Tse Wei ( Zi Wei ) Green Island Serenade 紫薇-綠島小夜曲 1961

Happy Chinese Valentine's Day !! ( albeit a day late) What better way of celebrating it than with the Green Island Serenade, a love story set in the romantic island of Taiwan. Yesterday, Feb 22, 2016 saw the 2000 year old Lantern Festival in China. It is the final day of China's New Year celebrations, and marks the coming of spring, with hundreds of lanterns sent up into the sky to represent longer daylight hours and the light from the full moon.
In Ancient China, it served as the equivalent of Valentine's Day in the West, since the celebrations were one of the few days when unmarried ladies were allowed to freely leave the house. It has now somewhat lost its romantic connotations in some parts of China. According to legend, Emperor Hangmindi saw that Buddhist monks would light lanterns on the 15th day of the Chinese year to show respect to the Buddha. Now the lanterns often symbolise letting go of their owners' past selves as well as symbolise good luck.
Zi Wei was born on November 13, 1930 in Nanjing, Jiangsu Province, Taiwan, and died of cancer on March 4, 1989. Her real name was Hu Heng. She first came to public attention in on March 26, 1953 when she sang "Evening Primrose" on "Jazz" (People Radio) Taiwan's first live radio music program She was married to a soldier and had two children, and decided to make a career in music to help support her family. She chose Zi Wei as her stage name after the Crape Turtle which is the principle star in the oldest Chinese Astrology - the Zi Wei Dou Shu. Regular radio broadcasts followed her successful debut. Her sweet, clear, articulated voice soon made her the first Taiwanese singing star to receive international acclaim.
This is Zi Wei's second recording of Green Island Serenade following her original one in 1958 ( which you can also find at this channel) This one is from her 1961 LP on Four Seas Records. It was composed by Zhou Rampling in 1954 with lyrics by Yang Zhengzhuan. Pan Yingjie (潘英傑) or Gao Yudang have also been credited with writing the lyrics. The lyrics describe a young man's remembrance of his beloved young girl. Political meanings have been given to the lyrics because the actual Green Island lies of the southern coast of Taiwan, and was a place of confinement for political prisioners. So the lyrics were thought by some to imply the homesickness of the prisioners as they looked up at the moon, and remembered their homeland and families across the sea.
The song first became popular in the Philippines, then became popular in Taiwan itself in the early 1960s. Before then, because of political unrest, it had been prohibited by some authorities from being sung! The song was adapted into Cantonese as "The Light of Friendship" (友誼之光), sung by Maria Cordero, for the 1987 film Prison on Fire.
Mandarin Lyrics
這綠島像一隻船 在月夜裡搖呀搖
姑娘喲妳也在我的 心海裏飄呀飄
讓我的歌聲隨那微風 吹開了你的窗簾
讓我的衷情隨那流水 不斷地向妳傾訴
椰子樹的長影 掩不住我的情意
明媚的月光 更照亮了我的心
這綠島的夜已經 這樣沉靜
姑娘喲妳為什麼 還是默默無語
English Translation ( which appears at several websites - thank you)
This green island, is like a boat meandering through the moonlight.
Darling, you are floating in the ocean of my heart.
Let the melody of my song follow the breeze, blowing through your curtains.
Let my love go with the flowing water, serenading you.
The coconut tree's long shadow cannot hide my gentle love.
The clear bright moonlight brightens my heart.
This green island night appears so peaceful.
Darling, why are you still silent?

[@靈魂有香氣]

第一次听和知道紫薇是原唱，很美，说不出的一种感觉.... 早年第一次听这歌，我的心里勾勒出了台湾，那是一个绿绿的岛，椰子树夜色下，小船在飘荡，很静，很美....这就是我对台湾40年来能想像的样子

[@davidb2206]

When I went to Taiwan in 1984, this was popular and being played everywhere, so I bought a cassette of her even though I could not understand a word of the song. It was such a beautiful and impressive piece of art.

[@philipchung9492]

i have the whole album and i can't stop listening to it. Highly recommended. Amazing vocals.

