For the 2024 Mid-Autumn (Mooncake) Festival, I dedicate the following song to all my friends and family:
"The Moon Represents my Heart"
月亮代表我的心; pinyin: Yuèliang Dàibiǎo Wǒ de Xīn
Songstress: Teresa Teng (鄧麗君; pinyin: Dèng Lìjūn) (1953 - 1995)
Composers: Weng Ching-hsi and Sun Yi
I first came across this song a few months ago when I was
trolling the web for music to use as soundtrack. The version
which I heard was an
instrumental by Carl Doy (a New
Zealander) on piano accompanied by the New Zealand Symphony
Orchestra. It was entitled "The Moon, My Heart" which turned out
not to be what the song is usually called. It seemed very
odd to me that a New Zealander would put out what was seemingly
not a western tune. It sounded very Chinese me (did I hear a
pentatonic scale? Or may be the emphasis on melody rather than
harmony). I was taken by the melancholy melody and began to
research the song. Sure enough, Shazam gave the name of
the tune as The Moon Represents My Heart. I had never
heard the song before but for it to sound so touching must mean
that I probably have been exposed to it in part unknowingly (as
in hearing it in malls, radio, or other media). That I had never
heard of the complete song before is probably due to the fact
that at the time of its release and popularity, I was in an
anglophone world/culture where there was little exposure to
mandopop.
The Moon Represents My Heart was
first recorded in 1972 by Taiwanese Chen Fen-lan, but it found
widespread exposure, love and fame when the late Teresa Teng
(also Taiwanese) released her version at the end of 1977. It
captured the hearts of the mainland Chinese who hitherto had
been restricted in their access to music from the outside world.
Their music fare was revolutionary songs ("no decadent music
of the bougeoise, wank you velly much") and China had just
seen the end of Mao Zedong's Great Proletarian Cultural
Revolution (1966 to 1976) (an immediate family in-law of mine
was supposedly a member of the Red Guards). The Moon
Represents My Heart is honoured with No. 1 ranking in
the Hong Kong Top 10 Chinese
Golden Songs of the 20th Century. In 2010 it was ranked No. 1
greatest classic Chinese song of the last 30 years by critics (Source).
The song has been recorded by many artistes through the years,
hear:
So, this Mid-Autumn Festival, I share this wonderful song with you (for many of you this will be just a re-acquaintance with the song).
Happy Mooncake Festival!
10 September 2024
Created by Clem Kuek
