Music

This is the music I've been listening to for the past few years. I don't know why. I don't listen to the same music as most of the people I know. Never have, actually. I've always gone my own way. I know I'm not the only non-Chinese person to like this music, though. That's one reason for including this section on my website.

I spend a lot of time looking up characters and meanings. I have a long way to go before I can do a good translation. (I've done one and if it's correct, it was good fortune!) Oddly, despite the difficulties, I genuinely enjoy doing this. The music and the vocalist convey a great deal of meaning, but knowing the word meanings gives me a clearer idea of the song's meaning. (Well, duh!) It's also a great help for singing along. It amazes me how difficult it is to hear an individual word in a language I don't know, and it has delighted me to begin to recognize words, both audio and visual, that I have looked up frequently. (
Note)

To say I'm learning a little Chinese is only half the story. When I started, I planned on sticking only to Mandarin songs. I couldn't do that! I like the Cantonese songs as well. My most favorite singers sing more Cantonese than Mandarin, I think. Mandarin has an official phonetic spelling (called Pinyin). It's much easier to find help with it. Cantonese apparently doesn't have an official phonetic text. The one I am using here is called Yale. It doesn't always look like what I hear. It is not what I see most places where they use phonetic spelling. However, it seems to have a very specific pronounciation and is consistent! It's also the only phonetic spelling I can find online.

What I'm offering here are NOT translations. They are transliterations (phonetics). They help me learn to sing along with the songs I like. Eventually, I'll offer translations, but that's probably a few years away (except, perhaps, for an occasional dash of good fortune!). I have no particular order in which I'm doing them. Whatever strikes my fancy is the one I'm working on.

Because of copyright, I cannot post the lyrics in the characters, nor any English songs without permission. I hope to have some samples (I'm limited to a maximum of 45 seconds) to give you an idea of what the song sounds like. Support the Arts!! Please do not download songs from the internet unless you intend to buy the CD it's on. I also hope to have some links to sites where you can buy any of these CDs if you are interested.

If you wandered into this section out of curiosity, or because you're lost, and happen to be someone who has never heard... HEY! Give it a chance. Take a look. Listen to my samples. There are some beautiful songs out there...musically, vocally and lyricly. You might become a fan, too!

A really great place to listen to some of the great songs and singers is
HKVP Radio. (www. hkvpradio.com) Click on "Tune in now" at the left, when you get there. (If you don't have a compatable player, download the Live365 player. It's free.) Also check out other things around the site. It's a really wonderful place. :^)
Click on the name to see what albums I have. The album will connect you to any transliterations I've done. I've included all my Chinese CDs here, but have not done all of them, by any means! (Animated icons show differnt covers of the same CD. I've also included music videos.)
  1. Leslie Cheung
  2. Jacky Cheung
  3. Eason Chan
  4. Andy Lau
  5. Emil Chau
  6. Jackie Chan
  7. Tony Leung
  8. Sun Yan Zi
  9. Kelly Chen
  10. Leon Lai
  11. Jonathan Lee
  12. Anita Mui






























  13. Karen Mok
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