Lonely Tree, Lonely Bird
| Lonely Tree, Lonely Bird | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
 | ||||
| Studio album by Wu Bai & China Blue | ||||
| Released | January 12, 1998 | |||
| Genre | ||||
| Length | 53:54 | |||
| Language | Hokkien | |||
| Label | Magic Stone | |||
| Producer | Wu Bai & China Blue | |||
| Wu Bai & China Blue chronology | ||||
| ||||
Lonely Tree, Lonely Bird (Chinese: 樹枝孤鳥; Pe̍h-ōe-jī: Chhiū-ki Ko͘-chiáu) is the first Taiwanese Hokkien studio album and fourth studio album overall by Taiwanese rock band Wu Bai & China Blue, released on January 12, 1998. Musically, the album incorporates a wide range of styles including jazz, folk, rock, electronica, and pop.
Lonely Tree, Lonely Bird was a great commercial success, selling over 600,000 copies in Taiwan, and is considered to be one of Wu Bai's most influential works.[1] To support the album, Wu Bai embarked on the Air Alert (空襲警報) concert tour, which sold over 120,000 tickets.[2]
Background and recording
[edit]With the lifting of martial law in 1987 and further liberalization efforts in Taiwan in the early 1990s, the New Taiwanese Song movement gained prominence as many Taiwanese artists began singing in languages other than Mandarin, such as Hokkien, Hakka, or the aboriginal languages. However, by the mid-to-late 1990s, the movement began to subside due to the dominance of Mandopop.[3]
Wu Bai himself was disappointed by the quality of Taiwanese Hokkien songs at this time, believing them to simply be Mandarin-based melodies sung in the Hokkien language. The creative inspiration for the album was based on a vision of what Taiwan's music scene would be like if the Kuomintang had not suppressed songs in the Hokkien language. This scenario inspired Wu Bai to blend the singing techniques of traditional Taiwanese song with modern genres such as rock or electronica.[3]
Recording for the album took place in Wu Bai's rehearsal space in Tianmu, which was converted into a recording studio.[4]
Reception
[edit]Lonely Tree, Lonely Bird was a commercial success, selling over 600,000 copies.[5] The album won the 10th Golden Melody Award for Album of the Year in 1999 and received nominations for Golden Melody Awards for Best Male Taiwanese Singer and Best Lyrics.[6][7]
In 2009, the album was ranked number 5 on a list of "200 Best Taiwanese Popular Music Albums (1993-2005)".[8]
Track listing
[edit]All tracks are written by Wu Bai
| No. | Title | Length |
|---|---|---|
| 1. | "Young Girl’s Heart" (少女的心) | 4:35 |
| 2. | "Broken Heart Poetry" (斷腸詩) | 3:36 |
| 3. | "Hustling" (漂浪) | 4:05 |
| 4. | "Back to Hometown" (返去故鄉) | 5:48 |
| 5. | "Long Way Fall" (萬丈深坑) | 4:09 |
| 6. | "Farewell My Love" (心愛的再會啦) | 5:35 |
| 7. | "Wandering at Night City" (徘徊夜都市) | 4:22 |
| 8. | "Crush On You" (煞到你) | 3:01 |
| 9. | "Air Alert" (空襲警報) | 4:04 |
| 10. | "Lonely Tree, Lonely Bird" (樹枝孤鳥) | 4:57 |
| 11. | "Mist In The Wind" (飛在風中的小雨) | 4:15 |
| 12. | "Sigh" (怨嗟嘆) | 5:27 |
| Total length: | 53:54 | |
Charts
[edit]Weekly charts
[edit]| Chart (1998) | Peak position |
|---|---|
| Taiwanese Albums (IFPI Taiwan)[9] | 2 |
References
[edit]- ^ "gigs搖滾誌". paper.udn.com. Retrieved 2024-11-23.
- ^ "《空襲警報》專輯資料 | 伍佰官方網站". wubai.com. Retrieved 2024-11-16.
- ^ a b "「新台語歌運動」的盛大復興！伍佰《樹枝孤鳥》專輯以豐富音樂表情和對土地深刻情感奪金曲最大獎". 放言Fount Media. Retrieved 2024-06-09.
- ^ "《樹枝孤鳥》新聞資料 | 伍佰官方網站". wubai.com. Retrieved 2024-11-16.
- ^ "Live From Taiwain". Billboard. August 8, 1998. p. APQ4. Retrieved October 26, 2022.
- ^ "歷屆得獎入圍名單".
- ^ "文化部影視及流行音樂產業局-歷屆得獎入圍名單". archive.ph. 2018-11-24. Retrieved 2024-11-16.
- ^ 台灣流行音樂200最佳專輯 [200 Best Taiwanese Popular Music Albums] (in Chinese). Taiwan: China Times Publishing Co. 2009-02-06. pp. 158–159. ISBN 9789571349800.
- ^ "IFPI Taiwan - Local Top 20 (1998Week05)". 1999-02-22. Archived from the original on 22 February 1999. Retrieved 2024-11-17.