Another almost 20-year-old music video. I like the way MV directors back then incorporated touching and coherent stories into the videos.
This is one of Malaysian singer 梁靜茹’s earlier songs. It’s also one of my favourites from her. The story for the MV was well-written and the director did an awesome job. It begins with a 17-year-old girl meeting and falling in love with a married bartender who is quite a number of years her senior. The relationship seems unlikely or even impossible in the minds of the cynics. The Singapore public frowns on relationships between people with wide age gaps. The wider the age gap between the senior and the minor, the more serious the offence.
But for the millions who have seen this MV, it is a charming, romantic story. Love is most beautiful when it goes against the odds. However, the male protagonist wisely holds back and lets the girl grow up and find a less awkward and inconvenient happiness.
The female protagonist is beautifully played by then newcomer, Taiwanese teen actress 萧淑慎. Xiao had a promising career in music as well (even though I find her voice rather mediocre), but she completely ruined it with a drug habit, going in and out of rehabilitation, earning her the reputation of Taiwan’s 吸毒天后. It was later rumoured that she was the god-daughter of some gang leader.
This is what became of her after rehab and you must admit that she was not camera-ready. Nevertheless, Xiao seemed determined to make a comeback, trying her utmost to shed the pounds and show off her naturally-endowed assets. Born in 1976, Xiao is about 37 now.
All this reminds me of another song. This one was written by 黄舒骏.
亲爱的你是否记得自己曾是怎样的少女
是否记得自己曾是多么羞涩多么纤细
什么时候开始收集寂寞的诗句
什么时候开始用日记细细编织你的忧郁
什么时候开始陷入琼瑶设下的陷阱
什么时候决定今生只有一支恋曲
你像一朵静静的睡莲
认真等待别人来获取芳心
亲爱的你是否记得曾经迷恋哪一个明星
是否记得为何初吻之后你会如此哭泣
什么时候开始他带走你所有的心情
什么时候开始放弃成为一个伟大的女性
什么事情什么人改变了你的命运
什么事情什么人使你成为现在的你
你默默不语的过去
却是我最深沉的叹息
亲爱的你何时开始变得如此迷人而无情
何时懂得用化妆品和善变来伪装自己
何时懂得用美貌来换取想要的东西
何时开始用投资报酬率来计算你的爱情
何时开始梦想对你已经毫无意义
何时开始生活只是单纯生存问题
即使你见到令你动心的身影
依然带著冷漠的表情
亲爱的你是否记得想要成为怎样的母亲
想要如何告诉子女关于你的那段过去
什么时候开始隐瞒自己的年龄
什么时候开始不堪回首却又喜欢回忆
什么事情,什么人改变了你的命运,
什么事情,什么人使你成为现在的你,
你默默不语的过去,确是我最深沉的叹息。
This is the only “MV” of this song that I managed to find on YouTube.
© Chan Joon Yee
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