Singer Daolang. File photo: VCG
Over the past week, a new song by Chinese pop singer Daolang became trending topic online and in China's musical circles. The debate centered on whether this song was meant to be a "retaliation" against his rival singers, or whether his song was simply a good piece of music.
The song was entitled "Luocha Haishi," the same title of an ironic story in the famous Chinese classic novel
Strange Tales from Liaozhai(or simply
Liaozhai) by Pu Songling, writer in China's Qing Dynasty(1644-1911).
"Luocha Haishi" talks about a tale happened in the sea market of the state of Luocha more than a thousand miles away from China. The hero of the story Ma Ji, a Chinese businessman found that people in that state have three eyes, two noses, and reversed ears.
Since Liaozhai is known as a typical satire, many netizens claimed Daolang's song was also a satirical song. Someone interpreted his song as fighting back against his rival singers who had criticized his song as "illiterate" ten years before, but an insider said, "That was not true. As far as I know, he was not the type of person who was so narrow-minded."
Daolang had yet to give any feedback, and his team only said, "We are so sorry that we do not have anything in response to the debates."
As reported by China News, a lawyer named Xia Hailong said, the lyrics of the song did not show any clear proof of being aimed at insulting other singers. On the contrary, he warned netizens not to make groundless connection between Daolang and other singers, otherwise, they might break the law themselves by infringing on others' reputations.
Daolang was born in 1971 in Neijiang, Southwest China's Sichuan Province, but his favorite place to live is in Northwest China's Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region, which covers some of the vast Gobi Desert. He was obsessed by its landscape and started his musical career here.
In the early winter of 2002, when fine snowflakes were falling in Urumqi, capital of Xinjiang, Daolang was inspired. In 2004, he composed his hit song titled "The First Snowfall in 2002." Sales of its albums reached 2.7 million, topping the ranking for the Chinese songs back then, and Daolang rose to fame across the country.
However, some singers criticized his songs as "earthy," "vulgar" and "offensive." Daolang did not respond to it, but chose to recede from the singing circle in 2013. It is reported that he practiced Zen in his retreat, but kept composing music for others. According to the insider, since then Daolang had never made public appearances, nor had any contact with the outside world.
It was not until July 2023 that Daolang publicized his new song. Without hype in advance, this song became a hit immediately on many Chinese music playing platforms, such as QQ music new songs list and popular index, Tecent Music Charts, and Tik Tok.
By Monday evening, "Luocha Haishi" has been played a record 10 billion times with hundreds of millions of people listening to it online, its topic on Tik Tok reached more than 4.5 billion times, and the global view counts reached 8 billion times, breaking the Guiness World Record. Following this trend, various versions of the song were made online with adaptations of the melody to Peking Opera and other local opera tunes. And the song also aroused netizens' interest again in its original novel Liaozhai.
Some fans joked, "I thought he has stopped singing and composing, but to my surprise, he was 'honing his knife' over the past ten years (Dao literally means knife in Chinese).
Lu Yu, born in the 1970s, was a 20-year fan of Daolang. Lu said, "There is a big change in his lyrics and music" as it shifts from the original bold, direct and simple style from China's northwest to that of merging folk songs such as the song-and-dance duet popular in the northeast of China, ballads and rock and roll. Daolang is among the top singers in China in terms of singing skills. His lyrics may be less refined, but by now he has made up his last weak point," Yu said.
According to a musician name Hao Lei, who is also a song-and-dance duet expert, "Daolang is very devoted and disciplined with his work." In order to compose his new song, Daolang studied a big number of materials and documentaries, and consulted many professionals, including Hao, who helped him with the song-and-dance duet and other Northeast China's folk songs.
"Daolang's story reminds us that one should be brave to pursue his own dream without being affected by others' criticism," a blogger named Zhibiduchunqiu said.
"The popularity of Daolang is reflected in the sales of his albums. In the vast country as China, we should allow a phenomenon, in which 'a hundred flowers blossom at the same time.' His lyrics and melody reveal the beauty of the folk music in that part of the land. During the past 20 years, Daolang has dedicated to his music and created good works, for which he deserves respect of his audiences," another blogger named Yingkongzhixue Zhiweijinsheng said.
Just as a netizen echoed, "Daolang's songs follow people's hearts."
