The relationship between
Cantopop Music and Hong Kong
Introduction
Cantonese opera music used to be the most popular form of
music in
Hong Kong. However, as Western cultures were introduced to the Orient,
significant changes in the musical atmosphere took place in the region. The
influx of Western style music and the emergence of new musical technology gave
birth to a new form of pop music. Cantopop, as it came to be known, kept the
literacy feature of traditional Chinese lyrics while including the western
musical elements. Interestingly enough, Cantopop carries some peculiar social
values that is unique to
Hong Kong
only, and is not found in other communities. This creative blend of music makes
it worthy of study, especially the deeply rooted relationship of Cantopop in its
community. This report is an attempt to examine the influence Cantopop has, not
only as a form of entertainment, but also as the medium for expressing important
social messages and political implications in the Hong Kong community.
The
Socio-political Context of Cantopop Music
The
Sino-British conflict, which became known as the “Opium War”, broke out in the
year 1839 and ended in 1842 with an unfair treaty that ceded the Chinese
territory of Hong Kong into British possession. Hong Kong has had significant
changes in the social milieu since it becoming a British colony. The influx of
British nationals and other foreigners to the tiny peninsula engendered the rise
of many western cultures, such as music and entertainment, which were well
received by the Hong Kong people and adapted to form their unique blend of art
and culture in the later part of the colonial period.
Despite the
influx of foreigners stimulated by the economic prosperity in the post-war
period, Hong Kong still remained distinctly Chinese with a 98% yellow-skinned
population that is mainly made up by indigenous Hong Kong people, and Cantonese
that emigrated from Mainland China. In the 70s and 80s, there was a surge in the
number of Mainland migrants, the main ‘push-pull factor’ were the introduction
of the “Touch Base Policy”, a migration-favoring policy, and the high demand for
labor from the developing textile and manufacturing industries. The new
Cantonese migrants coupled with local native workers formed the ‘blue collar’
social class of Hong Kong. They constituted a large portion of society and were
the ‘grass-root’ foundation. The hardship endured by the grass roots inspired
and laid the seeds for the blossoming of Cantonese Pop music in the 70s and 80s.
Many songs were written to encourage people to stay strong, and also to express
the resentment against social unfairness, and the widening of the social gap.
The late 80s
and 90s enjoyed the success brought about from the earlier hard work of that
generation and continued to boom with expanded property markets, and the
mainstream music in this period were mostly adapted from Japanese and Korean pop
songs with Cantonese lyrics reflecting the interaction and prosperous climate
enjoyed in whole region.
In the new
millennium, Cantopop music has come to a turning point in its history. The
manufacturing industries shifted to Mainland China, and were gradually
superceded by the service industry, which set Hong Kong up to be one of the
financial centers in the world. While the musical demand from workers began to
shrink, the needs from another group of patronages began to take shape. An army
of teenagers that tended to materialistic satisfaction has become the new target
and driving force of the mainstream music market. As soon as the entertainment
industry saw this changing trend and realized that it could be a golden business
opportunity, they repackaged the music and singers, into ‘songs and idols’, as
lucrative commodities and created a new fad of Cantopop. The highly
commercialized repertoires lacked deep meaning and inspiration in comparison to
the work created in the era of hardship. It was mainly love theme related which
is abstract. As love songs full of cloying sentiment spawned all over, the
archetype of Cantopop began to fade out.
Characteristics of Cantopops
Early Cantopop was
developed from Cantonese Opera music hybridized with western pop music. The
musicians gave up using traditional Chinese musical instruments, like Zheng and
Erhu fiddle, and switched to western musical outfits. Cantopop songs were
usually sung by one singer, sometimes with a band, accompanied by piano,
synthesizer, drum set, guitar, and bass guitar. They are composed under the
‘chorus and versus’ basis and adapts the monophonic format. The musical style of
Cantopop varies a lot from artist to artist, for example some artists use
guitars and shout in fast tempo, while some prefer graceful tempo and sing
softly. For this reason, it is not wise to draw a quick conclusion about the
musical features from just analyzing a few pieces from songs. So we now return
to a basic question, what defines Cantopop? Cantopop can be generally defined as
a music type with lyrics that are written in Chinese (either colloquial or
classical) and sung in Cantonese accompanied by western musical instruments.
