Tuesday, February 28, 2017

[Music] Tempting Heart -- Shino Lin

Poster for Tempting Heart (1999)
 
Shino Lin


1. "Tempting Heart" ("心動") is the theme song of a 1999 Hong Kong movie of the same name.

The movie is directed by Sylvia Chang and stars Takeshi Kaneshiro, Gigi Leung and Karen Mok.

The music is composed and arranged by Kay Huang of Taiwan and the lyrics are by Albert Leung of Hong Kong.

The song is sung in Mandarin.

The movie and the song "Tempting Heart" (1999) were made by some of the best talents from Hong Kong and Taiwan of the time.

A more literal translation of "心動" would be "throbbing heart" or "fluttering heart".


2. I have known the song "Tempting Heart" for some time but I am not familiar with the original singer Shino Lin of Taiwan.

Reading her entry in Chinese Wikipedia makes me realized that Shino Lin did not had an easy life.

Shino Lin's parents divorced when she was young and she started working as a lounge singer in 1990 when she was only 16 years old.

The first four years of her lounge singing was in a restaurant in Japan where she took on the Japanese name "Shino".

After returning to Taiwan, Shino continued to sing in various pubs.

Shino Lin worked hard for many years and her first album come out in 1998 which was very well received.

Ironically, she won as "Best New Comer" in a 1999 Taiwanese music award.

Shino Lin music career has many ups and downs in the last twenty years due in part to her suffering from bipolar disorder.

A tragic event happened in 2007 when Shino Lin caused the death of a nurse while DUI.

Shino became a Christian not too long after this event.


3. There are a few notable observations about both the movie and the theme song:

(a) Sylvia Chang, the director and also being one of the script writers and actors, said there were some autobiographical elements of herself in the script.

(b) Beside the original singer Shino Lin, many people associated with the movie are also singers themselves: Sylvia Chang (Director), Kay Huang (Composer), Gigi Leung (female lead), and Karen Mok (another lead actor).

(c) This song has been covered by many singers from Hong Kong, Taiwan and mainland China.

Music is indeed something that transcends political differences.

(d) This Song is susceptible to many interpretations.

I like many of the cover versions in YouTube, even ones with very distinct interpretation.

But if I have to choose an outstanding interpretation from the many good ones, it is probably the cover by Kit Chan.


4. "Tempting Heart" by its original singer Shino Lin (Taiwan):

Music Video with scenes from the movie:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rAXmU300DRc

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vAUJFmZRJLA

The woman appearing between the 00:30 and 1:00 minute marks is Sylvia Chang, the Director of the movie "Tempting Heart".


Others:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4LbIyGUkKWk

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AR1FH5pSRJ8

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nWmwASpn1XQ

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-hMsztMXqps



5. Covers by Kit Chan (Singapore):

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oVsRuLg1TYA

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1PMmLKspe_s

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aKDkWjKrNos

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TomUDn0EUkQ

First of two songs:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oX-VoZms5jo

and many more in YouTube.


6. Cover by the director of "Tempting Heart" Sylvia Chang (Taiwan):

Sylvia Chang duets with Stella Chang in a 2015 concert:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IYD1yW_WOmo


7. Covers by the composer of "Tempting Heart" Kay Huang (Taiwan):

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8K5OnQS1ykI

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-LkvbVKQczE

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_hjzeMQrkjU

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VbqpXSzrL8g

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M0qNluE60os


8. Covers by the lead actress of "Tempting Heart" Gigi Leung (Hong Kong):

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AUX6PYPYCkA

Second of two songs starting at the the 2:38 minutes mark:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e3bchpfSh8s

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mOwoH89KjLQ


9. Cover by an actor in "Tempting Heart" William So (Hong Kong):

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wXwEZ8waUVg


10. Covers by Hins Cheung (Hong Kong):

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bugSzVcMGbA

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MxvZWYV687c


11. Covers by A-Lin (Taiwan):

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UgwoA5ukooo

Starting at the 1:25 minutes mark:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gaJ1hPWtSG8


12. Cover by Christine Fan (Chinese American) and
Wang Qiwei (mainland Chinese):

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3VeGkz3vK0U


13. Cover by Jam Hsiao (Taiwan) (male) and Hong Jingjing (mainland Chinese) (female):

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QdsccMg7Y6g


14. Covers by Shuhei Nagasawa (Japanese):

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Uems9cFyvPE

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LkJrYlihSlU

Nagasawa's mother is Chinese.


