Womxnly

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"玫瑰少年"
Song by Jolin Tsai
from the album Ugly Beauty
English titleWomxnly
ReleasedDecember 26, 2018 (2018-12-26)
GenrePOP
Length3:11
Label
Composer(s)
  • RAZOR Chiang
  • Jolin Tsai
Lyricist(s)
Producer(s)RAZOR Chiang
Music video
Womxnly on YouTube

"Womxnly" (Chinese: 玫瑰少年) is a song by Taiwanese singer Jolin Tsai, included on Jolin's 14th original studio album, Ugly Beauty. The song was composed by Razor Chiang and Jolin Tsai, written by Jolin Tsai and Ashin, and produced by Razor Chiang. The song was released on December 26, 2018, by Sony Music Taiwan and Eternal Music Production (凌時差音樂).[1] The song won the Song of the Year award at the 30th Golden Melody Awards.[2]

Background and release[edit]

In fact, including myself, since I was a child, we have been looking for approval from everyone; does society approve of me, do my teachers approve of me, do my friends approve of me, do my family approve of me? Then we are taught what is normal and what is right. However, we are seldom taught to have a tolerant heart and learn to accept. Start by accepting yourself, and then accept all the possibilities. Maybe, just because something special happens to you, it doesn't mean that you're weird, and when you have someone to talk to, that's the moment you start to accept yourself. I believe that when Yung-chih was telling his mom about what happened to him at school, he was actually doubting himself. So his story also encourages everyone to be more tolerant and to recognize yourself first, maybe you are different, but so what.

——Jolin Tsai talks about Yeh Yung-chih[3]。

The title of the song refers to Yeh Yung-chih (葉永鋕), also known by the nickname "Rose Boy" (玫瑰少年), who attended Gaoshu Junior High School in Pingtung County, Taiwan, and was often bullied by his classmates due to his gender non-conformity.[4][5] In April 2000, Yeh Yung-chih was found lying in a pool of blood with serious injuries and died after being taken to the hospital. The incident led to extensive discussions about gender equality education in Taiwan.[6]

In November 2015, Jolin Tsai invited Hou Chi-jan to film a documentary series called "We're All Different" (不一樣又怎樣), which included Yeh Yung-chih in her "Play World Tour".[7] Jolin Tsai has spoken out for the LGBT community many times with her influence in Mandopop culture. Speaking about Yeh Yung-chih, Tsai said, "It's not just about being gay, when you know yourself and you don't live for others, you can reach out and help the people around you."[8]

In July 2017, Jolin Tsai revealed an offer to Mayday member Ashin to collaborate on the album Ugly Beauty.[9] In July 2018, Jolin Tsai stated that Ashin had finished writing the lyrics for the song, stating, "Ashin wrote this song very well, it should be included in the main album, and I've been wanting to try different interpretations."[10] In December 2018, Jolin Tsai released her 14th original studio album, Ugly Beauty, which included the song "Womxnly", which was co-written by Ashin.[11]

Creation and recording[edit]

The song "Womxnly", inspired by "Yeh Yung-chih incident", was co-composed by Razor Chiang and Jolin Tsai, co-written by Jolin Tsai and Ashin, with lyrics by Yiru Chen (陳怡茹), and arranged and produced by Razor Chiang.[12] The song's arrangement is a fusion of Southeast Asia instruments, tropical house and dancehall reggae styles, and is an emotionally delicate song with strong textual intensity.[13]

Jolin Tsai has always been concerned about human rights movements such as LGBT rights and same-sex marriage, and the song speaks out for various sexual orientations and appearances. Jolin Tsai says, "Don't live in a social framework, femininity is not necessarily bad, masculinity is not necessarily what you want to pursue, no matter if it's a male or female, there is no set framework for gender identity.[14]

Music video[edit]

