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Angel's Wildflowers - About Lau Yingting's Resting and watching the rising clouds
From IG@mirror_etc (Source)
Yesterday, when I listened to the premiere of "When the Clouds Rise" on the radio for the first time, my friend said, "It's so hard to sing. I said, "I can't believe you're not saying it sounds good, but that it's hard to sing? She said, "Then you know that Ryu's songs are not the kind that you fall in love with at first listen. From 'Vessel of Sand' onwards, every time a new song by Lau Ying-ting came out, everyone was engaged in a puzzle-solving game: guessing which book the song title was from, finding out how the lyrics interplayed with other songs, what codes were hidden, which part of the arrangement echoed which part of the previous song, waiting for the creator to post and explain in an interview. In the last part of the Sadistic Trilogy, we were surprised to find that 'Resting and watching the rising clouds' was not only intertextual with two other songs in the same series, but also traced back to 'The Sand Vessel' (some even said it was the first series of 'Water Torture Story').
It's always appreciated when creators go the extra mile rather than deliver the goods, but personally the goal of 99% of a piece of work is whether it succeeds in conveying a message, and all skill and ingenuity should be subordinated to this most important task: telling a good story, conveying a message and moving the audience. (99% is not an absolute 100%, because the value of some works may really lie in breaking the limits of the art form and creating a new form).
At the time, I had my doubts about the bridge section of 'Self-Destructive Procedure': "I would have expected it to be consistent in its aesthetic of reduction, with a clean arrangement highlighting the subtlety of Yoo Ying Ting. Now that Jason Kui's very signature electric guitars appear between the first chorus and the second, before and after the bridge, does the final chorus key up and break the futility and restrained sadness that has been built up? I've been keeping this in my mind in anticipation of the release of the third installment (@diuhak promised to solve the mystery by then, so now it's time to find out). I guess the final climax of 'The Self-Destructive Process' is when the hero breaks down and realises that the heroine has not only left himself, but the world.
The greatest thing about 'Resting and watching the rising clouds' is that the arrangement only has a keyboard and strings, no drums and bass rhythm section and no electric guitar. To me, the most important thing about a singer is that he is irreplaceable. I think the most irreplaceable thing about Yoo is his ability to master the breadth of the genre and the sincerity in his voice, which is the only way to bring out the story in all situations. I've always wanted to hear a song with a simple arrangement, and this is probably the most acoustic one yet. I think Lau is the only one who begs his idol to sing more love songs (laughs). Ryu himself has covered many simple and pure songs on different occasions, such as 'It's ok to be sad', 'The shape of the wind' and 'Remember', and Ryu remembers that Ryu can always heal a broken heart with his songs.
I find the contexts of 'still mountains/water' and 'never mountains/water' most interesting. In recent years, I have been very fond of the three different stages of viewing: 'seeing a mountain is a mountain, seeing a mountain is not a mountain, and seeing a mountain is still a mountain'. Later on, people have the curiosity and desire to "understand the dry landscape", knowing that there is always another meaning behind the appearance, so seeing the mountain is not a mountain; furthermore, even if you see through the underlying meaning of things, you are not disturbed or confused and focus on the meaning of the things themselves, so seeing the mountain is still a mountain; never having a mountain and never having water may mean "there is nothing in the first place, why should it cause dust? The fact that one cannot let go of one's attachment to wisdom only hinders true enlightenment. The funniest thing is that every time I listen to a song, Lauyingting fans, including myself, are busy solving a puzzle, and SiuHak's lyrics serve as a reminder to me: listen to the song with your heart and hear what it is, and don't be too obsessed with solving the puzzle.
