[Music] Love amidst Wind and Rain -- Jacky Cheung and Karen Tong

Jacky Cheung

Karen Tong

1. Quotation of the Day:

Marco Antonio de Dominis (1560-1624)

In essentials unity;
In non-essentials liberty;
In all things charity.


2. Love amidst Wind and Rain ("相思風雨中") is a Cantonese song sung by Jacky Cheung and Karen Tong.

I have two specific memories related to this song:

(a) I remember exactly when I first listened to this song: It was back in 1992 when this song first came out and I was with my friend and his girlfriend and we were visiting a girlfriend of my friend's girlfriend.

When we entered her house, the girlfriend of my friend's girlfriend was listening to Love amidst Wind and Rain and she commented on how beautiful this song was.

(I am having fun writing these two sentences!)

(b) When I went to work in Hong Kong and China in the mid-1990s, one of my cousins in Hong Kong advised me to practice a few songs just in case I need to sing on social occasions.

Love amidst Wind and Rain was one of the songs I practiced on.


3. Love amidst Wind and Rain is a sub-theme song of Hong Kong TVB's 1992 TV drama Road for the Heroes.

Since then, this song has become a perennial favorite in karaoke singing for Cantonese speaking Chinese.

I suppose one reason why this song has been so popular is because the music, the lyrics and the original music video are very well done.

This song captures the sadness amidst separating lovers very well.

Another reason is because this is a duet so a male and female can sing it together in karaoke.

A third reason is that this is a "simpler" song among Jacky Cheung's songs.

Many of Jacky Cheung's songs are technically difficult for the average person to sing.

So people are happy to be able to sing this song reasonably well.


4. I believe this is the original music video:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tnrKK2EQKxA

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f-IZyyKeics

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vUi963J8tQM

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

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Vfk9mpotX9g

and many more in YouTube.

After 20 years, I still think this music video is very well done.


5. A rare music video by Karen Tong and Jacky Cheung:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rmiAMnFLBD0


6. Karen Tong and Jacky Cheung in concert:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6jY50CJd4lw


7.  Karen Tong and Jacky Cheung in an Award ceremony in 1992:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oL60HDwnU6Y

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bs8zKf6Kos0


8. These are just the music:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=toQID0gSr9o

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ecbe-CKGvf4

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6XuFq7VfYoo


9. Karen Tong in concert in December, 2012, in Hong Kong with the Grasshopper:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gMf3b5LBZzs

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kL4S_eUo6CU

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A8EhETXKM3A

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lG29FZ_IOC8

The Grasshopper is a Hong Kong singing and dancing group active since 1985.


10. Karen Tong and William singing in 2009:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7VaMcUzLdVY

William sang pretty well.


11. Karen Tong and Kevin Cheng in concert in Reno, USA in 2009:

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


12. Karen Tong in concert in 2006:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VH7CZRmjOQI

The laughter in the video was occasioned by the guy missing the lyrics.


13. Karen Tong having fun with her previous music video:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sz2mZcvWb0s

The guy is Johnson Lee.


14. The music in the instrument Guzheng:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2v6pYqJGdFg

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xM7xBS63vIg


15. A version with English translation of the lyrics (top) and the Chinese lyrics and the pinyin transliteration of the lyrics (bottom):

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


16. Frankie Lam and Kenix Kwok are both actors and not singers:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9_gq1Xta5R8

By the way, they are husband and wife.


17. The Hong Kong actors Michael Tse and Fala Chen in concert in Malaysia in 2011:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZKWuRM7-3Kc

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IIPBKtRnk8o


18. A cover by Tony Lui and Connie:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9UYGz6MiBzE

The venue for the singing is the Avenue of Stars, Hong Kong.


19. Some karaoke cover versions produced in China:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2JXyNvaNL0s

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x7SlaWDNZpw


20. The Irish Chris McEvoy:

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

His introduction was in Mandarin, but the singing was in Cantonese.


