1990: Starting from Baojia Street

As soon as a short excerpt of this piece of music was played, many audience members in the audience sighed, saying that it was worthy of Zhou Yan to be able to play such a pleasant-sounding piece of music right from the start.

It’s a bit of a pity that the sound reception on site was relatively poor, and Zhou Yan’s guitar was not plugged in, so he relied entirely on the microphone to pick up the sound, and the effect was much worse.

There is a big difference between solo and singing and playing. If it is singing and playing, it doesn’t matter if the accompaniment is a little worse, because people mainly listen to the singing.

But for solo, it all depends on the sound of the guitar.

Some audiences were expecting Zhou Yan to sing, but they knew that this was impossible. For so many years, no one had ever heard Zhou Yan sing.

Many female music fans expressed regret about this, saying it is such a pity that Zhou Yan, as a model, cannot sing.

Because the guitar sound was not well received, the audience was very conscious and did not applaud or shout, trying to keep the environment quiet to avoid covering up the guitar sound.

Some people don't even dare to breathe loudly.

Jiao Huang was sitting in the front row, feeling the atmosphere of the scene, and couldn't help but sigh with emotion. He only knew before that Zhou Yan had amazing musical talent and was very popular with the public, but today he finally felt it firsthand.

And being so close, he finally found the reason why so many people like Zhou Yan, because he is indeed talented.

Not to mention this era, even when they were young, if someone could play a piece like this with an instrument, they could still attract a large number of people, probably even more enthusiastically than the situation today.

Before the 1970s and after the 1980s, although material conditions were not as abundant as they are today, people's desire for spiritual pursuits was incomparable.

Especially in the early 1980s, anyone who could recite a few poems and play two musical instruments could become a celebrity in their area.

Of course, in the 1980s, Jiao Huang was already in his forties and had long passed the age of passion and enthusiasm. He was more concerned with observing the era in which he lived.

After entering the 1980s, the entire literary and artistic circle was relatively restless, and everyone was looking for an outlet for their long-suppressed emotions.

The entire group is like a shriveled sponge, absorbing water madly and outputting it madly at the same time. However, after the 1990s, this feeling gradually weakened, and more people began to try to deal with the era they live in rationally.

But at the same time, more foreign cultures are pouring in like a tide.

This situation has both advantages and disadvantages. The good thing is that people can develop a more comprehensive worldview and learn more about other countries besides China.

The bad thing is that when we are unable to absorb effectively and find it difficult to confront, a large number of discordant voices will emerge among the people.

Jiao Huang had a distinct feeling that in the 1980s, people from all walks of life in China were still very confident, and most people had a consensus that China would enter a stage of rapid development, catching up with the Western world in all aspects, and would soon surpass Western countries.

However, more than a decade later, people's confidence has declined. Many people have developed a sense of submission and have begun to indiscriminately deny their own culture and to promote Western culture in all aspects.

In the 1980s, Chinese literature and film flourished, and in just ten years they completed a journey that took Western countries decades or even hundreds of years to complete.

Directors such as Zhang Yimou and Chen Kaige all appeared at this time.

At the beginning of the 1990s, they still performed very well internationally, but this feeling only lasted for a few short years.

Both Zhang Yimou and Chen Kaige feel a bit blocked internationally.

It only took ten years for the Chinese people to lose their confidence. As to when confidence can be rebuilt, it is very difficult to determine.

Jiao Huang is not a pessimist, but he has never seen any hope before.

However, the appearance of Zhou Yan gave him hope.

China at this stage needs people like Zhou Yan to emerge. Only when more and more people like Zhou Yan stand up can the Chinese people regain their lost confidence.

In fact, it is obvious that Zhou Yan is taking a completely different path from Zhang Yimou, Chen Kaige and others.

The same is true in music. His path is quite different from that of his senior brothers such as Tan Dun.

For now, Zhou Yan seems to be making good progress on this path, but I don’t know if he can succeed in the end.

