Lovers & Strangers
Studio album by
Faye Wong
ReleasedSeptember 10, 1999 (1999-09-10)
GenreMandopop, Cantopop, Rock
Length53:34
LanguageMandarin, Cantonese
LabelEMI
ProducerAlvin Leong
Faye Wong chronology
Sing and Play
(1998)		 Lovers & Strangers
(1999)		 Fable
(2000)
Lovers & Strangers
Traditional Chinese只愛陌生人
Simplified Chinese只爱陌生人

Lovers & Strangers,[1][2][3] also translated as Only Love Strangers[4][5] (Chinese: 只愛陌生人; pinyin: zhī ài mòshēngrén) is a 1999 album by Beijing-based C-pop singer Faye Wong. It contains a total of 12 songs (10 tracks in Mandarin with 2 bonus Cantonese adaptations of two of the songs) and was produced by Alvin Leong.

The album sold more than 800,000 copies and reached number one in the album charts of Hong Kong, China, Taiwan, Singapore, and Malaysia.[6][7] After the release of Lovers & Strangers, Guinness World Records declared Faye Wong the best-selling female Cantopop artist of all time.[8]

Background and development

Like Wong's previous album, Sing and Play, Lovers & Strangers was produced by Alvin Leong. Other core members of the production group included C.Y. Kong, Adrian Chan, Albert Leung, and Zhang Yadong.[9]

Lovers & Strangers included 12 tracks in total, with nine written by Albert Leung. The only track written by Wong was "Spectacular," on which she collaborated with Zhang Yadong to compose. Additionally, Zhang composed and arranged both "Only Love Strangers" and "After the Beep," where the former, eponymous with the album, is covered from the original version in Zhang's 1998 album "Ya Tung." In Wong's version of this song, her daughter Leah Dou made a cameo appearance, singing the line "Come on baby."[10] Two Mandarin songs in the album, "Hundred Years of Solitude" and "Butterfly," have the same melody but different lyrics as their respective Cantonese versions, "Keeping Guard over the Field" and "Postman." Albert Leung first composed the Mandarin versions, then based the Cantonese lyrics on them. "Hundred Years of Solitude" and its Cantonese version, "Keeping Guard Over the Field," were composed by C.Y. Kong and Adrian Chan; "Butterfly" and its Cantonese Version, "Postman," however, were composed and arranged solely by Adrian Chan. Furthermore, C.Y. Kong tailor-made the music of Wong's rock song "The Last Blossom," whose title originated from Leung's quoting of a novel by Yi Shu.[11] This song also marked Wong's first use of the distortion technique.[12]

This album is the first collaboration between Wong and the composer Dian Chen—the two composed "Overthrown" together, with Chiu Li-Kwan writing the lyrics. This is also the second collaboration between Chiu and Wong after "Wake Up" (or "Wakeless", "Not Awake" and "Not Waking Up") in Sing and Play. Yuan Wei-jen, after "No Regrets/Stubborn and Regretless," which was released seven years ago, composed another piece for Wong—"An Ephemeral Cloud." Moreover, two composers from Mainland China, Li Bing and Guo Liang, composed "The Moon at That Moment"/ "Once in a Blue Moon" and "Hypnosis," respectively.[13]

Writing and production

Albert Leung, one of Wong's lyricists for Lovers & Strangers

The overall style of this album continues Wong's steady performance during recent years, but the opening song, "The Last Blossom," was one of Wong's significant breakthroughs. Her distortion technique in this track portrays a fear of love and a depressed state of mind.[14] Wong's handling of the middle notes transformed her usual impeccable timbre.