Actually, the
essence of Cantopop does not lay in the music, but in its lyrics. There are two
types of lyrics written by songwriters. The first type is the poetic lyrics
written in literary or classical Chinese. The formation of lyrics of this type
was influenced by the classical Chinese lyrics in traditional Cantonese opera.
Songs with literary Chinese were usually used as the theme songs for TV shows
about ancient
China.
The second type is less formal and the lyrics written in colloquial Cantonese,
usually for the TV shows filmed under modern contexts.
Starting from the
90s, musicians began to introduce Japanese pop music to Hong Kong market by
rewriting the lyrics with Chinese. In recent years, the same phenomenon is
witnessed for Korean pop music. However, the hybrids were still considered as
Cantonese songs because its lyrics are re-written in Cantonese. Songs like “Love
you a bit more everyday” sung by Jackie Cheng and “Can’t afford” by Jade Kwan
were originally composed in Japan and Korea, but they enjoyed huge successes in
Hong Kong
after their adaptation.
Regardless of
which type of lyrics is used, Cantopop songs share an overriding theme or a
common characteristic, an ‘end rhyme’. Almost every last word of a phrase
is rhymed. The first few phrases of the song “Impression” by Samuel Hui
exemplify this feature. (see the extract below). The last word of every phrase
ended with the sound ‘–oeng’. The song sounds more
acoustically pleasant when it is incorporated with these rhymed lyrics.
“Impression”
(in Cantonese phonetic symbols), by Samuel Hui
Soei ling ngo
dong maan goei zi sat soeng
Nab zi gam mong
gwan nei nang gin joeng
Daan gok maan
fan gan zoeng
Gaai jan gan
nei jyu soeng
Important
Musicians and Their Contributions
James Wong
(1941-2004), who is considered as one of the most talented contemporary
musicians in Hong Kong, pioneered the early development of Cantopop, and shaped
the prototype of this music in the 70s. His work, encompassing “Beneath the Lion
Rock”, showed his sympathy for the underprivileged and sums up his encouragement
to the Hong Kong people. His songs and style were influential to other Cantopop
songwriters. Samuel Hui, a singer songwriter, known in every household for his
distinctive colloquial songs that expressed the resentment felt by blue collar
workers in the 70-80s. In the 90s, Beyond (a band) was probably the last group
that created songs with deep meanings, such as “Mama, I love you” (A paean of
praise for all mothers), “Transcending
boundaries”
(A song which expressed the yearning for the freedom of life)(Press here to see Appendix 2A.),
before the spiritual Cantopop music fell into decay, and commercialized
repertoires took over the music trends in the market. Other songwriters such as
Joseph Gu Ga Fai and ‘Tak Ming’ Pair also created representative pieces
partnering with Wong and Hui and riding with their success.
The Role of
Cantopop in
Hong Kong
The earlier
pieces of Cantopop reflected the maturity of the growing Hong Kong society into
a modern metropolis undergoing dramatic changes that eventually reaped success.
The Hong Kong philosophy that ‘hard work will reap success’ became the driving
force for its transforming from a small fishing village to a manufacturing focal
point.
Although Hong
Kong started to enjoy prosperity, many people were still left behind and out of
bounds of normal rights. Samuel Hui, people honored him as “The God of
Song”, sprang up at that time with his sarcastic songs that were sympathetic
to the underprivileged whilst complaining about the injustices of the world. His
work was strongly bound with social affairs because his song themes addresses
problems, like the shortage of water supply and the resentment of workers.
While Cantopop is
well-known for its satirical social messages, it is also relaxing, and caters
for families too. Cantopop songs are primarily transmitted through TV. They can
always be heard at the beginning and the end of TV shows, which accompanies Hong
Kong peoples’ lives every night. A popular lifetime TV show, “Enjoy Yourself
Tonight”, which brought happiness to Hong Kong families through Cantopop
music and comic dramas, had a song entitled “Enjoy Yourself Tonight” (
Press here to see Appendix 2.B), as it is played at the end of every show to sing goodnight to
the Hong Kong families. This song has been sung for more than twenty years to
energize the
Hong Kong
people who have labored and contributed fully to the community on a daily basis.