In February 2019, Jolin Tsai released the music video for the song "Womxnly" which was directed by Ryan Parma. In the music video, Jolin Tsai and her dancers are dressed in two sets of suits and casual clothes that represent "being bound" and "being yourself" respectively. With dance moves and facial expressions, the music video is shot in long shots to express the lyrics of the song, "Who puts who's soul into who's body, and who puts who's body into a prison to imprison themselves".[15]

On December 5 of the same year, the music video for the song "Womxnly" was ranked #6 on the 2019 Taiwan YouTube Hot Music Video Chart.[16]

Awards[edit]

On May 12, 2019, the song "Womxnly" won the 2018 Top Ten Singles of the Chinese Musicians Exchange Association.[17] On May 15 of the same year, the 30th Golden Melody Awards announced the finalists, and the song "Womxnly" was shortlisted for the Song of the Year Award.[18] On June 29 of the same year, the song "Womxnly" won the Song of the Year Award at the 30th Golden Melody Awards, making Jolin Tsai the singer with the most number of wins of the award in history.[19] On December 4 of the same year, Kiel Tutin won the Best Choreography at the Mnet Asian Music Awards for his choreography in the music video of the song "Womxnly".[20]

Live performance[edit]

On January 5, 2019, Jolin Tsai participated in the Taiwan Television of the "2019 Superstar Red & White Artistic Performance Awards" (2019超級巨星紅白藝能大賞) organized by Taitra and performed the song "Womxnly" at the event.[21] On August 30 of the same year, Jolin Tsai participated in the "2019 iQIYI Scream Night - Chinese Songs Music Gala" and sang the song "Womxnly" at the event.[22] On December 14 of the same year, Jolin Tsai participated in the "13th Music Festival Migu Hui" and sang the song "Womxnly" at the event.[23] 2023 On June 5, 2012, Jolin Tsai appeared on the Japanese YouTube music channel "The First Take" and sang the song "Womxnly" on the channel.[24][25]

The song was covered by previously eliminated contestants on the Chinese show Sisters Who Make Waves in 2020, representing feminist resilience. However, lines alluding to Yeh and LGBT issues were removed, representing a broader wave of restrictions on gender expression in Chinese television.[26][27] Similarly, when Zhou Shen (who had faced himself faced gendered bullying over his high-pitched voice) and GAI covered the song on April 20, 2022 (which happened to be the 22nd anniversary of Yeh's death), they replaced the lyrics about gender non-conformity with a rap verse from GAI, leading to criticism from fans that he had culturally appopriated the song to change the focus from LGBT struggles to the duo's life.[28][29] During Tsai's tour of China in 2023, she was not allowed to perform the song in Changsha and could not use a rainbow spotlight when performing in Guangzhou.[30][31]

Production team[edit]

  • Yiru Chen: Lyrics[32]
  • Razor Chiang: Harmonization
  • Jolin Tsai: Harmony
  • Wenjun Chen: Recording Engineer
  • Platinum Studio: Recording Studio
  • Luca Pretolesi: Mixing Engineer
  • Andy Lin: Assistant Mix Engineer
  • Studio DMI: Mixing Studio

See also[edit]

References[edit]