Beginning from the captivating title, Lovers & Strangers, Albert Leung provided a plethora of profound lyrics.[15] For instance, "Only Love Strangers" (although the more grammatically correct placement of "Only" should be after "Love") used surprisingly imaginative and wide-spanning combinations of characters to convey a postmodern aura mixed with a touch of romance. Wong also played a large role in boosting the appeal of "Only Love Strangers" by reimagining Zhang Yadong's version—besides maintaining the original tonality, both the structure and the timbre hearken strongly to the 1998 song. The piece uses bossa nova as its skeleton, while the electronic rhythm coupled with the trumpet sounds characteristic of jazz, demonstrates both Zhang's technical dexterity in musical arrangement and his talent for improvisation. In terms of vocals, although Wong paralleled Zhang's seemingly-casual attitude, she added the mindset of handling complicated matters easily, naturally, and unrestrainedly. She made the "stranger" perspective stick out by acting indifferently and independently.[16]

The leading song of the album, "The Moon at That Moment"/ "Once in a Blue Moon," carries a refreshing school spirit and is as pure as silverware. Albert Leung's superb craftsmanship, combined with Wong's slightly reserved narration, makes this song pleasant to the ear. Upon a comprehensive inspection of Wong's works over the past years, there is no other example of such a masterpiece. Guo Liang's "Hypnosis," on the other hand, is an English waltz possessing both a fluid and unbridled beat as well as an exquisite tune.

C. Y. Kong, a veteran in Wong's production team, incorporated Middle-Eastern features into "Hundred Years of Solitude," along with a tribute to the album's opening track, "The Last Blossom." Adrian Chan's "Butterfly" is another leisurely piece and at times prompts listeners to overlook the buried rhythm and blues elements. Yuan Wei-jen held the reins once more in the production of "An Ephemeral Cloud," an elegant Neoclassicist work. Zhang Yadong's "After the Beep" exceeded expectations—the separated and luring impression becomes so paradoxical under Wong's performance, both real and fantastical. The audience cannot hold themselves from striking the table and shouting in awe. "Spectacular," a track listed near the end of the album, is especially praiseworthy, with its emphasis on a strong rhythm underscoring the rock style of this album.[17]

Title and artwork

The album title comes from a line of the refrain in track 4, "Only Love Strangers" (... 我只爱陌生人, I only love strangers...).[6] The cover of the album is based on a pink background, with Wong wearing a rock-styled, tight-fitting black leather jacket, acting some semblance of welcoming her lover but in reality having the intention to reject.[18]

Accolades

In 1999, Wong won a China Times Award for Top 10 Albums of the Year, a Metro Radio Hits Music Awards for Hit Album, a Singaporean Golden Melody Award for Best Album, and a Chinese Musicians Exchange Award for Top 10 Albums of the Year for the album Lovers & Strangers. Similarly, the song "Hundred Years of Solitude" also won a Chinese Musicians Exchange Award, but for the Top 10 Songs of the Year. In 2000, Wong was nominated for the 11th Taiwanese Golden Melody Award for Best Female Mandarin Singer. In 1999, the song "Postman" won the Ultimate Song Chart Awards Presentation for the Ultimate Top 10 Recommended Songs of the Year, as well as the 32nd Top Ten Chinese Gold Songs Award for Best Mandarin Pop Song of the Year. In 1999, the song "The Moon at That Moment"/ "Once in a Blue Moon" made into the leaderboard of the 6th Chinese Music Awards's Top 20 Songs. The same song also won the 1st Malaysian Asia Mandarin Golden Melody Award for Top 15 songs.[19]

Track listing

No.TitleUnofficial translationLength
1."開到荼蘼" (Kāi dào túmí)"The Last Blossom"5:13
2."當時的月亮" (Dāngshí de yuèliàng)"The Moon at That Moment"/ "Once in a Blue Moon"3:52
3."催眠" (Cuīmián)"Hypnosis"4:27
4."只愛陌生人" (Zhī ài mòshēngrén)"Only Love Strangers"3:42
5."百年孤寂" (Bǎinián gūjì)"Hundred Years of Solitude"5:18
6."蝴蝶" (Húdié)"Butterfly"3:27
7."過眼雲煙" (Guòyǎn yúnyān)"An Ephemeral Cloud"4:06
8."嗶一聲之後" (Bì yī shēng zhīhòu)"After the Beep"4:14
9."推翻" (Tuīfān)"Overthrown"4:23
10."精彩" (Jīngcǎi)"Spectacular"4:47
11."守" (Sau2 mong6 maak6 tin4)"Keeping Guard over the Field"5:19
12."郵差" (Jau4 caa1)"Postman"4:18

Tracks 11 and 12 are Cantonese versions of tracks 5 and 6 respectively. Only track 12 has a different musical arrangement.