Hong Kong people, especially the older generation, recognized it as one of the
emblematic songs of Hong Kong’s unison.
Not only were
there social messages, Cantopop songs’ lyrics were often used by politicians as
a tool to deliver messages of encouragement and well wishes. The lyrics were
quoted by celebrities in public speeches or interviews. The quotation by the
former financial Secretary of Government of the Hong Kong Special Administrative
Region, Antony Leung, demonstrated the effects of how Cantopop music
performs its political function. He cited the lyrics from the song “Beneath
the Lion Rock” in his speech of annual financial report to encourage Hong
Kong people to stay united and strong in the adversities after the Asian
financial turmoil. (Press here to see Appendix 1).
In recent years, the role of Cantopop in
Hong Kong
community has changed. The songs no longer reflected the disadvantaged. They
overwhelmingly depict love stories, which are full of weak sentiments. The
social and political importance of Cantopop was undermined by the proliferation
of love songs across Hong Kong. However, this type of songs brought young people
to a new era of entertainment ever since karaoke was introduced to
Hong Kong.
The Role of
Canton-Pop in Individual (or My )Life
The Japanese
modern music culture, mainly Karaoke, has deeply rooted in our everyday lives.
The introduction of Karaoke was conducive to the formation of functions of
Cantopop music in the community. Since the new millennium, singing Cantopop has
become the most preferred choice of entertainment for Hong Kong youngsters and
for the “white collar” class. Although karaoke originated from Japan, singing
Cantopop in karaoke boxes is ubiquitous in Hong Kong. We sing Cantopop to vent
our bad feelings, to release our tension from work and other aspects of life,
and to divert ourselves in special occasions. They are the general effects of
Cantopop that influence individual lives.
Personally,
Cantopop gives me identity and vice versa, I can say, my identity is ascertained
by the music. The music defines my identity as a member of the Hong Kong
community in two ways. Firstly, it is an important topic of conversation within
the ethnic peer groups. Since most
Hong Kong
young people listen to Cantopop, it is an important topic when I converse with
my friends. My friends and I would discuss the lyrics and songs as a past time.
I find myself more involved in the circle when we talk about the issues found in
the songs. As I grew, Cantopop has become an indispensable element of my social
life. Almost every time I had reunions with my friends, we sang Cantopop in
karaoke boxes. Secondly, it is a reminder of my daily life. In Hong Kong,
listening to Cantopop seems to be a daily routine. When I was small, I used to
watch TV shows with Cantopop theme songs. When the theme song of my favorite TV
show was broadcasted, I would drop all my work and run to the living room to
enjoy it. The song implicitly reminded me what time of day it was. For instance,
I recognize that it is dinner time when I hear the theme song of “The tale of
Twin Dragons”, which is always aired at 8 pm. The
fact that only Hong Kong people follow this pattern of life distinguishes me as
a true “Hongkonger”,
Through the above
activities, Cantopop defines my identity as a member or youngster of the Hong
Kong community.
Conclusion
In summary, Cantopop music reflected the prosperity and
adversities faced in the
Hong Kong
society. The music is a modernized and westernized version of Chinese
traditional music. In spite of the cultural assimilation brought about from the
Western world, the oriental spirit was still preserved and survives in the local
music today. In the music, you will discover that
Hong Kong
people inherited a strong sense of nationalism, racial cohesion, and the
sympathy for the underprivileged endured by the older generation. From the
content of the songs and the roles it played in Hong Kong peoples’ lives between the 70s and 90s, Cantopop served as a medium for
the dissemination of social and political messages in
Hong Kong.
Nevertheless, the commercialization of the Cantopop music has raised other
issues that challenge its future, for instance, will Cantopop finally lose its
social values continuing in this current trend?; and will this decay cause
structural changes within society?. It is hard to say at this present time,
history shall be the judge.
Materials Referred
1. In Memory of James Wong
http://web.hku.hk/~daaobeta/index.html (Chinese Website)
2. The Rise and Decline of Cantopop: A Study of Hong Kong
Pop Music (Excerpt)
http://web.hku.hk/~daaobeta/thesis.html (Chinese Website)