For example, [while redoing the album] Qian Lei "forced" him to write a song. Qian Lei thought, this new album was extremely significant to him, so there should be a song Zhou Shen wrote himself. What's more, others have criticized him for not being able to compose. But Qian Lei knows he can---and quite well too. "It's not possible someone with strong emotions and a sensitive heart to not be able to write a good melody, it's completely not possible."
Usually, Zhou Shen will hum out a melody and record it with his phone---sound engineer Xu Wei has listened to them and thought the melody lines were really good, and could absolutely be straightened out into an original song. But Zhou Shen always felt it wasn't good enough, and even said, to compose beside such a skilled composer like Lei-ge, it would be like an elementary schooler insisting on reciting their composition in front of a doctorate holder---so imprudent.
His friends all know his personality---for a "master in self-deprication," being unduly humble was a daily occurrence.
His old friend of ten years, lyricist 沃特艾文儿 said: "Not just composing---when I first met him, he even thought his singing was bad. It was so upsetting to me. I'm very relieved that he at least recognizes his singing ability now."
Qian Lei has also listened to Zhou Shen's compositions before, and told him, isn't this pretty good? Zhou Shen said, don't mess with me. Qian Lei said, I'm serious, I'm not joking, it's quite good. Zhou Shen said, bye bye. Qian Lei said, bye bye yourself. Thus, when working on the new album, he would use every means possible to force him to write a song. One moment he would "hold a hammer behind him and get him to hurry up and write," the next moment he would set his mind at ease, saying "you don't have to overthink it, gradually the more you write the easier it will be. I'm here, so don't worry."
This song was written at Qian Lei's home---once the first step of writing was taken, the rest went smoothly. Musically, Zhou Shen already had things in mind, and a few hours later, the main melody was basically set.
Zhou Shen also participated a lot in writing the lyrics. He really liked the line "I can catch the flowers floating in the wind; I don't care whether I fall into the galaxy or into the mud." But "no matter how I sang it, it felt a little off, like it was missing something." He hummed it and hummed it, and out of nowhere added a soft, low, even a little "rude", "嘿,少管我," and "suddenly it came to life."
Before, Zhou Shen had always wanted to write a song called "少管我." In his earlier years, he had randomly used these words in replies to fans, and in an interview where he talked about how his fans were never satisfied no matter what he changed his profile picture to, he ended up jokingly shouting "少管我, " and it then went viral. After that, Zhou Shen thought, as a singer, if one day I could turn "少管我" into a song, how interesting would that be.
These past few years, he found a lot of people to compose its melody, but he always felt the melodies weren't quite what he wanted. The album that was cancelled also had a song in it named "少管我," but he still felt it wasn't quite right. Until now, it came to him like a "gift" from above.
The first impression many people get from these three words is more or less rigid, sharp, harsh, stubborn, and capricious. But to Zhou Shen, a rebellious attitude is easy but truly knowing yourself is a long journey. "It's not necessarily about rebelling against the whole world, but you have to clearly know what version of yourself you want to be, and only then can you become yourself."
The day of the interview at an art park in Tongzhou, Beijing, the sky darkened a little. Zhou Shen took out his cell phone and played the unmixed recording of "少管我." The melody was light, "like travelling, very free." He shook his head to beat, and listened to the song he had listened to countless times one more time.
"When I was writing this song and its lyrics, I didn't have "少管我" in mind, but in the end it became the "少管我" that I wanted." Moments like these, sparks flying, you think, "that’s right"---that's the biggest joy in making an album.
Album: 《反深代词》 - Track 8
Lyricist: Zhou Shen & Wang Qian
Composer: Song Yang
Arrangement: Song Yang & Qian Lei
Producer: Qian Lei
Where to buy/listen (not available on Spotify or Youtube yet)
Live performance at 9.29Hz Concert in Hangzhou (eng subbed by me)
[T/N: literal translation of title is “sewing / suturing / mending”
all artistic liberties in translation are mine, and paragraph breaks were added for ease of reading.
although zs participated in writing the lyrics for many songs in this album, this detail is an even more devastating fact when it comes to this song. read the extras at the end for more sufferingdetails]
"This is a song I don't wish for you to understand. If you do understand it, give yourself a hug. Thank you for your hard work."
- Zhou Shen's comment on Weibo post about the song
LYRICS
情绪伤口 修补能手
These emotional wounds were mended by a professional
短暂缝合之后又渗出血流
Shortly after suturing, blood seeped out again
同父母说 相同困惑
I told my parents to their perplexity
也正在大人身体里经历着
Adult bodies also experience the same
不停思索 寻找缘由
Thinking incessantly, seeking reasons
听见左胸传来回声的空洞
Hearing a hollow echo from the left chest
这不够好,那要改过
This is not good enough, must correct it
无尽的盼头
Hope is inexhaustible
I’m giving my all
寻找缺口 修补伤口
Find the nicks, mend the wounds
I’m giving my all
缝补之后 又再次泪流
After mending, tears flow again
I’m giving my all
新的伤痕 旧的内疚
These new scars, these old guilts
I’m giving my all
如何才能 找到出口
How can I find the way out?
