CantoTalk Episode #8
Please go to Quizlet for 58 vocabulary items: 
Hello everyone! Welcome to the eighth episode of CantoTalk Music Podcast! I am your host Edgar. Our Cantonese-learning friends, remember to check out the links in the info section. Inside contains our transcript, English translation, Canatonese romanization, and some vocabularies for this episode. How’s everyone been lately? The pandemic has been plaguing for three years. For the past few years, we had to wear masks, quarantine, work at home: seems like there’s no going back to our normal lives in the past. We often say that pop songs are a product of the time, since the topics of many songs could reflect what was happening in the society at the time. For example, 皇后大道東 (lit. Queen’s Road East) by Lo Ta-yu and Ram Chiang talked about Hongkongers’ concerns for the handover of ‘97 and the Mass Migration Wave at the time. 撐起雨傘 (lit. Hold Umbrellas up), a song from 2014, talked about the Hong Kong Umbrella Movement at the time. Logically, many pandemic-themed work was also derived from the pandemic in the past few years. This is our topic today: Songs from the Pandemic.
When mentioning the pandemic, one must mention face masks as well. Wearing masks out everyday, it’s like extra barriers have been set up between people. It’s hard to avoid being unhappy from not getting used to this new normal, especially at the beginning of the pandemic. At that time, Keung To from MIRROR released the song 蒙著嘴說愛你 (lit. Saying Love You with Mouth Covered) to cheer up everyone in the pandemic. If Keung To’s the most famous member of MIRROR, then 蒙著嘴說愛你 must be Keung To’s most famous song. The music video of this song has over 16 million views on YouTube. It’s also this song that brought about the mad, global MIRROR sensation after winning the Ultimate My Favorite Song award in 2020. Okay! Let’s experience the magic of Keung To with our masks on! Our first song is 蒙著嘴說愛你 by Keung To.
Played just now was 蒙著嘴說愛你 by Keung To. Though masks have been worn, it doesn’t necessarily mean one wouldn’t get infected by the virus. Especially if you touched light switches or elevator buttons when out, not washing hands when you’re back home and touching your nose after taking off your mask. If that’s the case, no amount of face masks would help you. The second song we’re talking about today, Tricky Button by ToNick, exactly talks about such a story of getting infected by the pandemic due to having touched the button. ToNick is a four-man-band that debuted in 2007 in Hong Kong. At the beginning, they played in a music genre called Pop Punk. Many of their early lyrics were written in colloquial Cantonese, talking about some very funny and very clever topics. However, in 2015, ToNick began switching to play in some Pop Rock genres, losing all of their previous styles. Though their career was pushed to a new height in 2017 after winning the Ultimate My Favorite Song award with 長相廝守 (lit. Staying Together until the End), many fans were disappointed back then, saying that they’re no longer the ToNick that they used to be. In 2020, ToNick finally released a Pop Punk song: Tricky Button. “Wow! The ToNick from before is back!” said many. In an interview, however, ToNick mentioned that they switched to a different genre because they didn’t want ToNick to be defined by just Pop Punk. In the few years after, they would go on to release many good work, proving that ToNick’s really not just about playing Punk. Back to talking about Tricky Button, the name of the song actually has two meanings. Then, besides the “pushable” buttons, what’s this other “button”? You’ll find out after listening to the song. For our second song we have Tricky Button by ToNick!
Played just now was Tricky Button by ToNick! Okay. We’ve unfortunately caught it. The next step, then, must be quaratening. It just so happens that our next song is 隔離 (lit. Quarantine / Isolation) by Jace Chan. Jace Chan is a new female Hong Kong singer, and this 隔離 from 2020 can be said as one of the songs that rose her to fame. The music video of the solo version of this song has seven million views on YouTube. The duet version is even more impressive, with about ten million views. Regardless of the version, the song was at the top of different streaming platform play charts for a long time. The song 隔離 borrows the at-home isolation during the pandemic of that time to talk about a love story of being isolated by a boy who had cut off contacts. The song is of course an expressive, slow song. However, I think Jace Chan’s biggest characteristic is that not only can she sing slow songs well, she is also very good at singing and dancing to fast songs. After listening to this 隔離, you folks can listen to her fast songs too: they really are two different feelings. Okay. For our third song, we have 隔離 by Jace Chan.
Played just now was 隔離 by Jace Chan! We have caught it and finished quarantining. Finally, scientists have also developed vaccines. However, the vaccination policies by the Hong Kong government and the less-effective Chinese-made vaccines were criticized by many then. With regards to this, rappers Novel Flash and Teddy Beer released a song called [Paak1]³ last year. There are three “Paak1”, with each “Paak1” representing a vaccine that we had to take. Novel Flash and Teddy Beer are from a Hong Kong Hip Hop label called SMOB. If you’ve seen The Way We Keep Dancing, Novel Flash and Teddy Beer were two of the rappers that mocked Heyo. Though they’re new-generation rappers from the music scene, they packed quite a portfolio. Especially Novel Flash, who’s famous for being in freestyle rap battles, that is, spontaneously rapping with the music to mock and make fun of other people. And Novel Flash’s already a three-time consecutive champion of the Canton Mic freestyle battle competition, beating all of his opponents with his precise use of words and rhymes. For our fourth song we have [Paak1]³ by new-generation rappers Novel Flash and Teddy Beer!
Played just now was [Paak1]³ by Novel Flash and Teddy Beer! Before the pandemic, have you ever wished for fewer traffic congestions when out, or for not having to go out and work, staying at home more? Now that this Monkey’s Paw wish has come true, have you been happy? Arriving at our last song, we have 夢想成真2022 (lit. Dream Came True 2022) by MC $oHo and KidNey, featuring Tam Jai Women’s Choir, which talks about such backfires of the wish having come true. We have already introduced MC $oHo and KidNey in our third episode. Then, who are the Tam Jai Women’s Choir? Our non-Hong Kong listeners may not have known: Tamjai is a chain mixian restaurant in Hong Kong. A characteristic of them is that their female employees have an accent. For example, they would pronounce náahm yuhk (pork belly) as láahn yuhk (lit. lazy meat). They would pronounce jūk sāng (bamboo mushroom) as chūk sāng (livestock). Their ordering speed is also very quick. When repeating orders, they speak really quickly, just like rap. As a promotion, Tamjai found MC $oHo and KidNey to rap this commercial song. Okay! For our last song, we have 夢想成真2022 by MC $oHo and KidNey, featuring Tam Jai Women’s Choir!
Played just now was 夢想成真2022 by MC $oHo and KidNey, featuring Tam Jai Women’s Choir! At the end, I wish everyone good health. I hope the pandemic would end soon, and we can all go out to hang out together! I am Edgar. Thank you for listening to CantoTalk Music Podcast. See you in the next episode!
To the right is a screenshot preview of a comprehensive handout that includes a full transcript, vocabulary, comprehension questions, and a featured song. The handout will be available for purchase, with the added benefit that CantoLTA members can enjoy up to 2 complimentary handouts and can purchase additional ones at an exclusive 20%
Thank you for tuning in!
Please give credit to Edgar Chung and the Cantonese Alliance of North America!