I've started practicing these four Taiwanese songs on my viola.
Here is some background information about these songs that I've gathered from the Internet and would like to share with you.
1. 舊情綿綿
舊情綿綿 is one of the classic Taiwanese songs of the late 1950s. The lyrics were written by 葉俊麟 and the melody by 洪一峰, and the song became widely popular around 1959. It tells a simple but deeply emotional story: a man cannot let go of an old love, even though he knows the relationship has ended. (tcmb.culture.tw)
What makes the song especially interesting is that its story was connected to 葉俊麟's own experience. According to historical records, while he was married, he became emotionally involved with a woman who worked in a tea house. The relationship eventually ended, but the experience inspired 舊情綿綿. Thus, the song's intense longing was not simply a fictional love story. (tcmb.culture.tw)
The song became so popular that, in 1962, it was made into a Taiwanese-language film of the same name, starring 洪一峰 himself. The film included ten popular Taiwanese songs and was promoted as the first Taiwanese musical film. (tcmb.culture.tw)
舊情綿綿 therefore represents an important period in Taiwanese popular music, when personal experience, simple language, and memorable melodies spoke directly to the emotional world of ordinary people.
2. 車站
車站 is a later Taiwanese popular song, written and composed by 林垂立 and made famous by 張秀卿. It became one of 張秀卿's signature songs, and she won the 1993 Golden Melody Award for Best Female Singer for her performance of it. (cna.com.tw)
The setting is wonderfully simple: a railway station. A train arrives, and people happily wait for their loved ones. But the singer is there for the opposite reason—to see someone she loves leave. The same station therefore contains two completely different emotions: reunion for some, separation for another.
The song also has a personal connection to 林垂立's life. He grew up in 瑞芳, near the mining towns of 九份 and 金瓜石. As a child, he took trains from 瑞芳 Station to school. Later, when he left his hometown to make a living, the station once again became a place of departure. These memories eventually inspired 車站. (cna.com.tw)
That background gives the song an authenticity that is easy to miss. The station is not merely a romantic setting; it represents leaving home, going away to work, and saying goodbye—experiences familiar to many Taiwanese people.
In this sense, 車站 is both a love song and a small portrait of Taiwanese life.
3. 雙人枕頭
雙人枕頭 is a later Taiwanese love song closely associated with 王識賢. It was created by 王登雄 and his teacher 羅又華, with the melody by 張錦華, and became popular in the early 1990s.
What is particularly interesting is the idea behind the song. The writers wanted to create a modern Taiwanese love song that moved away from the strong Japanese influence found in much earlier Taiwanese popular music. Instead, they used familiar things from everyday life.
And what could be more ordinary than a pillow and a quilt?
The song turns these household objects into symbols of companionship. A pillow is meant for two people, and a quilt may keep the body warm—but when the beloved is absent, neither seems quite complete. Love is therefore not presented as some grand romantic adventure. It is simply about having someone beside you in the ordinary routines of life.
That may be one reason the song remains so appealing. Its sentimentality is intimate and domestic rather than dramatic.
There is also a sad story behind it. 王登雄 died only a few years after beginning his songwriting career. Knowing this gives the apparently simple song an additional sense of poignancy.
4. 雪中紅
雪中紅 was written by 胡曉雯, composed by 吳嘉祥, and originally sung as a duet by 王識賢 and 陳亮吟. Released in 1991, it became especially well known as the ending theme of the Taiwanese television drama 草地狀元. It later reached an even wider audience through the popular drama 意難忘. (newton.com.tw)
The title gives us the song's central image: a rose remaining red in the snow. The lyrics speak of separation, cold wind and rain, memories, and a love that cannot simply disappear. The rose suggests that even when everything around it has become cold, love can remain alive.
The duet format also gives the song a dramatic quality. The two singers express the feelings of the lovers from their respective perspectives, making it particularly well suited to television.
By the early 1990s, Taiwanese popular songs had become closely connected with television dramas. People encountered songs not only through radio and cassette tapes but also through memorable characters, dramatic scenes, and the closing moments of each episode.
In that sense, 雪中紅 belongs to a new era, yet its emotional theme connects it with 舊情綿綿: love may end, but the feeling of love may remain.
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