Cover #9 - "名字 Name"

Good morning people! Decided to do a cover before the day starts. This is a Chinese song by the title of "名字" (Name), sung by 張智成 (Z-Chen). I came across this song when I was still a teenager and I was just blown away. I was playing a lot of pop music then and modulations always intrigue​ me, especially when the chord changes don't make sense but the melody is still so smooth. A few other songs that come to mind are 黑色幽默 (Black Humor) by 周杰倫 (Jay Chou) and Overjoyed by Stevie Wonder. Will definitely want to make covers of those songs in the future!

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張智成 (Z-Chen) is not very well known in the music scene but thanks to a good friend I was exposed to his songs, this one in particular. He's actually​ a Malaysian and naturally, ​we're proud to be able to root for someone from our own country! During those days we don't really have much Chinese pop singers singing R&B, so he brought something fresh to my ears.

So let me delve a bit into the technicalities of this song. I performed 3 sections, verse, pre-chorus then chorus. The verse started off in the home key of G major. Usually, ​a typical pop song would have the whole song remain in the same key, at most a transposition to the next key. Now, ​this is where this song stands out, as we progressed to the pre-chorus, the key changed to E major! Imagine me at that time, having classically trained all the way up the Grade 5, I couldn't imagine the relationship between G major and E major. I was totally mind blown​. And it was so, so smooth. If I was just singing it, I might not have noticed it as well. It then transposed back to its​ original key of G major when it transitioned to the chorus. I was further mindblown​ by the usage of a particular chord, the minor-major 7th chord. It was used twice​ in the chorus, appearing as a ivMaj7 (CmM7) if there's even a way to write it down. It was then I begin to realize that music is not about the theory, but it's about the sound. Our ears should actually be the judge of what can work or can't work. 15 years later, I'm still very much learning and exploring.

I couldn't find the English translation of​ the lyrics, but let me briefly explain what the song is trying to say. The verse speaks about how the hustle and bustle​ of the city life and how the only time people interact is asking about 'what time is it now'? (forgive my translation, doing it 'literally'). The pre-chorus then tells about if one's voice can be identified​, do we even know one's name, all one need is actually - love. The realization is found in the chorus. Love waits for no one. It comes​ and it leaves. All one can do is to find someone worth loving, and take the first step of remembering​ one's name. :)