Travel restrictions? There are no boundaries in the music world!
This time EFBA is going far, crossing the Pacific Ocean, and landing in the nation where New Year’s celebrations last for 15 days – China.
Many Chinese people immigrated to the US during the Gold Rush, leading to the presence of large Chinese-American communities in California. Chinese immigrants are also currently the third largest population of foreign-born Californians in the Bay Area.
Did you know that San Francisco’s Chinatown is the oldest and largest in the US?
The Great Wall of China: Historical fortifications to protect against various nomadic groups from the Eurasian Steppe.
At this point in our virtual travels, we’ll explore the power of music and French in this vast and historically rich country. Although France had direct influence in the former French Concession (1849 – 1943) in Shanghai, also known as the “Paris of the East,” French did not become a major language of education and business. However, that doesn’t mean that there is no musical connection!
In 2016, China was listed as one of the top 10 most musical countries. Huge adopters of karaoke from their neighbor Japan, many Chinese people of all ages love to gather for hours of singing sessions while eating and drinking!
Starting with our list of songs, we have the young French singer and songwriter Joyce Jonathan who decided to create Mandarin versions of two of her hit songs. “Je ne sais pas” became 我不知道 – wǒ bù zhīdào, and “Pas besoin de toi” is called 不需要你 – bù xūyào nǐ. In her 2017 album Ça ira, she also included 10 songs in Mandarin, some which were adapted from French versions, while others were completely new for Chinese fans.
The song “La vie en rose” by Édith Piaf, already mentioned in the previous blog post about Mexico, comes back in its Cantonese version as 粉红色的一生 – Fan hung sik dik yat sang by Danny Chan, proving once more the diversity, versatility of music and its interpretations. The song “S’il suffisait d’aimer,” originally sung by Canadian superstar Céline Dion, became 這分鐘更愛你 – Je fan jung gang oi nei in its Cantonese version by Joey Yung.
Many Chinese songs have also gotten a new look in the French language. The song 旅行的意義 – Lǚ xíng de yì yì in the soft voice of Taiwanese singer and songwriter Cheer Chen became “Pourquoi tu pars en voyage” with the jazz and bossa nova twist of Clémentine. The song 匆匆那年 – Cōng cōng nà nián sung by the “Diva of Asia” Faye Wong became “Au bout de mes rêves,” an aspirational song interpreted by Fooled Band, a pop-rock French band.
Finally, let’s end this post with a bonus French track as a suggestion for your next karaoke night: “L’important c’est d’aimer” by pop and progressive rock singer Pascal Obispo, whose name is an anagram of a famous Spanish painter’s name.
Édith Piaf, Fooled Band, Cheer Chen, Danny Chan, Clémentine, Céline Dion, Pascal Obispo, Faye Wong, Joyce Jonathan, and Joey Yung.
Any guess? Answer in the comments!
For a full list of songs, check out our Youtube playlist here.
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