Jiao Huang certainly hopes that Zhou Yan can move on, so when Zhou Yan invited him to audition for "Time Traveler", he did not hesitate at all and agreed very decisively.

When he learned that he had to compete with others, he did not show any dissatisfaction. Instead, he took it more seriously and eventually won the role of the protagonist's father.

Just as Jiao Huang was looking at Zhou Yan in deep thought on the stage, Zhou Yan had already finished playing "The Waves". The audience burst into thunderous applause, and he also applauded.

At this time, another audience member began to shout: "One more."

But this time Zhou Yan did not satisfy them. He smiled and said, "Today's performance ends here. I hope everyone can spend a wonderful night. The scenery at Jiaochangwei is very nice, and there are several new attractions. They are all very good. If you have time, you can stay here for a few more days."

Finally, Zhou Yan also called the travel company in Jiaochangwei.

Huang Youfa was very happy to hear Zhou Yan speaking for their village.

Director Zhou is a really good person to get along with. He is always willing to help when needed.

What Huang Youfa didn't know was that the reason Zhou Yan spoke for Jiaochangwei was mainly because their family had a share in Jiaochangwei's business.

Of course Zhou Yan should also pay attention to his own business.

After the performance, the crew began to retreat and went into the restaurant to have dinner.

The tourists waited for a while unwillingly, but eventually dispersed.

Recently, a lot of lights have been installed on the coast of Jiaochangwei. Although it is dark, tourists do not have to rush back to rest and can take a walk on the beach.

There is also a bar in the village. Although the environment is not as good as that in the city due to its hasty construction, it has a nice scenery. The bar is right on the coast, so you can drink while listening to the sound of the waves, which is quite a unique experience.

……

When Zhou Yan and his friends started eating, it was already light in New York for a while.

Today is a big day for Mariah Carey fans because her new single "someone like you" is about to be released today.

In fact, many people are already familiar with the new single.

Ever since "Young and Beautiful" swept the charts, there has been a high overlap between Zhou Yan's fans and Mariah Carey's fans. The song "Someone Like You" and "Young Beautiful" both come from the movie "Sense and Sensibility", so many Mariah Carey fans have heard this song in advance.

Moreover, before Mariah Carey announced the release of the single, there had been calls for Zhou Yan to turn "Someone Like You" into a song for Mariah Carey to sing, so the release of this single was what everyone expected.

As fans of both Zhou Yan and Mariah Carey, Salori and Olivia came to the Little Bear Record Bookstore early. Normally, the Little Bear Record Bookstore would not open until nine in the morning, but today because of the release of a new single, the bookstore opened at eight o'clock.

Of course, not all bookstores that release singers’ albums will open early, but because the owner is a loyal fan of Zhou Yan, this is an exception.

Ever since they met Zhou Yan at the Little Bear Record and Bookstore last time, Salori and Olivia would come here whenever they wanted to buy books or records. Although this bookstore was not the closest to them, they would rather walk a little further.

Because they come so often, the store clerks can recognize them.

Seeing the two of them, the clerk smiled and said, "I knew you would come early today. The single has been placed on the first row of bookshelves, in the middle."

"Kant, have you heard the new single?"

Kanter smiled and said, "It's a secret."

In fact, Kante used his position to listen to the new single in advance, but in order to give the two girls a better experience, he chose to keep it a secret.

"Haha, you must have heard it."

“And the single is sure to be good.”

They also knew Kante quite well, and looking at his expression, they knew that the single did not disappoint him.

Kant shrugged without saying anything, but ran to turn on the speakers in the store and played another song by Mariah Carey, "Young and Beautiful".

The two girls couldn't wait to run to the first row of bookshelves and decisively took down a single CD from it.

Instead of rushing to pay, he directly unpacked the package, put the CD into the CD player they brought, put on headphones and started listening to music.

Because it is a single CD, there is only one song in it.

But after the CD was played, the music did not sound immediately, but Mariah Carey's voice appeared.