21. As a testimony to the continuing popularity of this song, some amateur cover versions:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cW7ilVB7Ilk

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Lj1aXTgLoF0

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QMTDHMsYoe0

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bm10iBUOvNs

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hYbWKlsMO7E

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

and many more in YouTube.


22. The Lyrics in Traditional Chinese:


相思風雨中 -- 張學友 & 湯寶如

(男) 難解百般愁   相知愛意濃
(女) 情海變蒼茫   癡心遇冷風
(男) 分飛各天涯   他朝可會相逢
(女) 蕭蕭風聲淒泣暴雨中

* (男) 人海裡飄浮   輾轉卻是夢
(女) 情深永相傳   飄於萬世空
(男) 當霜雪飄時   (合) 但願花亦艷紅
(合) 未懼路上湮雨濛

# (男) 啊…寄相思風雨中
(女) 啊…寄癡心風雨中
(男) 抱月去   化春風雲外追蹤鴛侶夢
(合) 恨滿胸   愁紅塵多作弄

@ (男) 難解百般愁   相知愛意濃
(女) 情海變蒼茫   癡心遇冷風
(男) 分飛各天涯   (女) 但願他日重逢
(合) 夜漫漫路上珍重

Repeat *, #, @

(男) 寒夜裡霜雪飄時
(合) 但願花亦艷紅   別後路上珍重


23. The Lyrics in Simplified Chinese:


相思风雨中 -- 张学友 & 汤宝如

(男) 难解百般愁   相知爱意浓
(女) 情海变苍茫   痴心遇冷风
(男) 分飞各天涯   他朝可会相逢
(女) 萧萧风声凄泣暴雨中

* (男) 人海里飘浮   辗转却是梦
(女) 情深永相传   飘于万世空
(男) 当霜雪飘时   (合) 但愿花亦艳红
(合) 未惧路上湮雨蒙

# (男) 啊...寄相思风雨中
(女) 啊...寄痴心风雨中
(男) 抱月去   化春风云外追踪鸳侣梦
(合) 恨满胸   愁红尘多作弄

@ (男) 难解百般愁   相知爱意浓
(女) 情海变苍茫   痴心遇冷风
(男) 分飞各天涯   (女) 但愿他日重逢
(合) 夜漫漫路上珍重

Repeat *, #, @

(男) 寒夜里   霜雪飘时
(合) 但愿花亦艳红   别后路上珍重


24. Names, Words and Phrases:

Fala Chen (Traditional Chinese: 陳法拉; Simplified Chinese: 陈法拉).

Frankie Lam (Traditional: 林文龍; Simplified: 林文龙).

Grasshopper (Traditional: 草蜢; Simplified: 草蜢).

Jacky Cheung (Traditional: 張學友; Simplified: 张学友).

Johnson Lee (Traditional: 李思捷; Simplified: 李思捷).

Karen Tong (Traditional: 湯寶如; Simplified: 汤宝如).

Kenix Kwok (Traditional: 郭可盈; Simplified: 郭可盈).

Kevin Cheng (Traditional: 鄭嘉穎; Simplified: 郑嘉颖).

Michael Tse (Traditional: 謝天華; Simplified: 谢天华).

Road for the Heroes (Traditional: 出位江湖; Simplified: 出位江湖).

Tony Lui (Traditional: 雷若天; Simplified: 雷若天).


Reference:

"In necessariis unitas, in dubiis libertas, in omnibus caritas", Wikipedia - The Free Encyclopedia,
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/In_necessariis_unitas,_in_dubiis_libertas,_in_omnibus_caritas
(accessed 2013-02-08).

End.

[Music] Like a Cold -- Karen Tong

Karen Tong

1. The Chinese words "感冒" literally means a common cold.

Believe it or not, this love song was originally written for a Hong Kong commercial promoting a cold medicine.

The lyrics were shrewdly written so that they can serve as both a love song and a cold medicine commercial.

The commercial aired in Hong Kong in the mid to late 1990s.

