Someone else's song + my lyrics

"Other People's Songs" is the title of a pop song Lin Xi wrote during his debut years. Using this as the title not only summarizes the themes of the essays within, but also encompasses those written years ago during his youth, dealing with lyrics, music, and the music scene. Time has made everything magical. Lin Xi says these essays are particularly special, "discussing the pros and cons of pop music, gossip about songwriting, and almost everything else I haven't written about songwriting since I entered the industry a few years ago. They're rare, and therefore valuable."

Furthermore, when writing about some of the miscellaneous things about writing lyrics, because the time is so long ago, what I said and wrote seemed to be other people's songs. As he said:

"When I meet my former self again today, I feel like a completely different person. I say it's because other people's songs are so vivid and expressive."

As the preface states, "Zhang Ailing once said, 'If you're busy dating, you don't have time to love; if you're busy writing lyrics, you don't have the time or the mood to talk about them.' For example, novelists rarely discuss the art of writing. An overly rational mind can't give birth to a life that flows naturally. Overthinking and writing about the tricks of conceptualizing bridges can make a work mechanical and lack inspiration. At the very least, to maintain a proud, aloof, and stylish image, it's best to say less."

A lyricist who has been writing lyrics for over 30 years, he is still working hard. In the chapter "My Lyrics," he reviews a group of his Mandarin lyrics. Lin Xi says that his writing "goes beyond the melody, adding where the lyrics haven't: extensions, supplements, associations, annotations, marginal notes. I write marginal notes on my own lyrics. This move may not be unique, but it is certainly unprecedented."

What is even more valuable about this book is that it also contains many of Lin Xi's song manuscripts written on original paper over the years.

I dare not say that this is the only song that Lin Xi wrote lyrics for, but the ones included in the book are still valuable.

2022-09-14

亮光(香港)

368

9786269544578