“I’m very happy to be able to meet you in the form of a single this fall. Although many people have watched “Sense and Sensibility” and listened to the soundtrack, or listened to Y-chou’s album “Yu Ling Lin”, I believe that this song can still give you some different feelings.”

"It is worth mentioning that the composition, lyrics and arrangement of this song were all done by Y himself. Yes, this is another typical Y song. I hope to dedicate this song to all my friends who have lied, hesitated, and regretted in love, but still want to continue loving."

“We may have missed a lot of things, but please believe that in the near future, we will find the happiness that truly belongs to us.”

After Mariah Carey finished speaking, Salori and Olivia looked at each other. These words reminded them of what Mariah Carey had experienced during this period of time.

Now that Mariah Carey has divorced her ex-husband Mottola and started her life anew, is this a message she sent to herself?

Soon, a familiar melody sounded.

The prelude of this song is exactly the same as the original song, which is a simple piano piece.

The prelude was not long, only twelve seconds. At the thirteenth second, Mariah Carey's slightly hoarse voice sounded.

Both girls were a little surprised to hear Mariah Carey's voice, because this voice was somewhat different from Mariah Carey's usual singing voice.

Is it her voice that has changed, or was it a deliberate change made specifically for this song?
They were more inclined to believe that Kelly made the change for the song because the sound of her voice just now was no different from usual.

But regardless, the voice appeals to them all and makes Kylie sound a little more mature.

"I heard that you're settled down
That you found a girl and you're married now
......"

The first two lines of lyrics created a feeling of regret, but Mariah Carey's handling of it was not so regretful, but rather a feeling of being more open-minded.

Salori and Olivia originally liked this piece of music very much, but they didn't expect it to feel like this after being adapted into a song, which is very different from the original.

After the vocals come in, the song becomes fuller, and the lyrics make the emotions of the song so concrete.

In the verse part, Mariah Carey's voice remains in a very narrow frequency, affectionate yet restrained.

But when it comes to the chorus, the pitch of the long melody changes at the end, going up an octave, giving people the feeling of an emotional release. Her voice becomes louder and louder, and the feeling of regret becomes more and more obvious.

These emotions will not be so obvious when listening to pure music alone.

Because the singer's voice, as well as the lyrics, will very directly guide the listener in the direction the producer wants.

For the same piece of music, whether it is in major or minor key, different people will have different feelings about the direction of the melody, and there will often be extreme differences.

But songs are different. With vocals and lyrics, the audience's emotions are narrowed to a relatively small range.

This is also why many pure music will give people a very different feeling after being adapted into songs.

The arrangement of this song is very simple, with only the prelude using the same method as the original song. However, in the middle and late stages, all other instruments that appeared in the original song are gone, and there is still only the piano, which keeps playing a highly repetitive accompaniment.

Because the singer's voice is rich and colorful enough, the simple, repetitive accompaniment serves as a very suitable decoration, allowing the emotions of the entire song to turn freely under Mariah Carey's control.

When the whole song was over, Salori breathed a sigh of relief, "What a great song."

Olivia nodded in agreement, "Yes, this will be another song that dominates the charts."

Saloli maintained a serious attitude towards dominating the charts. "It doesn't matter whether it dominates the charts or not. Anyway, we have a good song to listen to. I heard that this song has also been filmed with an MV, I don't know what it is like."

"It will be on the show at ten o'clock and we can go home and watch it."

"Yeah." Salori nodded, "I have to listen to the lyrics again. The lyrics of this song are also very good."

"Y's lyrics are always good, such as "yellow" and "young and beautiful"."

"He's a writer after all, haha, so there's no problem with him writing lyrics."

Speaking of the fact that Zhou Yan is a writer, the two felt a little regretful. Although they knew that Zhou Yan was a writer, they had never read any of his works.

They tried to find it, but couldn't find it.

But there is also good news, which was revealed to them by Harry, the owner of the Little Bear Record Bookstore. Zhou Yan may publish a novel in the United States, and then they will be able to see Zhou Yan's literary talent. (End of this chapter)