珍惜
At least I will still have you for me to treasure
而你在這裡 就是生命的奇蹟
And you're here, that is life's miracle
也許 全世界我也可以忘記
Perhaps I was able to forget the whole world
就是不願意 失去你的消息
I am simply unwilling to lose news of you
你掌心的痣 我總記得在那裡 *
The birthmark in the palm of your hand - I will always remember where it is
我怕來不及 我要抱著你
I'm afraid that there isn't enough time. I want to hold you.
直到感覺你的髮線 有了白雪的痕跡
Until I feel the traces of snow (greyness) in your hair,
直到視線變得模糊 直到不能呼吸
Until my vision becomes blurry and dim, until I am not able to breathe
讓我們 形影不離
Like body and shadow, let us never part.
我們好不容易 我們身不由己
It's not been easy for us, we cannot control it
我怕時間太快 不夠將你看仔細
I fear that time goes too fast, not enough time to carefully look at you
我怕時間太慢 日夜擔心失去你
I fear that time is too slow, day and night I worry about losing you
恨不得一夜之間白頭 永不分離
I wish we could grow old overnight, to forever never be parted
Repeat *
在那裡
Where?
Hard Drive Sorrows
I'm a bit glum. I have a LaCie "Giant Harddrive" which I bought in preparation for my trip to China since I couldn't bring all of my cds and discs. It's 500 gig and his name is Big Yoda. I pretty much put a copy of my Gigantic Music Collection on Big Yoda. One day I unplugged him without doing the usual right click on icon, disconnect thing and before my eyes, everything vanished.
Stephen came to my rescue and was able to rescue a huge amount of the data, but there was a lot of stuff that went missing and simply because of the size of it, I still bump into what I'm missing.
Yesterday to my absolute horror, I discovered that I was missing a very significant part of my music collection. All of my Ella Fitzgerald songs and Louis Armstrong songs were gone. I had a really huge collection of their stuff because I love Ella and Louis.
Fortunately I've turned to emule where they have giant discography collections so chances are I'll be able to download more than I had before - it was just a horrible feelng to see everything gone. I mean I've been collecting my Ella/Louis collection since highschool ..... like back in the eighties man when a whole bunch of people in LJ weren't even born yet or just being born :)
Anyway, 's all for now.