Rose, Rose, I Love You
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"Rose, Rose, I Love You" is an English adaptation of the classic Mandopop song Méigui méigui wǒ ài nǐ (玫瑰玫瑰我愛你). It is the only song written by a Chinese to become a major English-language chart hit.[citation needed]
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[edit] Méigui méigui wǒ ài nǐ
The original Chinese lyrics were by Wu Cun (Ng Chuen; 吳村 Wú Cūn) and the music was credited to Lin Mei (林枚) , a pen name for popular song composer Chen Gexin. The song was first recorded in 1940 by Yao Lee as an interlude for the movie Singing Girl and released as a single on Pathé Records (EMI) catalog number B. 597.
[edit] Rose, Rose, I Love You
Rose, Rose I love you with an aching heart. What is your future, now we have to part? Standing on the jetty as the steamer moves away, Flower of Malaya, I cannot stay.
Make way, oh, make way for my Eastern Rose. Men crowd in dozens everywhere she goes. In her rickshaw on the street or in a cabaret, "Please make way for Rose," you can hear them say.
All my life I shall remember, Oriental music and you in my arms. Perfumed flowers in your tresses, Lotus-scented breezes and swaying palms.
Rose, Rose I love you with your almond eyes. Fragrant and slender 'neath tropical skies. I must cross the seas again and never see you more. Way back to my home on a distant shore.
(All my life I shall remember,) (Oriental music and you in my arms.) (Perfumed flowers in your tresses,) (Lotus-scented breezes and swaying palms.)
Rose, Rose I leave you, my ship is in the bay. Kiss me farewell now, there's nothin' to say. East is East and West is West, our worlds are far apart. I must leave you now but I leave my heart.
Rose, Rose I love you with an aching heart. What is your future, now we have to part? Standing on the jetty as the steamer moves away, Flower of Malaya, I cannot stay.
(Rose, Rose I love you, I cannot stay.)[1]
The English language lyrics were written by a British correspondent, Wynford Vaughan Thomas. It was recorded by American singer Frankie Laine and the Norman Luboff Choir, with Paul Weston and his orchestra, on 6 April 1951, and released by Columbia Records as catalog number 39367. The song reached #3 on the Billboard magazine music charts. (When the songwriter Chen Gexin's youngest son went to the United States for advanced education, he was able to meet Laine and maintained a correspondence.) At this time, Yao Lee's Mandarin version was also released in the US (Columbia 39420) and UK (Columbia 2837) credited to "Miss Hue Lee."
A recording was made by Gordon Jenkins for Decca Records (catalog number 27594[2]).
The song was also covered in the UK by Petula Clark (with a different set of lyrics and the title "May Kway"), a version that entered the UK charts on May 5, 1951 and peaked at #16[3], and Kyu Sakamoto remade the song in the 1960s.
This song features in the 2005 film The White Countess. The film appears to be set in 1937, so the inclusion of the song (in Mandarin Chinese, but to a swing-band accompaniment) would be anachronistic.
"Rose, Rose, I Love You" also appears in the soundtrack of "The Pillow Book", 1996.
[edit] References
- ^ http://www.cowboylyrics.com/lyrics/laine-frankie/rose-rose-i-love-you-12579.html
- ^ Decca Records in the 27500 to 27999 series
- ^ Petula Clark's record and sheet music chart data
[edit] External links
- "A Rose Is a Rose ..." Time. 14 May 1951. Accessed 30 January 2007. Note the article contains some errors about the Chinese version of the song.
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