"Tian Gong Falls into the Water": The Interweaving of Traditional Hakka Folk Songs and Adapted Pop Music Songs

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God fell into the water

  "God fell into the water"It was originally a Hakka folk song that is widely circulated and familiar in Taiwan. Even Taiwanese people who are not Hakka people may have heard this song before. 1. In recent years, there have been many cover versions on YouTube, combining many elements of modern pop music, and some of them also incorporate different languages in the songs.

1 Introduction

In the morning, I went to the Confucian Temple Confucian Memorial Ceremony with Gao Kekemei. After the end, we talked about cultural heritage on the road, including some information we saw in the Kaohsiung Confucian Temple in the morning, as well as early Taiwanese folk culture and Japanese colonial culture. and other topics.

Since the school girl is half of Hakka ancestry, when talking about the ethnic culture, she happened to have recently learned and preserved the Hakka culture, and she is also working hard to learn the Hakka language. Although I am not a Hakka, I am very interested in the field of culture and language, especially Hakka culture. I have little contact with it before, which will arouse curiosity to some extent, and this time I have the opportunity to come into contact with Hakka culture.

Later, Xuemei told me that the Hakka people in Taiwan have a population of nearly 3 to 4 million, but most of them are hidden Hakka people. The proportion of Hakka people who can speak Hakka dialect is also relatively low, and Hakka songs are not very active. The Hakka songs in karaoke are usually old songs from 20 to 30 years ago. There are very few Hakka pop music, because Hakka music does not make much money for record companies, so many singers are restricted to only Sing Mandarin or Hokkien songs.

Finally, my school girl recommended me to listen to some Hakka music. Among these Hakka music, there are many younger singers who have adapted old Hakka songs and added elements of modern pop music. Let the original Hakka old songs become more lively, and more attractive to younger listeners. So I recommend Albee (Liu Jingying)'s "The Sky Falls into the Water". This song is adapted from the Hakka folk song "Tian Gong Falls into the Water" sung by Gu Huihui. It is a new attempt to integrate traditional and modern culture. This makes the adapted songs more youthful.

There are few articles on the Internet that specifically introduce Hakka songs, and perhaps we can write in this direction in the future. This will awaken the public's attention to Taiwan's Hakka culture and promote Hakka culture more widely.

2 Song introduction

2.1 cover version

There are many cover versions of "God Falls into the Water" on YouTube, some of which are purely original versions, or pure music played with instruments, but the following are just a few that I personally think the adaptations are full of features, adding Many elements of modern pop music, even a fusion of many languages, or a version interpreted in the form of a story.

2.1.1 Liu Jingying's modern folk song version

"Albee (Liu Jingying) - The Sky Falls into the Water|Liudui Music Light Diary|Musician Session x Hakka Music New Wave" is a Hakka sung by Albee (Liu Jingying) and released by the YouTube channel of "Leren TV | Chinese Music Entertainment Video Platform" music song.

This song was adapted from "God Falls into the Water" and then changed to "The Sky Falls into the Water". It was sung by the female artist Albee, with a soft singing voice, and then accompanied by another male guitarist, very gentle modern folk style.

There are also a few English lyrics interspersed in the middle of the song, which integrates different languages into the same song, but it doesn't feel abrupt, but the whole song feels young and light.

2.1.2 Aikele's Mandarin Fusion cover version

"iColor" Hakka folk song – "Pick tea-leaves tune" – Official Music Video" is a version adapted by iColor Orchestra. Aikele is an orchestra that inherits Hakka culture and creates modern Hakka pop music.

Although this version is adapted from "Tian Gong Falls into the Water", in fact, the adaptation method of the song is to use Mandarin as the base, and add the original Hakka song fragments for fusion, which is a bit similar to Stefanie Sun's "The Sky is Black" and Xu Jiaying's " Like Riding a White Horse, the old songs are integrated into pop music.

In addition to integrating old songs into pop music, the whole song is also presented in a very special way. Although the whole song sounds very light and pleasant, if you watch the storyline in the movie, you will find the content of the story There are some sadness and emotions. The story tells the story of a young couple who got along very sweetly. The male protagonist, Ah Shui, speaks Mandarin, while the female protagonist, Amei, speaks Hakka. But one day the male protagonist suddenly becomes ill. With dementia, the brain and mind will gradually degenerate, and memory will gradually disappear.

At the end of the film, it presents their living conditions when they were old. Although Ah Shui is demented, she will think of the Hakka song "The Heavenly Gong Falls into the Water" from time to time, and sing it in a sad tone. Ah Mei believes that Ah Shui I must still remember her, because even if I am demented, I still remember it like singing a song that I remembered together when I was young.

2.1.3 Orchestra special version of Eckel

"iColor" "God Falls into the Water" Orchestra Special Edition Hakka folk song – “Pick tea-leaves tune” – Official Music Video” is a special version of the orchestra adapted by iColor.

This version is basically the same as the above version in terms of music. The main reason is that the presentation of the MV removes the story part and only presents the performance of the orchestra.

2.1.4 The folk song version of Wen Yinchang

"Hakka New Paradise #102 "Tian Gong Falls into the Water" by Wen Yinchang" is a cover version sung by Wen Yinchang, accompanied by guitar.

Wen Yinchang (Misha) is a female music artist from Sanwan, Miaoli. Her father is a Hakka, and her mother is a Hokkien married to a Hakka village. The music style of Wen Yinchang's works often expresses the description of his own life and emotions, and also often describes the people and situations that he has experienced but cannot remember in his life journey. 2.

Compared with the previous version, this version uses less elements of pop music, but is performed in the form of early folk songs with guitar accompaniment, which breaks away from the tradition but is unique.

2.1.5 "Missing You" by the 96-level machine-plucking video production team of Xuanzang University

"Hakka MV-Missing You" is a song produced by the "Machine Hair-Plucking Video Production Team" of Xuanzang University's 96th grade. The voice in her own heart, and her own heart is like falling into the water, revealing the one he misses.

2.2 Original version

After listening to a few cover versions of "Tian Gong Falls into the Water", I will introduce the original version. There are already many cover versions of this Hakka ballad that incorporate modern pop music elements, but I still want to introduce the original version. In addition to respecting the original song, it can also let readers know what is different before and after the adaptation, and what pop music has been added. Elements.

"Original Sing = Gu Huihui Tiangong Falls into the Water" is a Hakka folk song version sung by Gu Huihui. This song "Tiangong Falls into the Water" is widely spread in Hakka songs in Taiwan. Many people have heard it more or less when they were young. This song, even if I don't understand much of the guest language, I have some impression of the melody of the song.

References

  1. Zhang Yuliang (2006), <Zhang Yuliang: Let's Sing Hakka Folk Songs>.
  2. Hakka Committee (2015), <Misha (Wen Yinchang)>. Hakka Arts and Culture Information Network.

update record

  1. 2022/05/12, multi-language version added.



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