Songs in HK movies

[grim_tales]

Hey,
I've been surprised lately to come across some songs on Youtube that have the same melody as well known songs from Asian movies but with different lyrics One example is:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yUbItKADPpg

The English love lyrics are rather naff though, is it a rewrite of Anita Mui's original or translation? That song works so well at the end of ABT III.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B06uC2Z-D9g

Faye Wong's "If you Were Mine" (from Mermaid Got Married) is an English version of her Mandarin song "Sky" which is also based on a Shawn Colvin song. Makes me wonder whether HK/Asian singers in the 90's/00's were great reinterpreters or copycats

[Markgway]

Interesting... I don't have any answers for you... except to say the Anita Mui version is 100x better.

[grim_tales]

Yes, it is. I agree with you totally Interestingly I've just heard Leslie Cheung sing it. Lyrics sound different again though:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EzRTCk0wzWA

The video mentions Kohji Makaino (who I presume was an artist/singer), perhaps Anita and Leslie were covering a Japanese song?

[Markgway]

The video mentions Kohji Makaino (who I presume was an artist/singer), perhaps Anita and Leslie were covering a Japanese song?

According to the on screen text, Kohji Makaino wrote the music and Richard Lam Chan-Keung the lyrics.

[Shingster]

They're just cover versions produced by artists on the cheap with some PC audio/video production software who then post them on YouTube, nothing really new about that. That specific song though is a classic ballad covered by loads of singers across asia (certainly been many versions in cantonese).

I believe (don't know for certain) that the original version was indeed Japanese, sung by Matchy (Masahiko Kondo) and composed by Kohji Makaino as Mark says. It's called Yuuyake no Uta (Song of the Sunset or Sunset Song, etc) and you can listen to it here. I believe it was originally released as a single in February 1989, but the melody (presumably the bit written by Makaino) might have been used by Matchy in earlier ballads tbh. Anyway, he and Anita Mui had collaborated in concerts long before 1989 so she was probably first choice to record a canto version.

[grim_tales]

Thanks for the link Shing, very nice song
There's also another song called "Please Don't Go Away" in English, I dont know who sings it but its lyrics match the tune of Faye Wong's "Broken Hearted Woman".

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IRpJydM3IHY

[Shingster]

The original version is Rouge by Miyuki Nakajima from 1972 I think.