Lover's Tears/情人的眼泪 - Laurance Tan

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To watch an alternate version of this video, please click https://youtu.be/dAJFrcfKlpg

'Lover's Tears' is a Mandarin pop classic song first recorded by its original singer in1958. This is a song that is celebrated in Asia to this day. Every singer who can sing in Mandarin usually have this tune in their back pockets ready to be pulled out whenever it is requested by an audience. I have refrained from singing this song for a very long time because it is such a revered piece of work that is almost sacred to me. I felt that if I couldn't perform it well enough and gave it the integrity it calls for, I would rather not do it. But after much thought and many requests from my followers, I have decided to give it a go with my own impression while giving as much respect and integrity to the song and its composers.

The original singer of "Lover's Tears' is Macau born Ms. Poon Sow Keng whose career started at a young age in Hongkong, Malaysia and Singapore. Ms. Poon re-debuted this song in the Shaw Brothers movie 'Little Lark' (《小云雀》) in 1964 where she had a scene singing this song.

Poon, known as the “Queen of Alto” (低音歌后), had first recorded the song in 1958. It was composed by the prolific Yao Min (姚敏), the famous composer and producer for the record company EMI in the 1950s and 1960s, with lyrics provided by the equally illustrious lyricist Chen Die Yi (陈蝶衣).

The following is an account of Poon's recollection about working on the song : Poon recalled the hard time she had at the recording session, “Back then, recording for an album was done with a live band. Mr Yao Min would conduct the band himself. Whenever a mistake is made, we will have to start from the top. It’s much easier now, just press a button and we can rewind and start over. It took me two days to get the song right. It was such a difficult song! The key was either very high or very low at parts. When the song was almost done, the key for the last line ‘my tears would fall’ (掉下来) just wouldn’t fall low enough.”

“Technically then, we were not able to manipulate the sound. I just couldn’t get it right. I was upset and started crying. Mr Yao Min was shocked. I asked to try again the next day. He agreed and consoled me. The next day when I got to the studio, he had changed the key, lifting it half a key higher. The recording then went ahead without a hitch. So I did shed tears, but not for a lover. Rather, it was for the difficult song.”

Poon admitted, however, that she had shed real tears on stage singing A Lover’s Tears after her divorce, “When things are not going well in your life, you would naturally feel sad when singing this song. Sometimes, I would sob so badly that I couldn’t continue. Every night for the six months I was singing at the lounge, someone would request for this song without fail. And I would cry singing it each time. So for a full six months, I was crying on stage.”

But Poon is eternally grateful for this big break, “A Lover’s Tears made me a household name. Everyone remembered me for it. So Mr Yao Min was a really, really important figure in my life and career.”
- National Library Board, Singapore.

English Translation of 'Lover's Tears':

Why am I shedding tears for you?
Do you not know it is for love?
Only for those who are lovers, tears are really precious,
Every teardrop is love, all love.

Why am I shedding tears for you?
Do you not understand that it is for love?
If not for my lover wanting to leave me.
My tears would not be falling, falling.

Spring has come, spring flowers are blooming
How can you bear to say goodbye?
I am in my room, waiting anxiously for you
Do not forget that my love is deep, as deep as the ocean

Why am I shedding tears for you?
Do you not know it is for love?
If not for my lover wanting to leave me
My tears would not be falling, falling.

Recorded and engineered by Gary Honess, Kuhl Muzik studios, Toronto

Guitars and Bass - Anton Rauly