[@zzenzero]

Lovely comment. Thank you so much. : )

[@Aiikolo]

I love Tse Wei so much. I own so many of her vinyls except one of her “hit songs” LPs it’s almost impossible to find anywhere many of the ones I own were extremely difficult to find too

[@yiseng4602]

An all time classic and my late parents' favourite song.My late mother used to hum about this song in the 1960s.

[@王啟酃-v3t]

紫薇演唱1954年創作歌曲《綠島小夜曲》，潘英傑作詞，周藍萍作曲，歌曲最早由中廣職員祖康於中廣節目中演唱。鳴鳳唱片1958年出版發行，另四海唱片1961年出版發行，收錄在「四海歌曲精華第二集」。歌曲《綠島小夜曲》歌詞如後 : 1. 這綠島像一隻船，在月夜裡搖呀搖，姑娘呀妳也在我的心海裡飄呀飄。讓我的歌聲隨那微風，吹開妳的窗簾，讓我的衷情隨那流水，不斷地向你傾訴。 2. 椰子樹的長影，掩不住我的情意，明媚的月光，更照亮了我的心。這綠島的夜已經這樣沉靜，姑娘呀妳為什麼還是默默無語。（間奏音樂） 3. 這綠島像一隻船，在月夜裡搖呀搖，姑娘呀妳也在我的心海裡飄呀飄。讓我的歌聲隨那微風，吹開妳的窗簾，讓我的衷情隨那流水，不斷地向妳傾訴。

[@zzenzero]

Thank you 王啟酃

[@yiseng4602]

Yes nobody would and could have sang that song to perfection as she did sixty three years ago and that was a long time ago.

[@alexsy511]

This was a song during our early days in a Chinese school.

[@yiseng4602]

Like Lin Dai she's irreplaceable.

[@ahsir8]

great song of all time!

[@kayanmak7315]

謝謝

[@hw3276]

我從小就會唱的歌! 禁唱不禁唱, no big deal! 斯人已遠去, and I'm on my way there too....

[@zzenzero]

Nice comment H W. Thank you.

[@chanhungkee7141]

Wonderful voice.

[@zzenzero]

Thank you. A wonderful voice indeed.

[@arunwichwongjatupat554]

Nice song

[@robertpitter2995]

arunwich wongjatupat v.nkkv mvm vmv gvyc vm

[@yaoliang1580]

zhiwei has her own unique singing style

[@zzenzero]

Thank you for your comment. Zi Wei certainly does!!

[@yukkeungyau5656]

紫薇唱…綠島小夜曲這是最好的版本，舒情的編曲令人難忘，歌詞更是上品，

[@zzenzero]

Thank you yuk keung yau. 一个很好的，结构合理的评论。

[@yongainan8457]

An all-time favourite.

[@zzenzero]

Thank you Yong Ai Nan. A very special song.

[@lekkoloves55]

zhe lv dao xiang yi zhi chuan/ zai yue ye li yao a yao / qing lang ya ni ye zai wo / de xin hai li piao ya piao / rang wo de ge sheng sui na wei feng / chui kai liao ni de chuang lian / rang wo de zhong qing sui na liu shui bu duan de xiang ni qing su / ye zi shu de chang ying yan bu zhu wo de qing yi / ming mei de yue guang geng zhao liang liao wo de xin / zhe lv dao de ye yi jing zhe yang shen jing / qing lang yo ni wei shi me huan shi mo mo wu yu

[@WeishiMa]

not qing lang(boy lover), but gu niang(girl)

[@zzenzero]

Thank you Pattarasiri Apichit

[@ahsir8]

I am still saying it is the greatest! A year lAter!

[@kamolhengkiatisak1527]

A classic.

[@zzenzero]

Yessssssss. Thank you, Kamol.

[@sct4040]

Love this, thank you for the upload.

[@zzenzero]

And thank you for your thank you. : )

[@gamesonvhs5927]

I like it

[@zzenzero]

+Neon Coco Thank you for your comment :o)

[@jackylin7561]

您好，因非商業用途可能須使用此音源，不知能否與您確認，該音檔的來源是否為原1954年錄製的唱片，或是於何時錄製的版本呢? 期望您的回覆，麻煩了，非常感謝! Excuse me, want to check if the song was recorded from the original disk published in 1954, because of the purpose on studying. Sincerely wait for your replay, thanks!