15. Cover by LaLa Hsu (Taiwan) and Nana Liu (Taiwan):

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-bHSC_pqPKA


16. The Lyrics in Traditional Chinese:


心動 -- 林曉培

作詞:林夕
作曲:黃韻玲

有多久沒見你   以為你在哪裡
原來就住在我心底   陪伴著我的呼吸
有多遠的距離   以為聞不到你氣息
誰知道你背影這麼長   回頭就看到你

* 過去讓它過去   來不及
從頭喜歡你   白雲纏繞著藍天

如果不能夠永遠走在一起
也至少給我們懷念的勇氣   擁抱的權利
好讓你明白   我心動的痕跡

Repeat *

總是想再見你   還試著打探你消息
原來你就住在我的身體   守護我的回憶


17. The Lyrics in Simplified Chinese:


心动 -- 林晓培

作词:林夕
作曲:黄韵玲

有多久没见你   以为你在哪里
原来就住在我心底   陪伴着我的呼吸
有多远的距离   以为闻不到你气息
谁知道你背影这么长   回头就看到你

* 过去让它过去   来不及
从头喜欢你   白云缠绕着蓝天

如果不能够永远走在一起
也至少给我们怀念的勇气   拥抱的权利
好让你明白   我心动的痕迹

Repeat *

总是想再见你   还试着打探你消息
原来你就住在我的身体   守护我的回忆


18. Names, Words and Phrases:

A-Lin (Traditional Chinese: 黃麗玲; Simplified Chinese: 黄丽玲).

Albert Leung (Traditional: 林夕; Simplified: 林夕).

Christine Fan (Traditional: 范瑋琪; Simplified: 范玮琪).

Gigi Leung (Traditional: 梁詠琪; Simplified: 梁咏琪).

Hins Cheung (Traditional: 張敬軒; Simplified: 张敬轩).

Hong Jingjing (Traditional: 洪晶晶; Simplified: 洪晶晶).

Jam Hsiao (Traditional: 蕭敬騰; Simplified: 萧敬腾).

Karen Mok (Traditional: 莫文蔚; Simplified: 莫文蔚).

Kay Huang (Traditional: 黃韻玲; Simplified: 黄韵玲).

Kit Chan (Traditional: 陳潔儀; Simplified: 陈洁仪).

LaLa Hsu (Traditional: 徐佳瑩; Simplified: 徐佳莹).

Nana Liu (Traditional: 劉若英; Simplified: 刘若英).

Shino Lin (Traditional: 林曉培; Simplified: 林晓培).

Shuhei Nagasawa (Traditional: 長澤秀平; Simplified: 长泽秀平).

Stella Chang (Traditional: 張清芳; Simplified: 张清芳).

Sylvia Chang (Traditional: 張艾嘉; Simplified: 张艾嘉).

Takeshi Kaneshiro (Traditional: 金城武; Simplified: 金城武).

Wang Qiwei (Traditional: 王琪瑋; Simplified: 王琪玮).

William So (Traditional: 蘇永康; Simplified: 苏永康).


References:

"Shino Lin", Wikipedia - The Free Encyclopedia,
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shino_Lin
(accessed 2017-02-28).

"心動", Wikipedia - The Free Encyclopedia,
https://zh.wikipedia.org/zh-hk/%E5%BF%83%E5%8B%95
(accessed 2017-02-28).

"林曉培", Wikipedia - The Free Encyclopedia,
https://zh.wikipedia.org/zh-hk/%E6%9E%97%E6%9B%89%E5%9F%B9
(accessed 2017-02-28).

End.