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Zhang Chu (, born November 11, 1968) is a Chinese musician who was born in Xi'an, Shaanxi. Lauded by many as "the most lonesome singer-poet", Zhang Chu has remained a prominent figure on Chinese rock scene despite not releasing a new album since 1997. In fact, his lyrics continues to be quoted frequently by a whole new generation of Chinese youth to this day, though few seem to truly grasp its meaning. ==Biography== Mainstream audience got a first taste of Zhang Chu's distinctive brand of folk rock in 1992 through the by-now classic single "Sister". The song recounts a dark story of familial abuse and repression through the eyes of a child. The repeated exclamations of "Sister! I wanna go home. Take a hold of my hand, I'm a bit sleepy. Sister! I wanna go home. Take a hold of my hand, you don't need to be afraid" during the rousing chorus moved countless listeners to tears. The memorable melody and the emotional vocal delivery made the song an instant hit in China mainland, with its influence spreading to other Chinese speaking regions and countries. Zhang Chu himself confided years later that the song carried a political overtone which few seemed to detect. This is typical of his style, social satire which is subtle and easy to miss by the unsuspected. Similarly, his rollicking punk cover of the Red Standard "Socialism is Good" also left some of us wondering if this was not a tongue-in-cheek dig at the "People's Government". In 1993 Zhang Chu's first album "A Heart cannot Fawn" was released. This is a collection of Zhang's early compositions (all written before 1990), though more than half of the songs were performed by other singers. With a terribly confused producer and at least equally confused singers who clearly did not understand what rock music was let alone the meaning of the songs, the album sounds like a curiously schizophrenic patchwork that was put together half-heartedly in a hurry. Nevertheless, the raw originality of the songwriter shines through. In tracks like "BPMF" or "Westward out of Yang Guan", Zhang Chu quickly establishes his unmistakable style: narrative story-line, keen observation, easy-flowing verse and expressive voice. Around the same time, Zhang Chu was signed to the ambitious Taiwan-based rock recording label "Muoyan" and in 1994 participated in the legendary "Chinese Rock Power" concert held at Hong Kong Arena. The headliners, besides Zhang Chu, also included Dou Wei (former lead singer of the early Chinese rock group Black Leopard) and He Yong (one of the first Chinese punk rockers). Hastily lumped together and marketed under the somewhat archaic sounding title of "The Three Prominents of Muoyan", these exciting new talents from China nevertheless went from unknown to famous overnight, stunning the Hong Kong audience with their energy and creativity, thus heralding "the spring of new music". Twenty-six-year-old Zhang Chu, with a face as fresh as a teenager, performed several songs from his next album while sitting almost motionless in a chair. This shy stage persona would soon become his trademark. People were once again amazed that such powerful vocals and thought-provoking lyrics could come from the body of an awkward child. Following the critical acclaim and commercial splash in HK, Zhang Chu's second album
Merely a few lines have elevated the exceedingly common subject matter to a philosophical level. Zhang Chu's songs are full of such memorable quotes which could easily stand alone independent of the music, no wonder he quickly became widely celebrated on college campuses as well as among lovers of modern Chinese literature. More proof of Zhang Chu's considerable talent with language came in the form of a pair of allegorical tracks on the album: "Ants ants" and "The fly". In "a bug's life" Zhang Chu style, the ants became a symbol of the lifestyle and attitudes of millions of Chinese peasants, whereas the fly was unexpectedly turned into the perfect totem of a generation of rock and roll youth:
For the next few years, Zhang Chu stayed in Beijing which was the undisputed center of Chinese rock scene. The newfound fame made the introverted singer increasingly uneasy, however. By all accounts, he avoided interviews and socialization, and rarely collaborated with other rockers. His next album
Whereas in the past Zhang Chu's music had often been categorized as "humanistic" and "socially conscious", in this album we see him retreating deeper into his own psyche, isolation and mental conflicts became the overwhelming theme. A few years after the release of 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア(Wikipedia)』 ■ウィキペディアで「Zhang Chu」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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