Make a whole new religion

◎ 陳珊妮Sandee Chan
She was once viewed as off mainstream, weird, alternative, talented but never famous. But in a twist of fate, she is now one of the hottest producers in the Mandarin Pop Industry. Now, if any singer wants avant-garde sounds, they look for Sandee. Her latest album 《後來 我們都哭了》 won her two Golden Melody awards. Being a fan of hers since her first album 《華盛頓砍倒櫻桃樹》 (1994), it feels quite good to spit on everyone’s face and say, “You were wrong. We are right all along.”
In 2002, Sandee and Veegay set up their own recording studio, Le Musique.

◎ 李端嫻Veegay
Veegay is one of Hong Kong’s most reputable arranger and mixer. She did some killer arrangements and mastering for Sandee and 拜金小姐’s album. She was one half of Minimal, which was most well known for their mixing and sound engineering in Hong Kong. I first got to know Minimal when they did arrangements for Sandee’s year 2000 album 《完美的呻吟》。

◎可樂王Cola King
Cola King is a writer, photographer, painter and an alien according to Sandee and Veegay.
He writes all the song lyrics in the 拜金小姐 albums. While Sandee and Veegay do Compostion, Arrangement, Vocals, Recording, Engineering and Mastering. Cola King is responsible for most of the artwork found on the 拜金小姐 albums too. Wasn’t too impressed with him until the second 拜金小姐 album. He’s more than good.

2004, 拜金小姐 released their first album, simply titled 《拜金小姐》。The first album was aimed at the sound itself. Free willed and punkish. The songs are emotions themselves. So they can be singing about singing in the bathroom, or an emotion stirred by a faded photograph. Since aiming at the sound itself, 拜金小姐 kept the song lyrics simple and quirky.

《人生歌王》
就躺在澡盆里面唱歌。
就躺在澡盆里面唱。
虽然唱得很烂。
但我也要唱得很爽。
啦啦啦···要唱成一个人生歌王。。


《哈啦全年无休》
豆子说想要用功读书
豆子说先要学好日文和英文
豆子说他想要和东东上床说金城武也不错
豆子说胸部要大一点
豆子说男朋友最好很有钱
可是豆豆只有十三岁她的愿望一个也没有达成

阿料说: 下雨后有彩虹甚至是完全被料中
阿料的话并没有指涉什么并没有什么特别意义
大多只是一句屁话
正如我们成天发言
正如我们手机发热
正如我们如乱扯一天一天的冲劲一样猛

豆子说哈啦全年无休 阿料也说打屁哈啦全年无休
我们说哈啦全年无休 全年无休打屁哈啦乐无穷
乐无穷


哈啦 is a slang for talking bullshit.
So is this 拜金小姐 song lyric bullshit? Or is it about the materialistic youngsters nowadays? Those who only sit around and talk nonsense? You decide.

The new 拜金小姐 sound shook the tasteless Mandarin Pop Industry and the album was voted Top 10 album of 2004 by many independent music organizations.



《写给这个下午》is my favorite song from their first album. It reminds me of someone in Autumn, remembering a time of when Summer was just about to be over. That feeling of losing sight of love, so you try to take as much happiness as you can from that last day of Summer.

《写给这个下午》
雨水打穿镜面
我开车从远方来找你
醒在你年轻的床上
床是芬芳气味的海洋
欢笑走过二十岁的沙滩
你穿我送你的泳衣
在相片里
有笑声轻撞
在粉红色的房间里面
转呀转呀的彷佛电扇
有声音在下降
有花绽放
有花有花飞扬

但那些虚幻
但那些虚幻扩张
它不断地不断地扩张扩张扩张

In 2005, 拜金小姐 strikes again. The highly anticipated second album is titled 《拜金小姐2005》。 This time, 拜金小姐 turns extravagant oriental style. With lavishing lyrics and majestic arrangements, every song on the album is like a huge painting.

《拜金小姐2005》 largely has a Euro-techno sound -「歐陸電子音樂風格」 to it, or as what they refer to as the Eurobeat.
Although Eurobeat was the direction, there is actually New Wave Rock, Techno and even Disco sounds.
For the lyrics part, Cola King did an impeccable job and proved himself worthy as one third of 拜金小姐。

The lyrics of the second are divided into two kinds – the Fun and High 拜金小姐 style and the Magnificent Poetic style.