否定成果 爽约承诺
Negated gains, broken promises
都缝合成细腻温柔的眼色
Are all sewn into smooth and gentle eyes
落单门口 独行角落
Left alone at the door, in a solitary corner
都包扎成坚强独立的成就
Are all bound up into strong and independent successes
重复工作 重复失落
Work keeps repeating, loss keeps duplicating
调换角色修补找新的成果
Swapping mending roles to seek new results
不同身体 不同角落
A different body, a different corner
同样的苦痛
The pain is no different
I’m giving my all
大人背后 常乌云盖着
Behind each adult are often dark clouds
I’m giving my all
孩子内心 底色是晴的
The colour of a child’s heart is sunny
I’m giving my all
白的天空 留了一滴墨
A drop of ink lands in the white sky
I’m giving my all
如何调色 如何来涂抹
How to blend the colours, how to paint them
所有无助的绑住的困住的我都清楚却也无法挣脱
These helplessness, bindings, and entrapments,
I know them all, yet cannot break free
所有偏执的逃离的期盼的他们都懂也无法从头来过
These fixations, running away, and expectations,
they understand them all, yet cannot start over
I’m giving my all
各自运转 各自角色
Each of us is functioning, each of us has a role
I’m giving my all
你们都是 第一次活着
You all are living for the first time
I’m giving my all
万般无意 伤口却留着
However unintentional the slights, they still leave behind wounds
I’m giving my all
伤痕再多 也值得被爱着
How ever many scars there are, you are worthy of being loved
EXTRAS
About the song’s setting:
“In the world of 200 years later, all injured humans will be mended by magical robots. Adult robots are responsible for mending adult humans, and young robots are responsible for mending children; they form a family unit and work together. All human wounds will eventually heal, except for one part...
One day, a young mending robot asks its parents for help: "This child's heart was mended yesterday, but today the wound has reopened..."
The parents, who are also mending robots, smile as if they are used to it: "Adult hearts are just as difficult to mend...but you'll get used to it after you mend them a few more times."
The little robot knocked on its chest unknowingly – a hollow echo came from the metal shell. "Can a robot without a heart mend a bleeding heart?" it wonders.
The little robot decides to exchange the client with its parents. It wants to find the answer to achieving "completely mended".
With its parents around and watching, it opens the chest of an adult human with great expectation―
These emotions, akin to old and new scars crisscrossing, cover up the bleeding heart in layers.
"We can't truly mend the person’s heart, right? Dad, Mom..."
"Perhaps...but as long as the heart is still beating, we still have a chance to mend it again."”
Zhou Shen’s Weibo post sharing his thoughts about the song:
“Mending” is a song that made me very very very very very very very very very very very very very stressed.
Sometimes I even felt that I was doing something that was a bit "indelicate". But I also feel that "being seen" has a certain kind of meaning!!
As a singer, I feel like I am a little mending robot from 200 years later, slowly mending everyone's new and old wounds, including my own, through singing.
I hesitated many times, wondering if writing these emotions would be a bit "indelicate", but I ended up burying many of my own shards into the lyrics. I also worried whether this song would touch the shards that many listeners buried in their memories that they do not want to be touched?
But just like the little robot, despite failures and despite lack of solutions, it still persists in dissecting the wound and mending it again and again.
In the face of unchangeable facts, only by facing and meeting them head on, only by accepting and understanding, only by listening and empathizing, only by being sincere and courageous, and never giving up on yourself, can you create opportunities and allow the wounds to be truly mended.
In fact, I also know that many wounds will not heal in the end.
But to have the opportunity to mend them again and again, I think that is a very happy thing.
I wish for everyone: To not be afraid of new wounds, to not be afraid of old scars; no matter what, you are always worthy of being loved.
I am very happy to be your mending little robot.
Each of us is our own mending little robot.
Even if you have been bearing new and old scars all this time, it will not prevent you from being surrounded by passionate love!!! Not because of any reason, but because it is you, so it is worth it!”
Source (FULL ALBUM): Elvis Presley Concert CD (Youtube channel)
Audio from Bootleg album "A New Kind Of Rhythm!", released in 2007 by Madison label. This CD contains full soundboard recording from an Elvis concert recorded live at the Riverfront Coliseum on March 21, 1976 (evening concert at 8:30 pm), Cincinnati, Ohio.
PICTURES: Elvis concert Riverfront Coliseum on March 21, 1976 (evening concert, 8:30pm).
FUN FACT: Elvis performed twice that day at the Riverfront Coliseum. For the afternoon concert (2:30pm), EP was wearing the "Blue Egyptian Bird" suit, but at given moment the rear end of that suit teared up due to his movement onstage (no surprise it happened right after Elvis performed "Polk Salad Annie"). He briefly went offstage and changed into the "Rainfall" suit, in which the show moved along. There's another bootleg CD from this concert, with the title "Rippin' It In Cincinnati" (released in 2018 by Straight Arrow label), a clear reference to that one incident onstage. For the evening concert (8:30pm) Elvis wore the "Rainfall" suit again.
After changing his outfit (afternoon concert), picture above shows Elvis showing the rip to his audience. Riverfront Coliseum on March 21, 1976. There's footage of that moment too. You can watch it, here [Dailymotion]. In spite what happened, the Blue Egyptian Bird suit was fixed and Elvis wore it again in many occasions after that one incident.
Source (all the pictures): elvisconcerts.com
youtube
FULL CONCERT [Riverfront Coliseum on March 21, 1976 — Evening concert at 8:30 pm]. If you'd like to know what EP said about the ripping suit incident (yes, he mentioned it on the evening concert), you can listen to it on this soundboard recording (begins at 29:06). EP mentioned it briefly. Take your time to appreciate the full concert, seriously. This concert is AMAZING! "Steamroller Blues" (at 15:53)? Uhh! ❤️🔥
I drew Donnie while listening to the 1 hr version of the song. Since some of the characters dancing from parts of the song reminded me of him (mainly the tiny doodle in the middle lol)