The title of track 5 is the Chinese name of Gabriel Garcia Marquez' novel One Hundred Years of Solitude.

Japanese edition bonus track [20]
No.TitleLength
13."開到荼蘼" (Remix)3:46

Use in other media

Track 10, the rock song "Spectacular", featured in a Pepsi commercial. A VCD showing the filming of the commercial was released with some versions of the album.

The title track, "Only Love Strangers", was featured in the Sylvester Stallone film Get Carter.[21]

Track 5 was used by Taiwan's STAR Chinese Channel as the ending theme song of the Chinese television series The Taiping Heavenly Kingdom. The original ending theme song was sung by Mao Amin.

References

  1. ↑ MTV — Lovers & Strangers
  2. ↑ "Hits of the World". Billboard. 1999-10-02. p. 85.
  3. ↑ "Hits of the World". Billboard. 1999-10-30. p. 43.
  4. ↑ Max Woodworth (26 November 2004). "Faye Wong is all woman". Taipei Times. Retrieved 25 April 2013.
  5. ↑ Shane Homan Access All Eras: Tribute Bands and Global Pop Culture 2006 p224 "... almost exclusively on contributions from Hong Kong-, Beijing- and Singapore-based composers along with her own compositions on Sing and Play (1998), Only Love Strangers (1999), Fable (2000), Faye Wong (2001) and To Love (2003)."
  6. 1 2 Cantonese record for Wong, BBC, 17 May 2002
  7. ↑ BBC China bans 'opium' song Thursday, 30 October 2003 "Her 1999 album, Lovers and Strangers, has sold more than 800,000 copies and was number one in Hong Kong, China, Taiwan, Singapore and Malaysia. "
  8. ↑ Guinness World Records. March 2000. Retrieved 2 November 2006 at Internet archive.
  9. ↑ "我爱陌生的王菲". eladies.sina.com.cn (in Chinese (China)). 1999-09-27. Retrieved 2023-10-29.
  10. ↑ "專輯-《只愛陌生人》". music.163.com (in Chinese (China)). Retrieved 2023-10-29.
  11. ↑ "当林夕遇上方文山". ent.163.com (in Chinese (China)). 2004-02-23. Retrieved 2023-10-29.
  12. ↑ "重温王菲20年：一个北京女孩的传奇（中）（十）". www.163.com (in Chinese (China)). 2009-11-20. Retrieved 2023-10-29.
  13. ↑ "專輯-《只愛陌生人》". music.163.com (in Chinese (China)). Retrieved 2023-10-29.
  14. ↑ "重温王菲20年：一个北京女孩的传奇（中）（十）". www.163.com (in Chinese (China)). 2009-11-20. Retrieved 2023-10-29.
  15. ↑ "王菲 《只愛陌生人》". music.yule.sohu.com (in Chinese (China)). Retrieved 2023-10-29.
  16. ↑ "视频：王菲《只爱陌生人》 腾讯网". ent.qq.com (in Chinese (China)). Retrieved 2023-10-29.
  17. ↑ "王菲 《只愛陌生人》". music.yule.sohu.com (in Chinese (China)). Retrieved 2023-10-29.
  18. ↑ "策划：那个叫王菲的时代 华语乐坛最高职业水准". ent.sina.com.cn (in Chinese (China)). 2010-10-21. Retrieved 2023-10-29.
  19. ↑ "王菲历年得奖记录". ent.sina.com.cn (in Chinese (China)). 2005-05-27. Retrieved 2023-10-29.
  20. ↑ Only Love Strangers at Discogs, Japan version
  21. ↑ Faye Wong "Only Love Strangers", a Stallone film episode, 163.com, 19 October 2000 (in Chinese)
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