Hong Kong
1. Following news about the "Umbrella Revolution" in Hong Kong for the past week makes me nostalgic about the Hong Kong I grew up in.
But the Hong Kong of today is markedly different from the Hong Kong I grew up in in the 1960s and early 1970s, or even from the Hong Kong I worked in in the mid to late 1990s.
So it is that the dreamy Hong Kong depicted in the lyrics of Agnes Chan's Hong Kong, Hong Kong ("香港,香港") (1982) does not reflect the Hong Kong of today:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LE4Rq07tQWg
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h3O8B6tMCk4
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cOYn57eQ5mQ
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QBVUC4s25po
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZSX-SL55wJM
This is posted by the song's composer Richard Yung:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7Sv5X8c_nMk
2. The Lyrics in Traditional Chinese:
香港, 香港 -- 陳美齡
* 香港 我心中的故鄉 這裡讓我生長
有我喜歡的親友共陽光
路上人在跑 趕呀趕 幹勁令我欣賞
這裡有許多好處沒法講
說一聲香港 香港 你永遠是尋夢鄉
香港 香港 你那色調難忘
山頂看小島水裡躺 處處換上新裝
看看那海鷗飛過自由港
海邊看小島穿晚裝 處處耀眼生光
這個市區的的吸引沒法擋
說一聲香港 香港 載有我童年夢想
香港 香港 叫我不易遺忘
Repeat *
香港 香港 載有我童年夢想
香港 香港 叫我不易遺忘
香港 香港 你永遠是尋夢鄉
香港 香港 你那色調難忘
3. The Lyrics in Simplified Chinese:
香港, 香港 -- 陈美龄
* 香港 我心中的故乡 这里让我生长
有我喜欢的亲友共阳光
路上人在跑 赶呀赶 干劲令我欣赏
这里有许多好处没法讲
说一声香港 香港 你永远是寻梦乡
香港 香港 你那色调难忘
山顶看小岛水里躺 处处换上新装
看看那海鸥飞过自由港
海边看小岛穿晚装 处处耀眼生光
这个市区的的吸引没法挡
说一声香港 香港 载有我童年梦想
香港 香港 叫我不易遗忘
Repeat *
香港 香港 载有我童年梦想
香港 香港 叫我不易遗忘
香港 香港 你永远是寻梦乡
香港 香港 你那色调难忘
4. Names, Words and Phrases:
Agnes Chan (Traditional Chinese: 陳美齡; Simplified Chinese 陈美龄).
Richard Yung (Traditional: 翁家齊; Simplified: 翁家齐).
References:
"Agnes Chan", Wikipedia - The Free Encyclopedia,
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Agnes_Chan
(accessed 2014-10-06).
"陳美齡", Wikipedia - The Free Encyclopedia,
http://zh.wikipedia.org/zh-hk/%E9%99%B3%E7%BE%8E%E9%BD%A1
(accessed 2014-10-06).
End.
Agnes Chan
1. Chinese Poem of the Day:
鲁迅 (1881 – 1936)
自嘲
運交華蓋欲何求，未敢翻身已碰頭。
破帽遮顏過鬧市，漏船載酒泛中流。
橫眉冷對千夫指，俯首甘為孺子牛。
躲進小樓成一統，管他冬夏与春秋。
2. Listening to The Circle Game by Agnes Chan brings back a lot of childhood memories.
Agnes Chan has roots in Hong Kong and her cover of The Circle Game came out in 1971.
I was just a few years old and was in Primary school in Hong Kong (= Elementary School in North America) when I first listened to the music of Agnes Chan.
Agnes Chan was just a few years older than me and I suppose I was already a fan of her music at that young age.
3. This is how Wikipedia introduces Agnes Chan: "Agnes Chan or Agnes Meiling Kaneko Chan (traditional Chinese: 陳美齡; simplified Chinese: 陈美龄; pinyin: Chén Měilíng; Cantonese Yale: Chan Mei ling; Japanese: アグネス・チャン) is a pop singer, a television personality (gaijin tarento), a Doctor of Education, a professor at Japanese universities, an essayist, and a novelist. Since 1988 Chan has been a UNICEF Goodwill Ambassador and also supports the Japan Committee for UNICEF, a private corporation unaffiliated with UNICEF."
"Agnes Meiling Kaneko Chan" is quite a handful.
"Chan" is her last name.
"Meiling" is the English transliteration of her Chinese given name "美齡".
Agnes Chan married her former manager, Tsutomu Kaneko, in 1986 and she took on her husband's last name as part of her name.
4. Reading Wikipedia's description of Agnes Chan's career makes me realize she has lived a very eventful life.
How does she balance a family life that includes raising three boys, a singing career and an academic career?
Obtaining a Bachelor degree from the University of Toronto and a Doctorate from Stanford University are no mean accomplishment.
And raising three boys must be very hectic in itself.
Wikipedia mentioned Agnes Chan underwent treatment for breast cancer in 2007.
I wish Agnes Chan and her family all the best.
5. The original singer and composer of The Circle Game was the Canadian singer and song writer Joni Mitchell and the song debut in 1966:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eMMbmXeQqvI
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X5HXT0bn7QY
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AbIuC9hTY9Y
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6FcgPLCtYwM
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FE5PKLBettc
and many more in YouTube.
6. Agnes Chan singing The Circle Game:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KPnBwQTz75s
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IIry6gX3QEs
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lVxENv-Sv54
7. Partial cover of The Circle Game with video of Agnes Chan:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bPQOiC9og7s
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xDVE3iXjoC0
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AyXY9JDHVWA
8. The Lyrics:
The Circle Game -- Joni Mitchell
Yesterday, a child came out to wonder
Caught a dragonfly inside a jar
Fearful when the sky was full of thunder
And tearful at the falling of a star
* And the seasons they go 'round and 'round
And the painted ponies go up and down
We're captive on the carousel of time
We can't return we can only look
Behind from where we came
And go round and round and round
In the circle game
Then, the child moved ten times 'round the seasons
Skated over ten clear frozen streams
Words like, "When you're older", must appease him
And promises of someday make his dreams
Repeat *
Sixteen springs and sixteen summers gone now
Cartwheels turn to car wheels through the town
And they tell him, "Take your time. It won't be long now.
'Til you drag your feet to slow the circles down"
Repeat *
So the years spin by and now the boy is twenty
Though his dreams have lost some grandeur coming true
There'll be new dreams, maybe better dreams and plenty
Before the last revolving year is through.
Repeat *
And go 'round and 'round and 'round in the circle game.
References:
"Agnes Chan", Wikipedia - The Free Encyclopedia,
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Agnes_Chan
(accessed 2013-01-23).
“Lu Xun”, Wikipedia - The Free Encyclopedia,
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lu_Xun
(accessed 2013-01-23).
"陳美齡", Wikipedia - The Free Encyclopedia,
http://zh.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E9%99%B3%E7%BE%8E%E9%BD%A1
(accessed 2013-01-23).
"魯迅", Wikipedia - The Free Encyclopedia,
http://zh.wikipedia.org/zh-hk/%E9%B2%81%E8%BF%85
(accessed 2013-01-23).
End.
