Faye Wong’s Ten Best ‘Minor’ Videos – #6

Updated 4/9/14
6. This Faye Wong (王菲) video, part of the “Music Is Live” concert series featuring various singers, was recorded live on 24 Nov 1999 at the Hong Kong Exhibition Center. It features the Beijing pop punk band Catcher in the Rye and Zhang Ya Dong (張亞東), who collaborated with Faye on many of her hit songs. (Faye, Zhang, and lyricist Lin Xi [林夕] are often referred to as the “iron triangle.”) This YouTube video, uploaded by Adelineshim in June 2006, is in 6 different segments numbered 2-7. The first was omitted because Faye is absent. Three of the songs are from Faye’s Sep 1999 album, Lovers and Strangers: the title track, “Spectacular,” and “Postman.” The fourth, “You’re Happy So I’m Happy,” is from Faye Wong 1997. Zhang and Faye do “Lovers and Strangers” together. I like this video because it places Faye in her roots, Beijing pop and punk rock bands. Faye is at home in this informal jeans and T-shirt setting, and the whole video gives us a completely different look at Faye, one in which she’s not a distant and sophisticated diva but a girl-next-door pop rocker. The video quality of these uploads isn’t great, but we still get a sense of the creative imaging that’s gone into it. This is more a visual than an audio treat, but it’s still mesmerizing. Faye’s image here is a little tougher, cooler, and we begin to understand how this look carries over into her more mainstream diva concerts.

Faye appears at the 7:25 mark and sings her first song at 9:18.

ADDED 5/26: Faye is a superstar at this point in her career, yet she is perfectly content to blend in and let others grab the spotlight during the interview segments. This quiet and humble nature is a major part of the Faye Wong mystique. Yet the cameras aren’t fooled. Their focus throughout is Faye. Even when others are gabbing into the mike, Faye is the prominent focus through the lens. The camera angles and the wide assortment of images of Faye demonstrate exactly why she is a model without equal. She’s not only beautiful but intriguing from any and every angle, under all lighting conditions. You literally can’t get a bad shot of Faye. As I said earlier, this video is a visual delight.

See “10 Best Minor Videos” in the right sidebar for links to the other selections. The introduction to this series is in selection #1.