Media regulation

Nicholas Tse is too depressing for mainland youth

JDM061023nicholas.jpg
Nicholas Tse's new album, Forget Me Not (毋忘我), arrived on the mainland just before the October holiday. It's a "best-of" collection, mostly of songs he wrote for other pop stars and which he's now making his own. Fans eagerly anticipating the new title song will have to look elsewhere, however, since it's not on the record - the censors at SARFT felt that it was too tragic for listeners here.

This is not really news - back in June when the single was sent to radio stations, it never cleared the censors, who apparently were tripped up by the line, "Since my youth I've had a feeling that I'll die young" (我自幼直觉便是很早死). At the time, Nic said, "At first, my manager Mani wouldn't let me sing it and opposed the use of those lyrics. But I insisted on singing it, even if it would get banned on the mainland."

The press is reporting on the ban this week because Cecilia Cheung's new husband was in town to promote the album, and the wedding stuff is apparently played out. In a recent interview, Nicholas elaborated on the circumstances of the ban:

Q: Does the name of this album, "Forget Me Not", have any special meaning?
A: "Forget Me Not" is one of the songs on the album, and many of the ideas in it are my own deep feelings. I had hoped that this song would allow more people to understand Nicholas Tse, so I chose that name for the album.
Q: Reportedly, this song has been banned on the mainland, so your mainland fans may not be able to hear it?
A: Yes, this song didn't pass. When I recorded it I already had a feeling that it wouldn't pass; frankly, in seven years I haven't recorded a song that brought me to tears while recording, but "Forget Me Not" had me crying while I was singing. Things are always like this - your greatest hopes become the biggest disappointment....

It may express his innermost feelings, but the lyrics are actually by hit machine Lin Xi. The music is based on "Forget Me Not" by Yutaka Ozaki, a Japanese singer who died in 1992 at just 26 years of age.

Nicholas Tse identifies the Japanese song as a major influence on his career, and he sings a tribute version of the original on the Hong Kong edition of his new album. Mainland fans are simply out of luck.

Links and Sources
There are currently 2 Comments for Nicholas Tse is too depressing for mainland youth.

Comments on Nicholas Tse is too depressing for mainland youth

Hi Nicholas Tse.
I wish you a very Happy Birthday Nicholas Tse :)
You're a great music & actor so cool.
You for all your great work. :) ;)

Hi Nic Tse,
Is there anyway I can get you to read this message yourself? I really need to talk to you. You are the greatest.
Mimi

Post a comment

All comments are moderated and subject to review by Danwei contributors and editors, but well-grounded and articulate comments will be published regardless of which way they lean. Because comments published on any website ultimately contribute to the character of that website, we may decline to publish comments that are irrelevant, redundant, or that do not adhere to generally accepted standards of courtesy; if you are looking for a fight, there are plenty of other venues available online.


Some useful html: <b>bold</b>, <i>italic</i>,
<a href="http://www.danwei.org">link</a>

Media Partners
Visit these sites for the latest China news
090609guardian2.png 090609CNN3.png
China Media Timeline
Major media events over the last three decades
Danwei Model Workers
laomo2008fpA.jpg
Recommended blogs and new media
Books on China
AXL100219hktales.jpg
Tales of Old Hong Kong: The new Tales of Old Hong Kong compiled by Derek Sandhaus is available at Earnshaw Books.
Diamond Hill by Feng Chi-shun: Feng's memoir Diamond Hill describes an era of gambling and gangsters, Suzie Wong and squatter villages, fires and food stalls, and the Kowloon Walled City and its white powder. "A time when people were poor, but life was rich," he says. The world that he grew up in no longer exists, but his book - the first ever on the Diamond Hill refugee settlement, in either Chinese or English - offers a candid picture of what life was like for most Hong Kong residents in the 1950s.
William A. Callahan's China: The Pessoptimist Nation: China: The Pessoptimist Nation shows how the heart of Chinese foreign policy is not a security dilemma, but an identity dilemma. Through a careful analysis of how Chinese people understand their new place in the world, the book charts how Chinese identity emerges through the interplay of positive and negative feelings in a dynamic that intertwines China's domestic and international politics.
Front Page of the Day
A different newspaper every weekday
From the Vault
Classic Danwei posts
+ Two decades of profitable Chinese book agents (2007.05): An Min (安民) writes in Southern Weekly (南方周末) about Chinese book agents (书商) and Xue Mili (雪米莉).
+ Some questions about SARFT's full-stop for Red Question Mark (2007.09): SARFT axes Red Question Mark (红问号). He Dong (何东) responds.
+ Migrant worker blues: Who cares? by Bruce Humes (2006.09): Bruce Humes reviews two recent books about migrants in China: 'I Shall Shed No Tears' (我的眼泪不会掉下来) by Wang Lili and 'La Promesse de Shanghai' by Stephane Fiere.
Danwei Archives
Danwei Feeds
Via Feedsky rsschiclet2.png (on the mainland)
or Feedburner rsschiclet.gif (blocked in China)
rsschiclet2.png rsschiclet.gif Main feed: Main posts (FB has top links)
rsschiclet2.png rsschiclet.gif Top Links: Links from the top bar
rsschiclet2.png rsschiclet.gif Danwei Jobs: Want ads
rsschiclet2.png rsschiclet.gif Danwei Digest: Updated daily, 19:30