Uncle Carl, SiuHak and Lau Ying Ting have released ten songs, not so much as a sequential and linear journey but more like a mosaic. Every time a song is released, everyone is busy revisiting the old songs to see what traces of the old songs are hidden in the new songs, which is in fact an implicit challenge to today's pop music publishing model. Before the advent of music streaming platforms, a record was the unit of distribution, consisting of about ten songs, with a theme running through each of the ten songs, with a sequence in between. So in a concept album, there are some songs that are not very impressive or have no potential to be a stand-alone album, but in the right place on the album they can play an important role in setting the scene. When I wrote this paragraph, I was actually listening to one of the most important concept albums in Chinese pop music, Sandy Lam's Wildflowers, not Lau Yingting.
But nowadays, most people are used to listening to songs on streaming platforms, so they can listen to, shuffle and compile their own playlists, and the unit of music distribution has changed from an album to a single track. Lau Ying-ting himself also wants to release a record, reflecting that it is not a matter of course to store all the songs and release the album. What I'm curious about is if these ten songs are related to each other as the songwriter said, and the "Sadistic Trilogy" is actually a prequel to last year's three songs, if these ten songs are musically released as a record, will it be 1+1+1+1+1+1+1+1+1+1+1>10? (I'm dizzy, I don't know if there are enough 1s for 10 ......)
Good article from fans.
From Yeung Lok Sang @ yeungloksang (Source)
Previous 'Self-Destructive Procedures' Kyoto trip unsuccessful
This time the hero finally went to Kyoto
But "she has already crossed over"
You are the only one who continues to go in circles, to continue to walk towards self-destruction
"Standing under Fushimi's torii, shedding tears
The circle intertwines the heavens and the earth Who surrounds it
Rongan Temple Dead Landscape
How can I face you when you come alone in the end?
You shed tears in Vosges
"long or wide" in a circle but "space crushing"
You saw a man's 'withered landscape' at Yongan Temple
"In the program, a little white light coiled between the brows
Only then did I remember that this naked body was gone
White light surrounds the 'in-process' hero who has destroyed himself
The body is gone, but there is still much unfinished business.
You continue to wander the Arashiyama, Watanuki Bridge, Katsura River
"The flowers at her home have her blessing
Why didn't you try to understand
May you cross the frontiers of the flesh and blood in person
Her favourite flower at the window was water, but you made it a tear.
"There is no knot in this pining, and she will be in the world.
Have a nice life. Your death knot with her
Karma is still intact
The Spiritual Wind sends a breeze through the air, urging the creation, residence, destruction and emptiness
She went on with her life, even conceiving
"The Wind Rises", your reunion with her at the Sand Vessel
Spiritual winds make everything empty and turn into rebirth
"Where the water ends, there is no relief
There's never any water, it's your memory that swallows the borders of the embankment
Let the gravel drip back into the mind"
You turn into the wind and cross the landscape
And finally, "embracing resentment and drowning in the heart of the sea"
Outro Together, it's all back to The Water Torture Story
The 2020 Object Trilogy
A Tale of Water Torture, A Tale of Echoing Light, A Tale of Wind and Spirit
The protagonist, with the regret of his life, wants to give up on himself, but finally finds an exit from the light
2021 Rebirth Trilogy
Diary of a Madman, Vessels of Sand, When the Stars Shine
After a lifetime of madness, you finally start again, know how to forgive others and forgive yourself, and shine with love.
The MM7 Interlude, an exposition of the excitement of life
2022 Sadistic Trilogy
The Rules of Separation, The Self-Destructive Process, Sitting Back and Watching the Clouds Rise
Returning to the regrets of the protagonist's life and seeing how he destroyed himself
It's been 10 songs in 3 years, but it's a cycle. Before that, when I listened to "The Rules of Separation" and "The Self-Destructive Process", I could estimate it, but when I heard "Resting and watching the rising clouds", I was still excited, and when I heard "Outro", I was even more excited.
Ten song concept complete
Lyrics echoing each other
Even the arrangements resonate with each other
There are only two hopes for my family
1. shouldn't release the album officially sooner
2. jer quickly opens a personal contact
Good article from fans.
