The first international Chinese pop song
Overview
Chinese Name: 玫瑰玫瑰我爱你
English Name: Rose Rose I Love You
Composer: Chen Gexin陈歌辛
Lyricist: Wu Cun吴村
Original Singer: Yao Li姚莉
“Rose Rose I Love You” is one of the greatest works of Chinese pop music and our cultural treasure! Both composer Chen Gexin and original singer Yao Li are among the most shining stars in the history of Chinese pop music.
Story of “Rose Rose I Love You”
Known as the “Music Master”, Chen Gexin has created several popular songs in the north and south of the country, such as “Shanghai Night夜上海“, “Roses Bloom Everywhere蔷薇蔷薇处处开”, “Congratulations, Congratulations恭喜恭喜”, etc. He had no formal music education, and his creation was basically talent and the result of self-study, which added to his legendary color. As the person who wrote China’s first musical Xi Shi西施, he was also the object of the film directors competing to invite him to write songs at that time. Rose, rose, I love you is the episode he created for the film Tianya singer starring Zhou Xuan. Wu Cun, the lyricist of “Rose Rose I Love You”, happened to be the director of the film.
The original name of ” Rose Rose I Love You ” was actually called ” Rose Rose（玫瑰啊玫瑰）”. When publishing this song, composer Chen Gexin（陈歌辛） still used the pen name of that time – Lin Mu（林牧）. Maybe even he didn’t think that this song would break the previous adaptation practice and go abroad and enjoy a good reputation all over the world. British radio host Wilfred Thomas gave the English lyrics on the score, which made the song, which had perfectly integrated the unique pentatonic melody of Chinese music and the swing rhythm of the big band of Western jazz, present a more international fashion flavor.
Although Zhou Xuan has never sung this song “rose, rose, I love you”, her contribution can not be ignored, because Zhou Xuan has excavated and cultivated Yao Li.
In 1937, Yao Li performed on the radio with her uncle because of her accidental interest. Unexpectedly, she became a blockbuster and was appreciated by Zhou Xuan and Yan Hua. After being introduced, she signed a contract with EMI record company and recorded her first record “Selling Missing”, which immediately became popular all over the country and widely sung in the streets. From then on, there was a proud “silver voice” in the Chinese singing world.
In 1951, American singer Frankie Laine sang the English version of Rose Rose I love you, which not only ranked third in the world-famous American Billboard magazine music list, but also topped the American music pop list and has been popular abroad so far. This is the first Chinese song widely popular and influential in the world. Even today, few other Chinese pop songs can do this.
Lyrics of ” Rose Rose I Love You ”
Chinese Lyrics
玫瑰玫瑰最娇美
玫瑰玫瑰最艳丽
长夏开在枝头上
玫瑰玫瑰我爱你
玫瑰玫瑰情意重
玫瑰玫瑰情意浓
长夏开在荆棘里
玫瑰玫瑰我爱你
心的誓约 心的情意
圣洁的光辉照大地
心的誓约 心的情意
圣洁的光辉照大地
玫瑰玫瑰枝儿细
玫瑰玫瑰刺儿锐
今朝风雨来摧残
伤了嫩枝和娇蕊
玫瑰玫瑰心儿坚
玫瑰玫瑰刺儿尖
来日风雨来摧毁
毁不了并蒂连理
玫瑰玫瑰我爱你
English Lyrics
Rose, Rose I love you
with an aching heart
What is your future?
now we have to part
Standing on the jetty
as the steamer moves away
Flower of Malaya, I cannot stay
Make way, oh, make way
for my Eastern Rose
Men crowd in dozens
everywhere she goes
In her rickshaw on the street
or in a cabaret
“Please make way for Rose”
you can hear them say
All my life I shall remember
Oriental music and you in my arms
Perfumed flowers in your tresses
Lotus-scented breezes
and swaying palms
Rose, Rose I love you
with your almond eyes
Fragrant and slender
‘neath tropical skies
I must cross the seas again
and never see you more’
way back to my home
on a distant shore
(All my life I shall remember)
(Oriental music and you in my arms)
(Perfumed flowers in your tresses)
(Lotus-scented breezesand swaying palms)
Rose, Rose I leave you
my ship is in the bay
Kiss me farewell now
there’s nothin’ to say
East is East and West is West
our worlds are far apart
I must leave you now
but I leave my heart
Rose, Rose I love you
with an aching heart
What is your future?
now we have to part
Standing on the jetty
as the steamer moves away
Flower of Malaya, I cannot stay
(Rose, Rose I love you,I cannot stay)