NetEase Cloud Music's "Rehearsing the Rings of Time" has launched Zhao Naiji's re-interpretation of "A Game, a Dream". When a work spanning 35 years meets the new voices of this era, the game has long been different. The gameplay, Meng also changed its original appearance.
Listening to Zhao Naiji's song "A Game, a Dream", the most intuitive feeling is that the clouds are calm and the wind is gentle. Accompanied by the fresh and concise folk guitar, Zhao Naiji's singing even reveals a little warmth.
For old fans who are used to Wang Jie's classic version of "A Game, a Dream", this may require an adaptation process, because this song they are familiar with is always associated with images such as desolation, sadness, depression, and resentment. To put it into context, this was Wang Jie when he debuted at the beginning of that year. He had an extremely distinctive temperament in music. This kind of singing voice was imprinted in the song "A Game, a Dream", and from then on there was a kind of person named Wang Jie. style.
But the charm of music is that it can inspire different possibilities. The same melody and the same theme can often have completely different directions under different arrangements and different interpretations. Just like the interpretation of "A Game, a Dream", Wang Jie's singing focuses more on "You should not be there in a world of two people", while Zhao Naiji emphasizes "Today, I still don't have you, I It’s still me.”
One is endless sadness, the other is the freedom and ease of letting go, one theme, two images, but each has its own world and each has its own splendor.
Of course, when it comes to the song "A Game, a Dream", we still have to start with Wang Jie, because this is Wang Jie's famous song, and it even changed the fate of many people…
"A Game, a Dream" is a song without real instruments
Life is full of accidents, and Wang Jie's music career is a culmination of all kinds of accidents.
Before entering the music industry, Wang Jie worked in many low-level jobs and also worked as a movie stuntman. But out of his love for music, becoming a singer has always been Wang Jie's obsession.
The turning point in Wang Jie's life happened in 1987. This year, his composition "Only for Me to Love You" finally had the opportunity to be selected by Qu Youliang and included in the latter's album "Can't Bear to Separate" in the same year. At the same time, Li Shixian, a music friend who shared his adversity with him, also introduced Wang Jie to Li Shouquan, a famous Taiwanese musician at the time.
Although Li Shouquan did not think about signing a contract with Wang Jie at the first time, because he was in charge of the Mandarin album case of Hong Kong singer Jacky Cheung at the time, he also recommended "Love Punk" co-composed by Wang Jie and Li Shixian to Jacky Cheung sings. Although this rock-style work is not very suitable for Jacky Cheung, it allowed Wang Jie to finally alleviate his existential crisis to some extent by relying on his creative income.
In the end, Li Shouquan signed Wang Jie to his music label "Rio Music".
When preparing for his first album, because Wang Jie's personal creative works were not enough, Li Shouquan also found Wang Wenqing, a new creative artist who was also frustrated at the time. Wang Wenqing also selected works that had been rejected by singers such as Huang Dawei and Wawa. I gave some to Li Shouquan, including "Forget You, Forget Me" and "A Game, a Dream". These two songs later became the title songs of Wang Jie's second and first albums respectively.
In order to make his newcomers an instant hit, Li Shouquan also spent a lot of money to invite gold medal musician Chen Zhiyuan to arrange the entire album. Since he had thought of releasing this album simultaneously in Taiwan and Hong Kong from the very beginning, Li Shouquan also hoped that Chen Zhiyuan would release a demo version of the title song "A Game, a Dream" to facilitate him and the Hong Kong publisher. Talk about cooperation.
So, Chen Zhiyuan was in the studio at that time, using a synthesizer and computer programming to complete the prototype of the song's arrangement by himself. Unexpectedly, after listening to it, Li Shouquan was full of praise for this version, and even hoped that Chen Zhiyuan would use this version as the official version. Chen Zhiyuan later added some synthesizer-simulated cello sounds based on this demo, and finally completed the formal arrangement, which is the most classic version of "A Game, a Dream" that we now hear.
Therefore, the drums and strings you heard in the 1987 version of "A Game, a Dream" were actually simulated by computers, and this song was also the only one in the album at that time that was not accompanied by a band. work. At that time, the accompaniment band for this album was also the "Big Four" led by Chen Zhiyuan. The other three members were drummer Huang Ruifeng, guitarist You Zhengyan, and bassist Guo Zongshao. In addition, the album also invited famous Hong Kong guitarist Su Dehua to participate in the performance.
Before the arrangement of the song "A Game, a Dream" was completed and the album was not officially released, this song was heard by fans first. The reason was that Sylvia Chang, who had finished filming "The Yellow Story", had no idea for the ending song due to the delay of a well-known singer, so Li Shouguan recommended the song "A Game, a Dream" as the ending song.
As a result, the movie didn't get much attention, but the song "One Game, One Dream" became a hit.
