Why, hallo there

So I caved and signed up for wordpress. I had a tab open and tried to think of cool things to say for a long time before I realized I was being ridiculous and rather insecure. Anyway.

First post! So excited.

I think I will let my overwhelming love for Jay Chou’s new song take over. It’s called ‘Qing Hua Ci’, which, literally translated, means Blue Patterned Porcelain Vase. It’s one of his slow, old-Chinese ballads, with interesting mixes of guitar, wood flute and gu zhen (which is a horizontal harp) to complete the rather simple melody. The lyrics, as usual, have quite a bit of over-the-top lyricism, but the song is beautiful. Speaking as a non-fan of Jay Chou, I think I am being quite objective in saying that it’s one of the most memorable songs I’ve heard this year.

Qing Hua Ci evokes a feeling of melancholy, a sort of looking back at something we’ve loved but irrevocably lost. The lyrics are a bit fuzzy on the details, but I’m assuming that he’s talking about a girl during the Ming dynasty (home of famously fabulous porcelainware), elusive, talented and beautiful as the morning dew on a rose, of course. Then he runs circles around metaphors of the art of vase creating. I wasn’t aware of the lyrics at first, due to Chou’s infamous habit of mumbling his words.

I asked around, and public opinion (at least within the Chinese crowd) is that his new movie/commerical-oriented direction is unwelcome. I haven’t followed him for long enough to know (or care, really), but it seems a shame that such a talented songwriter is veering away from where his talents lie. His performance in Curse of the Golden Flower was very bland, and hard to distinguish from his usual self. On the other hand, millions of people around the world await each album release with baited breath and prompt overrun forums with their love for him.

It seems clear enough to me.

That’s all for today, folks.

Sevenses