From @@mirror._share (Source)
Before I share my thoughts, I would like to say one thing.
I remember the day when I was having dinner and scrolling through Facebook, I was surprised to see the news that she had died suddenly of a heart attack. I just wanted to make sure I had the wrong name, but when I checked again, I saw that all her friends had come to her page to thank her for being in their lives and to wish her well.
I was devastated, and the real feeling was so horrible that I remember not being a crier and crying years of tears as I remembered the ten years I had spent with her. It wasn't just that it was so sudden, it was that I was alone and hadn't even said goodbye to her, let alone that it would be permanent. I didn't have the courage to cry because there was no one around to catch my tears; I don't know how I got through it, I just remember the pain of leaving.
The day before the release of 'Resting and watching the rising clouds', I was reminded of my own heartfelt experience six months ago, after watching the recent farewell of K and Ryu. At first, because of what they shared, I thought I would cry after hearing the last piece of the puzzle. But when the last line was joined into a complete circle, I was... relieved.
When we reach the end of the water, we sit and watch the clouds rise. Then, the sea reflects the sky, and there are fragments of the Milky Way among the waves. Then, the wind rises, blowing away the layers of waves, the starlight that shines in the waves, and the clouds that were accumulating rain at the beginning. But remember, the wind is also the carrier of the water vapour, and with the wind, the rain will fall more fully; then there will be a wider ocean, a more magnificent reflection of the stars, and the next dissipation will be more stunning.
In fact, the original water is not exhausted, but it exists in another form, scattered in rivers, lakes and oceans, even as dewdrops carrying thoughts hanging by the window; the original light is still there, but waiting in the darkness, just as the galaxy is most beautiful when it rests at sunset; and the wind is everywhere, although invisible, everything can carry it, the sound of waves, the scraping of grass and leaves, and even a kind of The bell exists for the wind...
Some say that the Big Bang 13.8 billion years ago sealed the deal, that everything we experience is predestined. We cling to irreparable mistakes, to the impulsive choices we made at the time, to the regrets we cannot fill, always wanting to live better in the next time, not realising that the meaning of living is in thinking, in feeling - that true survival is in fact It is the choice.
When life and death are all determined by the universe, the weight of the soul comes from its sense of what is true. If one accepts each arrangement with openness and respects each choice, one is using the precious value of life to fill in the gaps of destiny.
After listening to 'Resting and watching the rising clouds', and then listening to 'Thank You' for breaking the dream with me. I suddenly felt that the 'you' might be myself. It was you who decided to end the cycle, it was you who decided not to be pulled up by the hand on the shore, it was you who decided to degenerate into a madman. But it turns out that when you discover the illusion behind the truth, when you discover that you have full control over the meaning of existence, when you learn to relax and repair yourself, you have transcended the realm where your physical body is, jumped out of the boundaries set by time and space, and finally feel that you have actually lived.
Sadism, storytelling and rebirth, these series are not released in sequence. But that's what makes it all the more interesting to solve. Not everything in life has an immediate answer, and not everyone is able to accept an unpleasant experience in an instant. More often than not, we suddenly come to our senses after a long period of time, and then hate ourselves for not choosing another path.
Yes, coming back from the dead may be a miracle, but respecting death is even greater - it is the death that makes living so beautiful, it is the limited time that makes each moment of life that much more dazzling, and the value of each choice. When you listen to the voice of nature, respect the rules of life and death, and accept the arrangements of the universe, everything will unite to help you in everything you do. As @/hkhehememes said, Lau Yingting was unable to book a flock of birds to fly over the sky at the moment of filming. It must be his persistence in making good music, his gratitude for the greatness of life, and his responsibility for his own choices that have helped him.
