Chinese popular music is less a mere adjunct to leisure than a battlefield on which ideological struggle is waged. The CCP has consistently endeavored to engineer the pleasures of popular music to the end of retaining power, bolstering their own ideological legitimacy, and making money. Popular songwriters, working within the state-run popular musisc industry, have attempted to use popular songs as forums for controversial reflections on the nature of Chinese culture and Chinese modernity. Rock musicians, operating outside the strictures of 'mainstream' popular music, have yoked their music to the service of an oppositional ideology of individualism and anti-feudalism. (pg 3)
brief biographyExcerpts from the forthcoming book by Dennis Rea
...many non-Chinese listeners are disappointed to find that Cui Jian's music is not as "Chinese" as they'd expected. An argument can be made that his most distinctive songs are the ones that do incorporate Chinese elements such as the dizi (Chinese bamboo flute) and guzheng (an ancient Chinese zither). However, Cui Jian does not view his music as fitting into a narrow cultural continuum, but rather sees himself as part of the global rock-and-roll revolution. The best of his songs genuinely rock, and unlike many Chinese rockers who followed in his wake, he has continued to grow and experiment musically throughout his career.Lyrics and commentary from Dennis Rea's book:
"Yi Wu
Suo You" ("Nothing to My Name").
Yi Wu Suo You
How long have I been asking you
When will you come with me?
But you always laugh at me
For I have nothing to my name.
I want to give you my hope
I want to help make you free
But you always laugh at me
For I have nothing to my name.
Oh... when will you come with me?
Oh... when will you come with me?
The earth is turning under your feet
The waters of life are flowing free
But you always laugh at me
For I have nothing to my name.
Why do you laugh at the pack on my back?
Why do I always keep on going?
The old horse stands before you
With nothing to my name.
Oh... when will you come with me?
Oh... when will you come with me?
I tell you I've been waiting a long time
I tell you, here's my final plea
I want to grab you by the hands
And take you away with me.
Your hands, they are trembling
Your eyes, they overflow with tears
Do you really mean to tell me
You love me as I am?
Oh... when will you come with me?
Oh... then you will come with me.
"Yi Wu Suo You" struck a nerve with a generation bewildered by its
country's too-rapid transformation into a modern, globalized society.
Dismayed at the widening chasm between haves and have-nots, young
Chinese found themselves torn between loyalty to Confucianist ideals of
obedience and the seductive lure of foreign concepts such as
self-determination and individual rights. Angered by the apparent
contradictions in their leaders' words and deeds, China's youth had grown
increasingly skeptical of socialism's ability to fill the vacuum left by the
abolition of religion and traditional values. Like Dylan, Woody Guthrie,
and a handful of others, Cui Jian had distilled a generation's fears and
longings into a simple four-minute song. It's no wonder that "Yi Wu Suo
You" was spontaneously adopted as the unofficial anthem of the
demonstrators at Tiananmen Square.
www.pulaymusic.com (with more on the Chinese rock scene)
China's Bob Dylan A Rocking Reunion in Central Park By Jonathan S. Landreth and Jonah Greenberg
A Piece of Red Cloth sound file
Beijing Rocks: Rockin' in the Not-So-Free World by Steven Schwankert
PRI's 'Global Hit' soundbite (needs RealPlayer)
Lyrics to "A Piece of Red Cloth"
Lyrics to one made into an MTV video:A PIECE OF RED CLOTH That day you took a piece of red cloth Covered my eyes and covered the sky You asked me what I saw I said, "I see the happiness" This feeling made me so tranquil It made me forget I have no place to live You asked me where I'm headed I said, "I'm going your way" Couldn't see you, couldn't see the road My hand was clasped by yours You asked what I was thinking I said, "You decide" I sense you are not cold like steel Yet like steel you are strong and hard I sense there is blood in your body Because your hand is hot This feeling made me so tranquil It made me forget I have no place to live You asked me where I'm headed I said, "I'm going your way" I feel this is not a wasteland Yet can't see this land is already dry and cracked I feel I want to drink a little water But your mouth covered my mouth I can't go and I can't cry Because my body is already withered I will be by your side forever Because I know your pain so well Doooo…Doooo… music and lyrics: Cui Jian translation: Matthew Corbin Clark(from http://www.cuijian.com/ENGLISH/Pages/works/music/solution/03.htm)
Let Me Go Wild in the Snow
(Kuai rang wo zai zhe xuedi shang sa dian ye)
I bared my shoulders to met the snow and wind
I ran down the road out of the hospital
Don't block my way, I don't want any clothes
Because my disease is that I have no feeling
Give me some excitement, doctor
Give me a little love, nurse
Let me cry or let me laugh
Let me go wild in the snow
© Music and lyrics by Cui Jian, form Jiejue, Translation by Andrew Jones, 1992 (And see another version)