Wednesday, July 11, 2012

[Music] The Flying Fox of Snowy Mountain -- David Lui & Susanna Kwan


David Lui




Susanna Kwan




Poster for The Flying Fox of Snowy Mountain (1985)



1. The Flying Fox of Snowy Mountain ("雪山飛狐") is the theme song for a Hong Kong TVB television drama of the same name that was first broadcast in 1985.

The TVB television drama in turn is based on a martial arts and chivalry novel of the same name by Louis Cha (pen name: Jin Yong).

The Flying Fox of Snowy Mountain was Louis Cha's fifth novel and was written in 1955 but first published in a Hong Kong newspaper in 1959.

This novel has a companion volume called Legend of the Flying Fox, which was Louis Chia's sixth novel and was written between 1960-61.

Three movies and five TV dramas have been produced based on these two novels.

This is how powerful and interesting these martial arts and chivalry novels are.

The 1985 TVB television drama is the second TV drama based on these two novels.


2. David Lui is a very good singer.

He entered Hong Kong's music scene in 1983 by participating in a music competition.

He participated in another music competition in 1984 and won and that brought him to the attention of the music industry.

But as is remarked in the Wikipedia entry on him, although David Lui is a very good singer, he did not have any breakthrough over the years.

But as is also apparent in the same Wikipedia entry on him, because David Lui is such a talented singer, he has a solid fan base and is able to release music CDs on a regular basis - the last ones being in 2011.

David Lui also did some TV and movie acting, but these are not of notes.

What is of note is his 16 years relationship with Carol Cheng, which ended in an amicable separation in 2008.

Carol Cheng is a noted Hong Kong actress and Master of Ceremonies and I have a lot of respect for her abilities.


3. Disappointingly, a search in YouTube turns up only two instances of this song.

This song has an otherworldly appeal but a sad undertone, as befit the story of the The Flying Fox of Snowy Mountain.

A music video by David Lui and Susanna Kwan:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=03EboYcObAk

The music video does not do justice to the music and lyrics.

There is no doubt the best part of the song are the opening bars, although the rest of the song is good too.


4. An unknown cover:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LFY4wQuBerE

As has been remarked in a comment in YouTube, the singers are not David Lui and Susanna Kwan.

I suspect this is one of those pirated karaoke produced in the cheap in China.

But excepting the audio quality, the singing is surprisingly good.


5. The Lyrics in Traditional Chinese:


雪山飛狐 -- 呂方 & 關菊英

男︰放眼望千山雪海   我有夢在雲外
     見世上冷漠人似冰封
     笑問熱血何在

女︰人間一向多風霜   同心冰雪亦無礙
男︰豪氣生溫解凍   將冰雪為妳改
女︰攜手心裡引春風   同心春就在
男︰蜜意深心舒暖   將歡笑為妳開

* 女︰雪山裡不知清冷
男︰只知倆情相愛
女︰傾我熱愛
男︰傾我熱血
合︰將冰凍俗世改

女︰攜手千里雪山飛 同心飛進白雲內
男︰和妳相通心意 飛出萬里雪海
合︰追蹤美夢雲外

Repeat *

合︰攜手千里雪山飛 同心飛進白雲內
男︰和妳相通心意
女︰飛出萬里雪海
合︰追蹤美夢雲外


6. The Lyrics in Simplified Chinese:


雪山飞狐 -- 吕方 & 关菊英

男︰放眼望千山雪海   我有梦在云外
     见世上冷漠人似冰封
     笑问热血何在

女︰人间一向多风霜   同心冰雪亦无碍
男︰豪气生温解冻   将冰雪为妳改
女︰携手心里引春风   同心春就在
男︰蜜意深心舒暖   将欢笑为妳开

* 女︰雪山里不知清冷
男︰只知俩情相爱
女︰倾我热爱
男︰倾我热血
合︰将冰冻俗世改

女︰携手千里雪山飞   同心飞进白云内
男︰和妳相通心意   飞出万里雪海
合︰追踪美梦云外

Repeat *

合︰携手千里雪山飞   同心飞进白云内
男︰和妳相通心意
女︰飞出万里雪海
合︰追踪美梦云外


7. Names, Words and Phrases:

David Lui (Traditional Chinese: 呂方; Simplified Chinese: 吕方).

Carol Cheng (Traditional: 鄭裕玲; Simplified: 郑裕玲).

Jin Yong (Traditional: 金庸; Simplified: 金庸).

Louis Cha (Traditional: 查良鏞; Simplified: 查良镛).

Martial arts and chivalry novel (Traditional: 武俠小說; Simplified: 武侠小说).

Susanna Kwan (Traditional: 關菊英; Simplified: 关菊英).

The Flying Fox of Snowy Mountain (Traditional: 雪山飛狐; Simplified: 雪山飞狐).

The Legend of the Flying Fox (Traditional: 飛狐外傳; Simplified: 飞狐外传).


References:

"呂方", Wikipedia - The Free Encyclopedia,
http://zh.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E5%91%82%E6%96%B9
(accessed 2012-07-11).

"雪山飛狐", Wikipedia - The Free Encyclopedia,
http://zh.wikipedia.org/zh-hant/%E9%9B%AA%E5%B1%B1%E9%A3%9E%E7%8B%90
(accessed 2012-07-11).

"飛狐外傳", Wikipedia - The Free Encyclopedia,
http://zh.wikipedia.org/zh-hant/%E9%A3%9E%E7%8B%90%E5%A4%96%E4%BC%A0
(accessed 2012-07-11).

"雪山飛狐 (1985年電視劇)", Wikipedia - The Free Encyclopedia,
http://zh.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E9%9B%AA%E5%B1%B1%E9%A3%9B%E7%8B%90_%281985%E5%B9%B4%E9%9B%BB%E8%A6%96%E5%8A%87%29
(accessed 2012-07-11).

End.