Frustrated people meet frustrated people, collaborators who have never met before
The song "A Game, a Dream" allowed Wang Jie and Wang Wenqing to achieve mutual success between singers and songwriters, and also allowed two people who had been frustrated in the music industry to get on the right track in their careers.
Especially in the first three albums, which represented the peak of Wang Jie's career, Wang Wenqing even wrote ten songs for Wang Jie. Such works as "A Game, a Dream", "Thinking About These Things", "Take Care", "Forget You, Forget Me", "You Are You and I Am Me" have become Wang Jie's eternal masterpieces. .
△Teacher Wang Wenqing served as keyboardist at Qi Qin’s concert, which was also one of his few public appearances.
In addition, the Cantonese version of "A Game, a Dream", "Some Sad, Some Crazy", also allowed Wang Jie to gain a foothold in the Hong Kong music scene. "Thinking About These Things" was adapted into "What I Want in Life", which became the most important masterpiece in the middle and later stages of Chen Baiqiang's career and an outstanding classic in the history of the Hong Kong Philharmonic. Another song, "Take Care", was performed by Ye Canman into the Cantonese version of "Take Care", which also swept the Hong Kong music scene in 1990.
However, as such important music career partners, Wang Jie and Wang Wenqing have never officially met each other. According to Wang Jie's personal recollection, when he was recording the album "A Game, a Dream", he was taking the elevator upstairs to the company. When he got out of the elevator on the company floor, a person happened to enter the elevator and go downstairs. People in the company said that the person who passed by Wang Jie at that time was Wang Wenqing. This was also the only time Wang Jie and Wang Wenqing met, but they didn't leave a single word.
After 1990, Wang Wenqing reduced his cooperation with Wang Jie. During that period, he also joined Qi Qin's "Hong Kong" orchestra and became the second generation keyboard player in the orchestra's history.
At the "Hurry Up" concert in 1991, Qi Qin introduced Wang Wenqing to the audience. This was almost the only public stage appearance of Wang Wenqing in his music career.
After that, Wang Wenqing also wrote songs for Jackie Chan, Zhao Chuan, etc., and Peng Ling was his most important co-singer in the later period of his music career. For the "My Eyes, My Tears" album, he wrote eight songs in one go. .
Later, Wang Wenqing disappeared from the public eye, but what is more puzzling is that people continue to break the news of Wang Wenqing's "death". Since there was no news from Wang Wenqing that even refuted it, and because he had lost contact with the music industry, many musicians were unable to confirm it, so the news spread and eventually became a "fact."
However, in 2016, Jiang Jianmin, one of the founding members of the "Hong Kong" band, announced through social media that Wang Wenqing had just retired from the music industry, but that he was doing well and serving on the management committee of a building in Taichung City.
Wang Wenqing was finally "resurrected".
Wang Jie covers Wang Jie, several versions of "A Game, a Dream"
In the 35 years since its release, the song "A Game, a Game" has been covered by countless singers, including Qi Qin, Chen Chusheng, "New Pants", Tsai Chin, Qian Zhenghao and other new and old singers, all of whom have left behind Play some classic versions or famous scenes.
Many people also compare many cover versions with Wang Jie's. Most fans often think that Wang Jie's version is the best version due to preconceptions.
However, when it comes to Wang Jie's "A Game, a Dream", from a strict perspective, we cannot simply say that Wang Jie's version of "A Game, a Dream" is because even Wang Jie himself has Official versions have been recorded in multiple studios. These different versions actually witnessed the changes in Wang Jie's singing voice and mood.
In 2000, Wang Jie, who had signed a contract with Emperor Entertainment at the time, reinterpreted this old song from 13 years ago in his solo album "From Now On".
This version was arranged by American musician Tim. The music is more American and Western. In addition to the more relaxed rhythm, Wang Jie's performance is not very different from his performance in the 1980s. However, this version of the music is , which is indeed more in line with the international listening experience of the millennium.
I don't know if it was in order to "respond" to this new album. Wang Jie's old club "Warner Records" (which had acquired "UFO Records" at the time) also released Wang Jie's "From Now On" eight days after the album was released. "The Best (2000 Century Selection)" actually includes the song "One Game, One Dream".
This version is an unplugged version, with a folk melody of guitar and dabbling, returning to the most essential lines of the work. Wang Jie's performance in this version also weakens the pathos and is overall clearer and brighter.
Three years later, Wang Jie once again sang this famous classic in his self-selected album "Love Me, My Love, Wang Jie". However, there are obviously some problems with Wang Jie's voice in this version. Combined with the career lows and life changes he encountered at that stage, this 2003 version of "A Game, a Dream" also has an unprecedented desolation. There is even a hint of despair in it.
Which version of "A Game, a Dream" do you prefer?
