The Moon Represents My Heart

"The Moon Represents My Heart" (Chinese: 月亮代表我的心; pinyin: Yuèliang Dàibiǎo Wǒ de Xīn) is a song originally recorded by Taiwanese singer Chen Fen-lan for her album Dreamland, which was released through Li Ge Records in May 1973. It was made famous throughout the Sinophone world by Taiwanese singer Teresa Teng in 1977.

Teng's version was met with widespread recognition upon its release and is regarded as one of the first foreign songs to achieve widespread popularity in mainland China following the Cultural Revolution. It is often cited as "one of the most famous and beloved Chinese songs of all time".^[1][2][3][4]

Background

"The Moon Represents My Heart" was written by Sun Yi [zh] (孫儀)^[5][6] and composed by Weng Ching-hsi (翁清溪).^[7] Initially, it was a composition that Weng deemed subpar and even considered discarding. Sun Yi then stumbled upon it among a pile of works meant for disposal, and was taken aback as he believed it was a quality song. After Sun penned the lyrics, both Weng and Sun sold the song to Li Ge Records in 1972.^[8] It was first sung by Taiwanese singer Chen Fen-lan (陳芬蘭) in 1972 or 1973 for Chen's album, Dreamland (夢鄉) (1973),^[7][9] but was made famous through Teresa Teng's version in 1977.^[10][11]

Teresa Teng version

Teresa Teng recorded "The Moon Represents My Heart" for her Mandarin studio album, Love Songs of the Island, Vol. 4: Love in Hong Kong. The record was released through Polydor Hong Kong on 19 December 1977.^[12][13]

Composition

Teng's rendition of "The Moon Represents My Heart", which is three minutes and 29 seconds long,^[14] was described as a "love song with a waltz-like lilt".^[15] Anthropologist Kevin Latham noted that similar to the majority of gangtai songs from the era, "The Moon Represents My Heart" was a relatively simple love ballad.^[16]

In The Semantics of Chinese Music, linguist Adrian Tien observed that the metaphor of the moon had been used in Chinese culture to express sorrow over lost love or the anticipation of a reunion "since the dawn of history". He noted that the imagery frequently appears in various literary works and cited "The Moon Represents My Heart" as an exemplary instance of its usage in contemporary songs.^[17]

Legacy

"The Moon Represents My Heart" has been performed frequently around the world since its release by famous singers and musicians such as Nana Mouskouri, Katherine Jenkins, Shila Amzah, Faye Wong, David Tao, Andy Lau, Leslie Cheung, Jon Bon Jovi, Siti Nurhaliza, David Archuleta, English vocal group Libera and Grammy Award winning American musician Kenny G.^[18][19][20] The song is considered a "classic,"^[21] and according to one source, "Chinese all around the world are familiar with [it]."^[22]

"The Moon Represents My Heart" is also popular in karaoke,^[15] with one chain in Singapore listing it at number 42 on their hits list (which made it the highest ranked of all Teng's songs).^[23] According to The New York Times, it is one of the best-known Chinese pop songs of all time.^[24] In 2019, the Museum of Chinese in America (MOCA) in New York City curated an exhibition titled "The Moon Represents My Heart: Music, Memory and Belonging", which was directly inspired by the song. The exhibition highlighted the "transformative power" of musical identity within Chinese immigrant communities since the 1850s.^[25]

Cultural and societal impact

Until the late 1970s, foreign music had not been allowed into mainland China for several decades.^[6] "The Moon Represents My Heart" became one of the first popular foreign songs from Hong Kong and Taiwan (called "gangtai" songs) in the country.^[6] Teng's songs over the following decade revolutionized music in China. Her singing, described as "soft, melodious, often whispery and restrained," was considered the "ideal" in gangtai music at that time. The style was in striking contrast to the then officially sanctioned songs in mainland China which were often revolutionary songs, and made a strong impact on its listeners. She became so popular that "within months the country was literally flooded with [her] songs."^[6] "The Moon Represents My Heart", however, is often cited as one of her best-known or most popular pieces.^[26][27][28]

Prior to the emergence of Teng's music, such romantic songs had been virtually nonexistent in China for many years as they were considered "bourgeois and decadent".^[6] Shelley Rigger, writing in The Tiger Leading the Dragon: How Taiwan Propelled China's Economic Rise, highlighted that while her popularity was growing across the Chinese-speaking world, the leaders of the People's Republic of China (PRC) were attempting to suppress her music.^[29] However, Teng's songs remained irresistible;^[29] by the end of the 1970s, it was said that "Deng [Xiaoping] the leader ruled by day, but Deng the singer [Teresa Teng] ruled by night".^[30]

Teng's widespread popularity was recognized for paving the way for an influx of Taiwanese music into the PRC, so much so that it was referred to as a "counter invasion".^[29] Lauren Gorfinkel, writing in Chinese Television and National Identity Construction, wrote how Teng subsequently became a symbol of unity in Greater China as well as China's opening up and reforms.^[31] As film director Jia Zhangke later said, "'The Moon Represents My Heart' [was] something completely new. So people of my generation were suddenly infected with this very personal, individual world. Before that, everything was collective...".^[32]

Credits and personnel

• Teresa Teng – vocalist
• Weng Ching-hsi – composer
• Sun Yi – lyricist

Copyright status

Lyricist Sun Yi filed a lawsuit against the Li Ge Record Company (麗歌唱片公司). Sun lost the lawsuit, so the company owns the copyright of this song.^[5]

References

Bibliography

• Baranovitch, Nimrod (2003). China's New Voices: Popular Music, Ethnicity, Gender, and Politics, 1978-1997. University of California Press. ISBN 978-0-520-93653-9.
• Berry, Michael (2005). Speaking in Images: Interviews with Contemporary Chinese Filmmakers. Columbia University Press. pp. 190–550. ISBN 978-0-231-13331-9.
• Gorfinkel, Lauren, ed. (2017). Chinese Television and National Identity Construction: The Cultural Politics of Music-Entertainment Programmes. Routledge. ISBN 978-1-317-66777-3.
• LaFleur, Robert André (2010). China (Asia in Focus). Bloomsbury Academic. ISBN 978-1-59884-166-4.
• Latham, Kevin (2007). Pop Culture China!: Media, Arts, and Lifestyle. Bloomsbury Publishing USA. ISBN 978-1-85109-587-2.
• Rigger, Shelley, ed. (2021). The Tiger Leading the Dragon: How Taiwan Propelled China's Economic Rise. Rowman & Littlefield. ISBN 978-1-4422-1960-1.
• Tien, Adrian (2015). The Semantics of Chinese Music: Analysing selected Chinese musical concepts. John Benjamins Publishing Company. ISBN 978-90-272-6891-4.

External links

• Video of the song on YouTube