Who else from my generation listens to the late Cantonese Music great Teresa Teng? The CD boxed set you see above is something I bought in, of all places, Singapore Chinatown (one might expect a fan to be able to purchase this in a place like Hong Kong, or, Beijing maybe).
From the first time I heard Teng's music- through watching the heart-wrenching Peter Chan classic, "Comrades: Almost a Love Story", I was moved. I was hooked. It happened in a snap. I cannot understand, nor speak, Cantonese, nor do I speak and understand Fukien. It doesn't take an expert linguist to know, however, that what this lady sings comes from the soul. Not the heart. Her music comes from the soul.
Here's a bit of a story.
In "Comrades", a young lady meets a young man. They both fall in love. They are separated by fate, and brought back together by fate. They know all along that the tides of heaven are meant to ebb and flow in their favor. They doubt the veracity of destiny's to and fro, but are eventually consumed by it. To love one another is inevitable. To love one another is all they know.
That is the kind of emotion, of fervor, of unbridled joy, of untamed drama, that Teresa Teng articulates in her work. It's creative genius, really. The power of her music possesses bounds only in meter, timber, and tempo. Beyond that, we hear such music, and see that the impact of such music. Both go far beyond the sheets the music is written on.
I love Hong Kong- the country most associated with Teresa Teng. The food, the cultural diversity, the mish mash of East meets West. All amazing. Maybe I've always been enamored by the chance to be immortalized in film by Hong Kong harbor, with me proclaiming my undying affection to a Faye Wong or Ming Na looking lady. I could do that while "Tian Mi Mi" is softly playing in the background. Perhaps the soothing melodies of "The Moon Represents My Heart" could whisk us off into the horizon. Whichever way you look at it, it all makes for a truly beautiful mural of feelings, stories, hopes, and dreams. It's a Tsim Tsa Tsui diorama on a Hallmark Greeting Card.
It's a shame that Teng died so young. Damn you, pneumonia. As with many who leave us way too soon, they leave behind remnants of greatness which ultimately live forever in our collective consciousness. Teresa Teng has left behind music so poignant, so capable of sketching up images of places, people, times so lost among ideal- and idyllic- thought that we need art so pristine, so unfettered by the stresses of time, to once again be able to touch, experience, be absolutely consumed by a burning desire to be "alive".
In the music video for "Nights in Hong Kong", a huge artificial moon is shown illuminating the island state, with its glow reflecting resplendently upon its fragrant harbor. It serves as a reminder that, during even the darkest throes of twilight, there exists the possibility of joy, of faith, of love, of new perspectives, taking shape, and flourishing. All things considered, life can still be beautiful, even if we do tend to play the part of the lonely fisherman out at sea sometimes.
While out in the god-knows-where, the fisherman hears his heart beat, and is guided by the poetry and cadence of the "being" brought forth by the endless waves that lie before him.
MC