For most part of the album, Cola King is this brilliant painter. The lyrics are poetic and introspective. You can see his paintings of the eight immortals in 《似仙遊》, and a witch with a crooked nose in 《一座千年的妖精旅店》, and a girl sitting by the lake with a faded photograph in her hands in 《那年夏天 寧靜的海》, and a couple under the comic sky in 《點絳唇》。

《青春驪歌》
又是一個離別季節 每個人都流下眼淚
我也曾經為此傷悲 與你相擁哭泣
鳳凰花開 憂傷六月 此去一別付諸流水
年少情懷真摯甜美 牢記在我的心田
這世事不斷改變
青春花開花謝 我會勇敢長大
這世事不斷改變
青春不停燃燒 我會勇敢的長大
一個人勇敢長大

Although continuing from their last album style of High and Punk, 拜金小姐 had given the song lyrics a little more depth to allow the majestic idea to work.

《週末噴水池鎮暴部隊之歌》
你看這社會五彩燦燦暴跳如雷 絕妙的人類。
你看這國家暗渡陳倉滿腦腸肥 就快要毀滅。
嘿 宇宙變化萬千。
嘿 牛鬼蛇神是誰。
嘿 主義支離破碎。
安靜點 聽我的音樂。
嘿 地面開始升高。
嘿 海水開始倒退。
嘿 今朝有酒今朝醉。
這就是。
我的作為。

[When one has a box office smash hit, and the other sells CDs without even the need for the effort to pronounce words clearly, how can 拜金小姐 not be a part of it?]

《拜金國際俱樂部啦啦隊之歌 (太陽系專用)》
你是個偉大英雄呼嗚 你是個民族救星呼嗚。
你是個蘇波斯答阿呼嗚 你正在磨拳擦掌回神呼嗚。
你有很會很會 你有很神很神。你一定可以打敗周傑倫呼嗚。
你有很多麻索 又有很會功夫。你一定可以打敗周星施呼嗚。
你有很會很會 你有很神很神。
我要珠光寶氣特別為你跳舞。
你有很會很會 你有很神很神。
我要濃妝艷抹特別為你跳舞。
你要法力無邊 你要飛針走線。
我要穿迷你裙特別為你跳舞。
你是風流人物 我是美麗佳人。
我要穿Bikini特別為你欢呼。



《蝶戀花》 is my favourite Favourite 拜金小姐 song so far, found in the album 《拜金小姐2005》。

燕兒東逝流水 戰士吹梅一別
母鹿星河初透 琥珀煙火倚人間
獨我拈花碎步 金釵繹奴玲瓏
笙歌亂雪千重 晚淨天涼鳳華開

今夜要百花齊放與上 大日正開懷
十七名妖精獨上西樓 砍斷遠山寂寞梧桐
今夜要百花齊放興上 南國正芬芳
病玉階瑤殿香冷銷魂 滿城飛絮別是清香

皇上永書安睡 王宮愛奴菱歌
今朝國破山河 露濃花瘦好燒水

今夜要百花齊放興上 青春正斷腸
暮雨晴 落花相思翻飛 找尋那春蝶此恨綿綿
就讓我死在這一片片空虛的迷霧裡
當魂魄渡遠清歌行舟 送人間蒼茫曉夢煙雲
別離

To me, this song is Sadness. And if you can’t fully understand the words, it’s okay. Actually, I think it’s this ridiculously hard to comprehend lyric that makes me love the song so much. I believe that Sadness is something that cannot be fully understood by another person. And when I tell you about my sadness, it will be like the lyrics. You can only make sense, never grasp.
The lines 十七名妖精獨上西樓 砍斷遠山寂寞梧桐 gives me a graphic that is so vivid - Loneliness oozing out of the Tree of Sadness and then covering your world from corner to corner.
And since I’m such a sucker for camp stuff, 《蝶戀花》 must be a national anthem in my world.

拜金小姐 has brought a new idea and sound into the waning Mandarin Pop Industry. Each of their albums creates a musical journey (a new idea which singer Kit Chan had also experimented with, only with less effect and success).
If your modus operandi is Glorious Sorrow, 拜金小姐 could be a new addition to your camp style, especially 《拜金小姐2005》。

Labels: Music