Rare Songs – A Small Wish

While browsing recent YouTube uploads of Faye Wong (王菲) songs, I found this interesting karaoke video. The song is “A Small Wish” (一個小心願), first released in the album Where Comes the Wind (風從哪裡來) when Faye was 15. The album was released as a cassette by Yunan Audio and Video on 15 June 1985. (Click here for an earlier article about this album.) In 2003, Focus Music Ltd., China, released a CD version.

What’s interesting is that the video is badly out of sync with the audio. (See the video below.) Obviously, she was singing a different song in the original MV. The producers simply dubbed the audio over the video and added the subtitle lyrics. The result is a mature Faye singing in a 15-year-old’s voice. But what’s even more interesting is that the combination actually works, telling us that, at 15, Faye’s voice was already surprisingly mature and beautiful.

When I compared the video audio to the version on the 2003 CD, I realized that they were different, either remixed or completely different recordings. I then searched online for other versions and came across a recording in Imeem similar to the video audio but of better quality. The 2003 recording has been re-engineered to HDCD specs, highlighting the innocent child-like quality of Faye’s 15-year-old voice. The other version seems more natural, a bit more mature. (See comment by Anonymous below.) Here are the two versions:

The version from Irene’s Imeem site, uploaded 8 months ago. It’s similar to the Karaoke video.

The 2003 CD version.

Cover of the 2003 CD release of Where Comes the Wind.

(Added to YouTube by Linjw on 19 Aug 2008)

Comment from Anonymous 9.1.08: The You tube and Imeem versions are taken from her album covering teresa teng’s songs “fei mi mi zhi yin” [track 11 in The Decadent Sound of Faye, July 1995] which is why it sounds more updated than the 2003 version, which is very 80s.

Faye Wong Will Return!

Katie Chen  (陈家瑛 Chen Jiaying), in an exclusive Entertainment Scene interview on Aug 28, confirmed that Faye Wong (王菲) will return to her career. Katie, Faye’s long-time manager, hinted that Faye will also be recording songs that she’s written. “In fact,” said Katie, “I think her voice so good, no loss in quality.” According to Katie, Faye is already thinking about how she’s going to approach her return. Katie said that she can’t be specific about the date and asked that fans be patient. (Post updated 8.29.08)

(Source Sina.com 8.29.08)