那年

Everyone has many “that year” moments, but no one can go back to that year.

In the first year of the pandemic, which was the beginning of 2020, I heard a song called “That Year” improvisational written by Ren Suxi, but now it’s hard to find within China.

I really like this song, both the lyrics and the melody. It’s a short song, and I’ve listened to it over and over again. It feels like a shout and a complaint. You can click here to listen to it.

At the end of 2022, everything came to a sudden halt, as if nothing had happened. I don’t want to review the pandemic in this article, but I have my own balance in my heart. I just want to talk about Ren Suxi’s several songs and my feelings.

The first song I heard was “I Want You”. Actually, the movie “Mr. Donkey” didn’t leave a strong impression on me, but the song did. It’s not completely my style, but when I heard it for the first time, I found it very pleasing.

Later on, many people covered “I Want You”. I started to feel resistant to this song. Until one day, I heard Ren Suxi’s original version again, and I realized that it’s not the song that lost its charm, but rather the cover singers couldn’t capture that feeling.

Later on, the movie “An Elephant Sitting Still” (I haven’t watched the whole movie, only some scenes with three characters) had a captivating song called “Hu Guangsheng”. I was actually curious about how she wrote it.

Listening to this song is like listening to her straightforward speech. The dialect blended into the lyrics is like a storytelling, it feels comforting but also carries a sense of loneliness. I’m not sure if “loneliness” can express it, but the simple guitar chords sound pleasant. Her voice is delicate, which gives a clean and crisp feeling.

And then, I listened to “Wang Zhaojun” (the promotional song for the movie “The Spy’s Daughter”, which I haven’t watched, but it doesn’t affect how good the song is). I like the lines “Nothing lasts in happiness, nothing remains plain” and “Don’t judge, don’t be judged”.

That year, iron bars imprisoned the arrogant, and the living creatures of that year cried for the late Qing Dynasty.