I was working in Hong Kong and China at the time and vaguely remember seeing the commercial on TV.

Since the lyrics compare different aspects of love to a cold, I have translated the song title as Like a Cold ("感冒").


2. Karen Tong was born in 1971 and she entered Hong Kong's music scene in 1992.

I find Karen Tong to be a talented singer and quite pretty too.

Yet Chinese Wikipedia listed her active years as a singer as between 1992 and 1996.

With all her talents, Karen was not able to reach the top of Hong Kong's music scene and she sort of faded out after a few years.

Another contributing factor to her fading out might be because of her arduous love life - her different courtships over the years have not been easy ones.

But after fading out of the music scene, Karen developed a second career in acting.

Karen Tong has participated in a few TV, movie, and stage acting’s after her singing career.

To commemorate the 20th anniversary of her singing, Karen Tong will be in concert in Hong Kong in December this year (2012).


3. This might be the music video of Like a Cold from the original TV broadcast:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=32wgOzf324o

and another one:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_K8ar_LYgF4


4.  A Karaoke version of Like a Cold:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Zqja9RmtUsc

and it’s plain counterpart:

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

I agree with the comment by @lawrence0834 - the range of this song is quite broad and is not easy to sing.


5. A Dramatic Version of the song by Karen Tong:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5pwXl7UOeoU


6. These videos are just photo filler:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ulT9j0QgIVI

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RqP_jx33USo

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3NV0KJOkJ9M

But the audios are quite good.


7. A photo tribute to Karen Tong put together by some fans:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pDw-8Kn7HfM


8. RTHK (Radio Television Hong Kong) 1996 Top 10 songs Award:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A7DeZGI_Dbg


9. Karen Tong as guest in a concert in 2010:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QdRr6ucMY4s


10. At Karen Tong's birthday gathering in 2010:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4mj7CxeOrJM


11. This is just the music:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hNir6xdZ7ow


12. The Lyrics in Traditional Chinese:


感冒 -- 湯寶如

等   漸漸會成為好習慣
流連一番   無聊一番
等新出的襯衫

等   若是再能捱過多一晚
便會醫得好心內舊患
全憑愉快的晚餐

* 時間令痛苦都醫好
戀愛命運就像感冒
誰人又會受傷到老   亦難幸福到老
為何去又來也不知道

# 誰也沒法可免疫吧
失戀都似是斷斷續續感冒吧
完全在意料中變化   或長或短進化
治療那來又去的感情   不可怕

可   利用最便宜的代價
從誰的家   和誰的家
修好心中創疤

可   日夜也埋頭醉心工作
最好出一身一臉熱汗
痊癒便靠這配方

Repeat *, #, *, #


13. The Lyrics in Simplified Chinese:


感冒 -- 汤宝如

等   渐渐会成为好习惯
流连一番   无聊一番
等新出的衬衫

等   若是再能捱过多一晚
便会医得好心内旧患
全凭愉快的晚餐

* 时间令痛苦都医好
恋爱命运就像感冒
谁人又会受伤到老   亦难幸福到老
为何去又来也不知道

# 谁也没法可免疫吧
失恋都似是断断续续感冒吧
完全在意料中变化   或长或短进化
治疗那来又去的感情   不可怕

可   利用最便宜的代价
从谁的家   和谁的家
修好心中创疤

可   日夜也埋头醉心工作
最好出一身一脸热汗
痊愈便靠这配方

Repeat *, #, *, #


14. Names, Words and Phrases:

Karen Tong (Traditional Chinese: 湯寶如; Simplified Chinese: 汤宝如).

Dramatic Version (Traditional: 劇場版;Simplified: 剧场版).

RTHK (Traditional: 香港電台; Simplified: 香港电台).


Reference:

"湯寶如", Wikipedia - The Free Encyclopedia,
http://zh.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E6%B9%AF%E5%AF%B6%E5%A6%82
(accessed 2012-08-12).

End.