04.28.07
Ben’s Chinese Pop Music Recommendations
As much as I despise 99% of Chinese pop music (and most other pop music for that matter), there are a few Chinese songs which have managed to make it into my iTunes regular rotation. While these songs aren’t necessarily “pop” per se, they do fall into the large canon of Chinese music which, as laowai living in the Middle Kingdom, we are constantly bombarded with. With no further ado, here are my personal Chinese pop song recommendations.
真的爱你 by Beyond. Beyond is the most famous band in the brief history of Chinese rock. They are from Hong Kong, so accordingly most of their songs are in Cantonese, which many feel is a more musical tongue than Mandarin. Unfortunately, Beyond’s lead singer died while doing a stage dive at a concert. They continued touring as a trio for several years, and today are pretty much retired.
奔跑 by 羽泉. This upbeat, motivational tune was popular when I first came to China in 2004. The KTV video shows the singers playing their instruments, then going for a fast break on a basketball court. It’s cheesy but fitting. This song stays in constant rotation on my iPod, and was also the song I sang on Fuzhou Foreign Idol.
北方的狼 by 齐秦 If you’re a guy, and looking for a good song to sing at the KTV, this is it. The words are slow and simple, and the song is well-known and liked by most Chinese men, and women too. It tells the story of a wolf coming from the north, and the music fittingly portrays this description.
挪威的森林 by 伍佰 This is a sad love song about leaving a girl, but it has a decent lead guitar riff, and the singing is pleasingly rhythmic. 伍佰 is from Taiwan, and has had many hit songs in both Taiwan and the mainland.
我的地盘 by 周杰伦 (Jay Chou) Conventional knowledge says Chinese and Hip-Hop don’t mix, but Jay Chou makes as good of an attempt as I have ever heard. Jay’s rap lyrics are also famously known to be completely incomprehensible, even to the Chinese ear. Other than the cheesy, Disney-esque opening, this tune really moves. The extra “er” he adds to the end of every word in the chorus gives it a nice touch.
If you want to listen to any of these tunes, click on the links on the song names. If you’re interested in more songs by these artists, you can get them from baidu.com. Above the search bar, click on the link that says “MP3.” Then on the next screen fill in the little circle that says “MP3.” If you want lyrics, click on the circle that says “歌词.” Copy and paste the name of the artist into the search blank and click on the grey rectangular button that says “百度搜索.”
Once the search results come up, click on where it says “试听” to listen to a song. A new window will come up with a player. If you want to save a song, right click on the hyperlink at the top of the player, and save the link. Sometimes baidu links are dead ends, so you might have to try a couple times to get it to work. Good luck.
zhwj
said,
April 28, 2007 at 3:37 pm
Good choices. Got to give 羽泉 props for keeping the keytar alive.
I’m actually surprised at how easy it is to enjoy mindless pop when I classify it in my mind as ‘KTV music’ – S.H.E. should be a guilty pleasure, but I don’t really feel guilty listening to it.
ash
said,
April 28, 2007 at 5:11 pm
How about Mc Hotdog?
Xin Ku Zi ?
Xiao Zhu
said,
April 29, 2007 at 12:54 pm
What about Ren Xianqi 任贤齐？Easy to sing and easy to listen to.
Benjamin Ross
said,
April 29, 2007 at 1:18 pm
I like 任贤齐 too, especially the song 伤心太平洋. However, my Chinese girlfriend tells me 任贤齐 is considered ultra-cheesy, even by Chinese standards. Can any 中国人confirm or deny this statement? Nonetheless, I still like this song.
Maria
said,
April 29, 2007 at 5:27 pm
Hi, ben
sorry to ask you a question which is not concern to your topic, how do you say”买单” in english? I am not sure is it the “Bill, pls?”
Benjamin Ross
said,
April 29, 2007 at 7:32 pm
“bill please” works…I would probably turn it into a question, or else it sounds a bit rude. Normally I would say “Can I have the check please?”
zhwj
said,
April 30, 2007 at 12:32 pm
Re: Richie Jen’s cheesiness: dude signs his name with a heart!
Hmm. I must’ve posted through a proxy last time to get that US flag.
James Chiang
said,
May 8, 2007 at 10:27 am
All the singer you listed are male. Is there any Chinese girl you like besides your Chinese girlfriend?
little Alex
said,
May 15, 2007 at 2:40 pm
got here via a link from EastSouthWestNorth.
what I find interesting about 伍佰’s song is that he said he was inspired by Murakami’s novel instead of the more direct route of the Beatles song…
P.S. Maria, technically it’s 埋單. :^)
Li
said,
May 23, 2007 at 7:30 am
Hi Ben,
I’m Chinese-American (originally from Beijing), and I just found your blog through shanghaiist.com. I wanted to applaud everything that you’re doing. I really appreciate your true understanding, or at least attempt at understanding, the nuances of Chinese culture and life. I love the candidness and honesty of your entries.
Thank you and please keep writing,
Li
yolanda
said,
August 3, 2007 at 8:05 pm
I think these singers you recommend are well ,their song sound wondful ,and I like them too.But I want to know who is your favorite singer,and why?
Anonymous
said,
June 12, 2008 at 11:43 pm
Thanks for your Chinese Pop Music Recommendations! Do you want to have a good music software? please try this software Music Tag Editor,you can see its guide here http://www.qweas.com/guide/how_to/how_to_create_m3u_playlist_with_mp3.htm
Lao Cai
said,
July 25, 2009 at 11:10 am
I came across your blog article while researching Chinese pop music. I recently came to know a pretty good Chinese female singer named Chang Aifei. Her most famous song is Ci Xin: http://play.1ting.com/p_124233.html
She’s not cutting edge or anything, but she has real talent and is serious about her craft.
Jack
said,
January 26, 2010 at 9:57 pm
There are many great songs, but you’ve got to check out singers who are less well-known.