And I, in the end, understood that she had never left, but had become the most primordial element of the universe, constructing everything around me all the time. The red peaches and green willows can never be expected to last forever, but after the winter snow there will always be red peaches and green willows again, showing that nature is a cycle and that life and death are in this circle - in the circle of the universe, to be precise. One day you will return to nature as water, as sunlight, as breeze, as nourishment for my life; another day I will become a handful of earth, and you will bury the seed in my arms, irrigate it with your own hands, and make it a blossoming flower. You smiled at it, as if you were looking back at me on a long journey.
I believe that in the end you will come back to me, because we were all the same, once a piece of unnamed matter in the pre-big bang mass, only to be bound by water, lost in the galaxies, feeling nothingness in the wind during our reincarnation; then we crossed the sandcastle, arrogantly trying to fight fate... but we will finally find that love exists, we sit back and watch the clouds rise, there is a way out of the water, the answer to all dead ends The answer to all dead ends is love. And so, even if we die physically, we can still rely on love to cross all boundaries and embrace us at the end of the road.
The universe is "I", not any rule. There is no need to "sink into last night and others"; no need to feel angry, guilty, sad. Say I'm sorry, forgive me and someone will hug you; say I love you, thank you, the stars will shine and life will be complete.
In a world of nothingness, love is the only thing that keeps everything alive and the soul safe.
The world is made up of boxes and bars, all straight lines. But don't forget that straight lines can bring life back to its origin, can close the cycles of nature, can draw a complete circle in the universe - and can, for that matter, bring the ten-part series to a close.
Thank you @diuhak @wongsheungchuncarl @jeremylaous
It is a privilege to see the cloud that you have raised for us in these times. Be thankful for life, it is great to live it.
Good article from fans
From @faiching_fulltime (Source)
[Lau Yingting's "Resting and watching the rising clouds": "Enlightenment" Beyond the Reincarnation of Life and Death A perfect conclusion to the trilogy]
Jer Lau Yingting has finally brought his trilogy to a close today with the release of his new song 'Resting and watching the rising clouds'. The new song is produced and arranged by Carl Wong, with lyrics by SiuHak, but this time Zhou Guoxian is invited to compose the song. Zhou Guo Xian and SiuHak have already collaborated on a number of moving songs such as 'There is a Time' and 'The Beauty of the World', but this time they have added Jer's voice and Uncle Carl's arrangement to the mix. Before the song hit the shelves, Kak has already stated on his IG that he cried for three days while writing the lyrics, making people eager to taste the song as soon as possible.
As the final chapter of the trilogy, SiuHak uses a lot of imagery from the first two songs in the lyrics of 'Resting and watching the rising clouds', and also infuses a lot of elements from his previous songs with Jer, thus building a love story about reincarnation, soul, life and death.
The first verse of the song already echoes 'The Rule of Parting' and 'The Procedure of Self-Destruction'. "The 'rule' and 'square' in 'The sun rises and falls, the rule remains unchanged' and 'the square intertwines heaven and earth' echo the 'rule of separation'. However, the author believes that apart from echoing the previous song, it is more important to note that SiuHak wants to use the imagery of 'the sun running' and 'the sky and the earth round' to set the tone of 'the world runs according to a set of rules' before entering into the theme of the song, thus pushing it to the next part.
The dry landscapes of Fushimi Torii and Ryu-an-ji Temple echo the protagonist's failure to fulfil his journey to Japan with her in 'The Self-Destructive Process'. These two sites are not simply Japanese places, but were intentionally chosen by Koch. Torii represents the gateway between the 'human world' and the 'divine realm' in Japan, while Kusansui is considered a place of meditation for Japanese monks, and the Kusansui at Ryu-an-ji Temple is the most famous garden stone scene. "The 'Meditation' and 'Gate to the Divine Realm' bring out the Zen meaning of 'Resting and watching the rising clouds' and the meaning of 'the end of life'.
