New vs Old - 4 Classics OP & Insert Songs

[cashew]

《西游记》 | 【女儿情】

《红楼梦》 | 【枉凝眉】【葬花吟】

《三国演义》 | 【滚滚长江东逝水】

《水浒传》 | 【好汉歌】

So, I have to say, 周深 comes closest to the original (in terms of technical capabilities), but in the case of 《枉凝眉》 and 《滚滚长江东逝水》, the original kind of smacks down the younger generation on technique alone. In the case of 《女儿情》, 周深 didn't get a fair shake due to not having a professionally recorded version, but even with professional stage performance, it's gonna be tough to beat the original. For 《好汉歌》, I think the newer versions do have their merits and the technical capabilities are much closer.

Basically, I'm impressed at how many different styles 周深 managed to produce with great effect, which really speaks to his range.

But also the originals are like...(T_T) So good. So. So good. The technique is insane.

---

周深 only challenging the classics version:

Comments

[tanithryudo]

Zhou Shen stands out due to his great ear for mimicry, naturally pretty voice and good sense of aesthetics, lots of flexibility due to practice and formal training in bell canto.

《女儿情》&《枉凝眉》were originally both sung 民族 style, and with a female (first person?) POV. Obviously Zhou Shen isn't able to sing from a female POV. And while he has done a few 民族 style songs before, it's not his area of expertise, and probably not his first choice of style if given a preference. Thus his version is the very ethereal, somewhat third-person POV, style that we see in the vids above. It's very similar to the style he uses in a lot of 古偶 OSTs.

《滚滚长江东逝水》is more fitted to the bell canto style. It's why that one is probably my favorite out of Zhou Shen's 四大名著 renditions.

After the originals and Zhou Shen, I also like 谭维维's. It's at least got the umph behind it. What do you think?

[cashew]

《女儿情》&《枉凝眉》were originally both sung 民族 style

Technically, 《女儿情》《枉凝眉》 were sung in a mixed style. 民族 style refers to folk singing, not officially trained stage singing (stylistically). Both 《女儿情》 & 《枉凝眉》 performances use Chinese operatic singing techniques (I'm no expert, but to my ears it sounds similar to 黄梅戏 technique), but the music is written to fit folk song rhythms. The one that's much closer to 民族 style is actually 《好汉歌》, which is the "pop" version of 陕西 folk songs.

Also, I would argue that 周深 actually did reproduce quite a bit of the "female POV" with his performance. The vibes and feelings were definitely there. He just wasn't trained as a baby in Chinese operatic style and you can hear the difference when contrasted against someone trained in a performance troupe (戏班).

I also like 谭维维's. It's at least got the umph behind it. What do you think?

For 《滚滚长江东逝水》, I agree 谭维维 got the oomph. However, I think she was a little too forceful for the more "girly" songs. I mean, the performance itself was fine, but given the lyrics, I don't think a "strong" approach really works. But then again, that's because I've already formed an opinion on how those songs "ought" to be performed, so my bias is for a more "soft & flexible" emotional texture.

[tanithryudo]

Hm, I guess better to say, Chinese traditional style as an overall category that boxes traditional folk and chinese opera (usually Peking, but also others)... that is, these are closer to each other in terms of aesthetic and technique, than to, by contrast, western-origin styles like bel canto...

> I would argue that 周深 actually did reproduce quite a bit of the "female POV" with his performance.

His falsetto certain falls within the natural feminine range and tone, but to me, it sounds more "female narrative" than "female POV". Maybe it's because I've listened to so many different songs (and watched so many fan MVs) of his that I feel this distinction... Especially covers, both him covering songs by other female artists, and female artists covering his songs; moreso with songs with strongly female POV lyrics like sexy/seduction songs.

[cashew]

it sounds more "female narrative" than "female POV"

I mean if you mean the performer doesn't identify with the sexy-seduction angle, then sure, it's not "female POV". But I feel that both 《枉凝眉》 and 《女儿情》 have imbued a lot more into "being a woman" than just sexy-seduction. Especially in 《枉凝眉》, there's also the vector of lamentation of being a plaything (both to the patriarchy and to fate itself) and I think a lot of men identify with that even without being a woman themselves. In the case of 《女儿情》, there's the additional aspect of falling head-over-heals in love and wanting to abandon the social/political responsibilities of an emperor/king, which a lot of men also understand. So, while the song is from a woman's perspective, it's not a perspective that's completely foreign to men and that feeling of helplessness or being so crazy in love one is willing to abandon other responsibilities are all POVs that men can also tap into when performing the song. And I'd argue that 周深 tapped into that aspect of it quite well.

[tanithryudo]

The sexy/seduction is one general example of how Zhou Shen's version of songs in those genres differ from the same sung by a female artist.

In the specific case of 《枉凝眉》& 《女儿情》, I would say the original versions are more...委婉？哀怨？...compared to his version. That is, I don't get as much sense of "I lament this happening to me" from Zhou Shen's version, but rather a more, less emphatic "general lament on that this happened". I mean, it's still a valid reinterpretation of the song, and makes sense given the singer. It's just that particular distinction stands out for me when directly comparing.

[cashew]

I would say the original versions are more...委婉？哀怨？...compared to his version.

Upon re-listening (such hardship /s), I feel like the "委婉"、"哀怨" aspect is more the result of differences between a soprano tessitura vs. falsetto from a guy whose normal range is countertenor. He's never going to be able to get his voice to be the same textural quality as a sporano tessitura even if he manages to hit the same notes, because...limitations of male physiology. I would attribute the difference to the voice texture more than the emotiveness of the performer. Especially in the case of 《枉凝眉》, the ethereal quality is a part of the original song, given it's talking about a flower spirit that reincarnated into a human to repay last life cycle's karmic debt. As for "happening to me" versus "this happened"...hm, I'm not really convinced.

Especially for 《女儿情》, his performance did capture the "madly in love" aspect of the song. And I would argue he's definitely performing it as if it's happening to him seeing as he pulled out a rose at the end there, so I think he is approaching the performance as "person in love" rather than "waxing lyrical about people in love". I don't think he's taking a "third person narrative" approach.

So, in conclusion, I would attribute the difference to the physiological limitations, not necessarily to the performative emotions.