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(I was invited by Time Out music editor
Jake Newby
to write some words about Jay Chou in anticipation of his June 2010 concert in Shanghai.
So here ya go.
)
When I first arrived in Shanghai in 2004, I was curious to find out what kind of music was popular in China, and the answer, everywhere, was Jay Chou 周杰伦. His album Common Jasmin Orange (sic) 七里香 had just come out, and he had also penned songs for Jolin Tsai 蔡依林’s Magic 看我72变 album; both were blaring from radios and storefronts all over the city. Jay Chou was not only the nostalgic soundtrack to my first Shanghai experiences, but I quickly recognized he’s a pop songwriter with sense of craftsmanship beyond his Mandopop peers. Since then, I’ve found a warm familiarity in the one ubiquitous facial expression he commands, in movies and plastered on billboards and taxi backseat screens, plugging Pepsi, Metersbonwe, Colgate, Tong Yi instant noodles, etc., etc. Jay Chou also became my Mandarin teacher, as I realized my new vocabulary would stick with me better if I had a catchy melody to hang it on. I started with the slow ballads, painstaking translating lyrics out of the CD jacket, looking up and maintaining lists of unfamiliar characters, and eventually working my way up to the raps. I have terrorized many a Partyworld with my Jay Chou renditions, and I’ve also been known to toss some Jay into my live sets. One of these days I’m going to realize my longstanding dream of performing a full Jay Chou tribute act. Here are some favorite Jay tracks to help kick start your own collection: “说爱你 Say I Love You” from Jolin Tsai’s Magic 看我72变 (2003) Back when I was working for Ubisoft, we formed a band and performed this song at a company party at the Red Square sculpture park. It exemplifies what I admire about Jay’s songwriting; the key shifts suddenly to the parallel minor, and the elusive form makes it hard to pin down exactly which section is the chorus and which is the verse. But it’s such a perfect blast of pop insouciance, you never even notice. “牛仔很忙 On the Run” from On the Run 我很忙 (2007) This song is totally weird, a Chinese country song, the kind of thing you can only pull off when you’re one of the biggest stars in the world. He’s a milk-drinking cowboy who takes bubble baths. Do yourself a favor and Youku the video. The English name is “On the Run,” but I prefer the literal translation: “Cowboys are very busy.” It’s something of a personal anthem for me, and one of my proudest karaoke moments: “Justice calls me, women need me, cowboys are very busy!” “双截棍 Nunchucks” from Fantasy 范特西 (2001) Almost guaranteed to close his upcoming show, this is one of Jay’s most notoriously fast raps; I must admit, I’ve only mastered the first stanza to date. You’ll know it by the “huh huh hah hee” refrain that the entire stadium will be shouting as they ecstatically pump their light sticks in unision. |