As the song progresses, 'you' finally complete your journey to Japan on your own, but with endless ripples in your heart. "The final line of 'The Self-Destructive Process', 'The salvation of your life is hidden in the rubble and sand and you don't hesitate to take it', follows on from the final line of 'The Self-Destructive Process', 'Caught in the rubble and sand and quarrelling', and speaks of the 'fruit' of your life. And 'A little white light coiled up, and then I remembered that my naked body had passed away' follows 'The Bird's Nest', describing the fact that you have now passed through the Bird's Nest, said goodbye to the Human World, and are looking back on your past life at the other end. In this song and in 'Self', it is not only the heart that is buried in the gravel and sand, but also the body that belongs to you.
It is inevitable that there will be regrets and debts in one's life, and even after death, one may still be entangled in another country. In the phrase "the unresolved debts of the heart", the "debts of the heart" are the "deadly knots" that you want to untie in the "self-destructive process". But in fact these 'dead ends' exist only because you have no idea that she still wants you to be well after the separation in 'The Rules of Separation', and the phrase 'and the flowers at your home have her blessing' is related to the phrase 'remembering that your favourite flowers are still in full bloom by the window' in 'Leaving'.
Moving on to the next paragraph, we move from 'living' to 'reincarnation'. The 'knot' in this life may still be untied, but when you have experienced 'life and death' yourself, you can still realise the value of life. The contrast between the lines "May you be thankful for life and live it to be great" and "Who forgives you for the failure of your life? "This is a theme that is often mentioned by Koike in his songs, and it is also related to the past life and present life in Jer's other song, 'Vessel of Sand'.
In the second verse of the song, the Arashiyama Watanuki Bridge is mentioned, just like the Fushimi Tottori and Ryu-an-ji withered landscapes in the first verse, which were chosen deliberately. The Arashiyama Watanuki Bridge has a legend that if a couple looks back when crossing the bridge, they will break up, hence the line "Looking back at the Watanuki Bridge, they turn into dust and fall into the Katsura River". In the second chorus, the words 'or the mountain' and 'or the water' stand for 'dry mountains and waters' and are also quoted from the poem 'A journey to the end of the water, a time to sit and watch the clouds rise'. Unlike the first chorus, this is not a longing for a reunion with her, but only a longing for her, a longing that can transcend life and death.
The knot between "you" and "her" has not yet been untied. Although "you" have transformed into "Lingfeng" (which means "soul" and is also associated with "The Wind Spirit Story"), you have undergone the four Buddhist karmas of "becoming, living, destruction and emptiness" and fallen into emptiness. Although you understand that everything in the world is in order, like the blossoming of a flower, there is a beginning and an end, you still do not want to let go. The phrase "you who are sad, who are exploring along the river" is not only meant to express the unwillingness to let go, but also, in the author's view, echoes SiuHak and Zhou Guoxian's "Stardust", in which "in every dimension, one verifies a thousand billion lives and deaths among the stars".
When 'you' think that you can be freed by walking to the end of the water, but the river does not exist, the 'water' is the tears that fall from your thoughts. The phrase 'let the gravel drip back into your mind' is related to the line in 'A vessel of sand': 'its jagged hands pick it up like an hourglass, laughing, to be sifted away', suggesting that 'you' will continue to carry your thoughts of 'her' with you. Even though you know that the colours of spring, like peaches and willows, cannot last forever, you still hope that she can sit away from the hustle and bustle and watch the clouds rise. The last three lines of the song are special: "I still want to wait and sit alone in the window, watching me raise a band of clouds for you on a distant mountain", which is a clear indication that the clouds are created by "you". The last three lines of the song, "I still wish to wait and watch a band of clouds rise for you in the distant mountains", are a clear indication that the clouds are created by "you". They are also an echo of the first part of the song, "The Rule of Parting", in which "you" ignore "her" desire to leave the world and separate.
Uncle Carl's arrangement at the end of the song is also a follow up to Jer's 'Water Torture Story' Intro, linking these three songs into the 'Story Series'. But I'm sure there are more ciphers in 'Resting and watching the rising clouds' that I haven't discovered yet, so let's discuss them after listening to the song!