Zhang Peiren once heard "The End of Love" and concluded that it could catch fire for 25 years.
"The End of Love" was released in 1996, and the album "Norwegian Forest" quickly became popular on both sides of the Taiwan Straits. Later, Wu Bai became recognized as the uncrowned king of Chinese rock.
Today, this album has really been on fire for 25 years.
Rolling Stone Records recently posted a long post on Weibo to commemorate this enduring work:
"From conflict to precipitation, from calm and soothing to the wide sky; 'The End of Love' allows us to see the breath and formation of life, release from depression, and see a bright, hopeful world, and you must listen carefully to the entire album."
01
At first, liking Wu Bai seemed difficult to say.
With a slightly "earthy" singing voice, coupled with a rough image, in that era when there were certain requirements for the appearance of artists, Wu Bai was not a symbol of fashion.
And his Desk guest style is like copy-paste: long hair that has remained unchanged for thousands of years, always with an electric fan, a Hawaiian flower shirt, and a pair of black sunglasses that look cold and ruthless.
Xiao S, who had made a movie with Wu Bai, joked in the show: "Teacher Wu Bai is on the set, which makes people very scared, afraid that he will suddenly walk away or punch over." ”
But taking off this layer of "cold" filters, Wu Bai's singing voice sounded, but it was another feeling.
Although people didn't want to admit that they liked him, the song's playback data could not deceive people.
Some people say that whether it is a township hair salon, ktv, or a barbecue stall full of small benches, a two-dollar shop that is sold every day, in the era when the Phoenix legend was not yet popular, any place where the per capita consumption did not exceed 30 yuan could be contracted by Wu Bai.
But who would have thought that the tide of popularity is unpredictable, and Wu Bai can cross the long river of time and repeatedly turn red to today. Even this "End of Love" has gone through 25 years.
Under the era of "Taiwanese revival", this Chinese album launched by Wu Bai on the contrary has become a classic that does not fade.
Now Wen Gu "The End of Love", ten songs are like the book of life, and it seems to understand more. Behind that iconic earthy taste, in fact, hidden is Wu Bai's ultimate romance.
02
The first song on the album is "Summer Night Wind", which is unexpectedly tender compared to Wu Bai's consistent style. The soothing piano tone accompanies the whole song, and Wu Bai's extensive voice also becomes softer in the soothing melody.
"The love of a summer night wind, the love of a lonely heart, a love that is still waiting" The atmosphere is full of sense, as if it really walks into the summer wilderness, the evening wind blows, time has stopped, and only infinite quiet beauty remains.
The album's eponymous song "The End of Love" has a change of style, from tranquility to enthusiasm and mania. "Throw all the scenery in mid-air, with your laughter I can't sleep, I can't sleep"
The hot emotion pours out with the uninhibited singing voice. Find a catharsis for the hot heart on a midsummer night. After laying the groundwork for Wu Bai's repeated "end of love", Ji pushed the whole song to the climax, making people calm and bloody.
And this feeling can only be found in Wu Bai's songs.
In addition, the next "Honey, You're Drunk", "Change", "Colorful Lights" all have similar interpretations. The strong rhythm, the cathartic singing voice, the squeezed together emotions, can be fully released in the music.
"Honey, You're Drunk" was described by the Rolling Stones as "a neat rock", "there are stars flying in front of you, I am always trapped in the fog" with vivid imagery to interpret the complexity of love, and a large number of onomatopoeia will also show the drunken confusion.
"Change" is an unpopular song, and even many loyal fans have not favored it. Unbridled, even nonsensical, but cheerful. The content of the lyrics is a large section of inner activity self-description, the consciousness pulling back and forth, quite a fragmented thought: "Where did you run into my body like this";
"Colorful Lights" who listens to it will have a feeling of being brainwashed by Wu Bai, a series of "ah", free to the extreme. For this reason, some people say that this is the song with the strongest temperament of "Ronin" on Wu Bai's body. The wonderful harmony has a sense of listening that the left and right are surrounded by Wu Bai, and even as if the colorful pictures of the colorful lights are unfolding in front of the eyes.
"Last Dance" turned a hit last year and became a phenomenon-level hit. Of course, this is inseparable from the blessing of the "Want to See You" Taiwan drama, which can be traced back to the song itself, and the melody on it can be loved by people after the 90s, 00s, and even unfamiliar with Wu Bai, which also shows Wu Bai's creative talent.
"So close your eyes for the time being, floating my expectations in the dark" Wu Bai's signature eye covering action has become an established fashion today. The Taiwanese drama opened up a side story for the song, but the song itself was full of endless romance, which is why it can still be named a classic many years later.
Far more than "last dance" was chosen as ost, director Bi Gan used three Songs by Wu Bai as the soundtrack in the 2016 movie "Roadside Picnic", "World First Class", "Sudden Self" and "Ronin Love Song".
The most well-known song on this album is "Norwegian Forest", which is said to have just finished reading Haruki Murakami's "Norwegian Forest" and created this song. "Let me take your heart off and try to melt it slowly", earthy and romantic. Heart-wrenching rock love songs, it seems that people can really believe that "people who meet will meet again"
Not only love, Wu Bai has deep thinking about life and life. Just as you are accustomed to listening to the love and love of you and me, tasting the chicken soup of the soul that envisions the future, and getting used to seeing the handsome men and women who are uniform, suddenly a "ronin" breaks into the curtain and tells you the truth of life, I think anyone will be impacted.
"Youth" borrows the theme of youth and commemorates the youth time with a fast-paced rock and roll style; "Go with the Wind" and "Life is a Dream" depict a leisurely and open-minded outlook on life: "Who said that life is difficult to understand, it is just a dream"
"Gone with the Wind", as the last song of the entire album, is a rare folk song of Wu Bai. The charm is long, as if seeing the Wu Bai whose hair flutters wildly and strides forward, he lets us learn to let go: "Let the dusty past become a kind of encounter, disappear in the wind"
03
Bob Dylan, who won the Nobel Prize in Literature, is well-known in the American rock and folk circles, and Wu Bai is known as Bob Dylan in Fujian and Taiwan, which is a metaphor for his influence.
People describe stepping into any KTV, and you may hear someone shouting Wu Bai's song.
Wu Bai, who has long been known as the "live" king, his scene is often talked about, people say that he is the only singer in the Chinese music scene who does not have to sing his own concert, others are singing to fans, Wu Bai's concert is a fan singing to him, just give a start, tens of thousands of people in the audience fell into a chorus.
Nowadays, "soil" has become a symbol of Wu Bai's exclusivity, and acknowledging that the idol is Wu Bai seems to be able to win a wave of identity. And this "soil" is a compliment to him. Art comes from life, and soil also comes from the most essential truth of life.
Wu Bai once said: "You can't lie to others and say that the world is very good, that is very irresponsible." You should give him all the pain and let it tell you what life is all about. ”
People like Wu Bai because they can hear their own lives in Wu Bai's songs. Someone in the comments section said, "There are gains and losses, there are successes and setbacks, there are abandonments, there are also reliefs, he affirms all the real sadness, roaring a more tragic past than you." ”
Just like this "The End of Love", people's complex emotions are stripped away and displayed layer by layer. Maybe that's why it's been on fire for 25 years.