【Chun Shan Ya Ju】YAO Qian: May It Be A Song

Lecture Information

Topic: May It Be A Song

Time: 2017.11.08 Wed. 19:30

Venue: Room 202, Teaching B

Language: Chinese

Lecturer: Mr. YAO Qian

Lecturer Introduction

Mr.YAO Qian -

Musician, Lyricist and Collector

Mr. YAO Qian is a lyricist and manager in music industry. As a lyricist, he obtained numerous awards and great popularity for his representative lyrics such as I’m willing and Perhaps Love, etc. He has dedicated his time to both music creation and management for the past 30 years, during which he had served as General Manager in EMI, Virgin, and Sony in Taiwan. YAO is also keen on film, literature and travelling. 

Without having intentionally looked for YAO’s works, I am deeply touched by the lyrics while listening to the songs. I searched on Baidu to find out that the lyricist is YAO Qian. Then I listened to one song after another. His words are so extraordinary that I can barely stop. 

- The Zhihu Website

It is not important what YAO’s style is. Even YAO himself could not make it clear either. The thing is, you could find yourself, your experience and life in his lyrics.

Faye WONG: I’m Willing

At the time when Faye WONG was still called Shirley, he was already known as YAO Qian. In the MV of I’m Willing, Faye was dressed all in white with her extremely short hair, wandering on her bare feet in front of a church. To this day YAO still believes that all the elements realized in the song were by the will of God.

Jacky CHEUNG: Perhaps Love

It is the theme song of the film Perhaps Love directed by Peter CHAN, which also won the Best Original Film Song at the 25th Hong Kong Film Awards. While all know that the song was sang by Jacky CHEUNG, few notice that its lyrics were written by YAO.

Rene LIU: Did not Know You Are Here

Originated from Eileen CHANG’s novel Love, each line of the lyrics tells about a story. YAO’s fans once said, he gave the most beautiful lyrics to Rene. No wonder it is considered the peak of YAO’s work.

Elva HSIAO: The Most Familiar Stranger

Lyrics by YAO Qiao, music by Xiao KE, sang by Elva HSIAO. They together presented the meaning of the song just the way it should be.

Timi ZHUO: The Dull Ice Flower

With extremely simple and catchy words, this well-known song mostly heard as sung by Timi ZHUO was actually the theme song of the film The Dull Ice Flower, originally sung by Jenny ZHEN. The lyrics were also one of the early works of YAO which was very popular, even to this day.

He follows his heart to do the things he loves. He pursues to start his own life from different angles. He believes that life is always changeable, interesting while serious sometimes. If you want, you can live a life as a song.

Join us in the 5th “Meeting Intellectuals in the Spring Hills” Lecture Series to follow Mr. YAO Qian’s story and his perception of life.

"Chun Shan Ya Ju"  or "Meeting Intellectuals in the Spring Hills", is one of the University's lecture series where the University will invite social elites to share with our students in form of salon or lecture to promote a discussion of thought-provoking issues or soul-touching experiences. During these events, everyone will have a chance to listen and respond on their world views, their aspirations, and intellectual taste in life.