  1. ^ "蔡依林办《Ugly Beauty》听歌会 "导读"歌曲制作过程_Jolin". www.sohu.com. Archived from the original on 2021-07-22. Retrieved 2019-05-17.
  2. ^ Lee, Eva (2019-06-29). "【金曲30】〈玫瑰少年〉拿下「年度最佳歌曲」！蔡依林：「這首歌獻給葉永鋕、所有曾經覺得沒有機會的你，一定要支持你自己」". Cosmopolitan (in Chinese (Taiwan)). Archived from the original on 2019-06-29. Retrieved 2019-06-29.
  3. ^ "【不一样又怎样】感谢你，让他们勇敢做自己_认同". www.sohu.com. Archived from the original on 2020-03-28. Retrieved 2019-05-17.
  4. ^ "從玫瑰少年葉永鋕看多元性別教育的重要性". LGBTQ.tw 台灣酷家 (in Chinese (Taiwan)). 2017-05-26. Archived from the original on 2021-07-22. Retrieved 2019-05-17.
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  12. ^ "心碎故事搭配純舞蹈 MV，《玫瑰少年》被譽為蔡依林出道最美的音樂影像 ‧ A Day Magazine". A Day Magazine. 2019-03-07. Archived from the original on 2021-07-20. Retrieved 2019-05-17.
  13. ^ "蔡依林新专辑《Ugly Beauty》发布会伤感落泪 百变女神面对质疑终_歌曲". www.sohu.com. Archived from the original on 2021-07-22. Retrieved 2019-05-17.
  14. ^ "她花了二十年，看她七十二变_蔡依林". www.sohu.com. Retrieved 2019-05-17.[permanent dead link]
  15. ^ "Jolin蔡依林〈玫瑰少年〉舞蹈版MV，「尊重身體的直覺反應」". VOGUE時尚網 (in Chinese (Taiwan)). Archived from the original on 2019-02-15. Retrieved 2019-05-17.
  16. ^ "2019YouTube熱門音樂排行出爐 周興哲〈怎麼了〉奪冠". www.ctwant.com. Archived from the original on 2019-12-06. Retrieved 2019-12-06.
  17. ^ 中時電子報. "2018年度十大專輯暨十大單曲揭曉 蔡依林、艾怡良、陳奕迅雙料 - 娛樂". 中時電子報 (in Chinese (Taiwan)). Archived from the original on 2021-07-15. Retrieved 2019-05-17.
  18. ^ Storm.mg. "〈玫瑰少年〉力挺性別平權，入圍金曲獎年度歌曲！陳珊妮揭露蔡依林專輯為何能入圍7大獎-風傳媒". www.storm.mg (in Chinese (Taiwan)). Archived from the original on 2019-05-15. Retrieved 2019-05-17.
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  22. ^ 中時新聞網. "周杰倫蔡依林隔6年「雙J同台」 - 娛樂新聞". 中時新聞網 (in Chinese (Taiwan)). Archived from the original on 2022-07-18. Retrieved 2022-06-20.
  23. ^ "蔡徐坤拿下咪咕音乐"年度最佳人气男歌手"，五月天成乐团奖大赢家_乐坛_华晨宇_郁可唯". www.sohu.com. Archived from the original on 2022-06-30. Retrieved 2022-06-20.
  24. ^ "蔡依林登《THE FIRST TAKE》 零NG完美演唱〈玫瑰少年〉". Yahoo News (in Chinese). 2023-06-05. Retrieved 2023-06-05.
  25. ^ "Jolin Tsai gives one-take performance for Japanese YouTube channel". Formosa Television. 2023-06-07. Retrieved 25 November 2023.
  26. ^ Jiang, Linshan (2023-02-16). "Queer Vocals and Stardom on Chinese TV: Case Studies of Wu Tsing-Fong and Zhou Shen". In Zhao, Jamie J. (ed.). Queer TV China: Televisual and Fannish Imaginaries of Gender, Sexuality, and Chineseness. Hong Kong University Press. p. 153. ISBN 978-988-8805-61-7.
  27. ^ Tone, Sixth (29 August 2020). "How China's Reality Show Roses Lost Their Thorns". Sixth Tone. Retrieved 2023-11-25.
  28. ^ Wei, Nathan (11 May 2022). "'Rose Boy': How a death on campus changed LGBTQ education in Taiwan". The China Project. Retrieved 2023-11-25.
  29. ^ "周深《玫瑰少年》改编版霸榜，翻唱音综为何大过"原创"？_叶成志_蔡依林_舞台". www.sohu.com. Retrieved 2023-11-25.
  30. ^ "LGBTQ+-themed song is removed from Jolin Tsai's Changsha gig". Radio Free Asia. Retrieved 2023-11-25.
  31. ^ "遭中国禁唱？ 蔡依林《玫瑰少年》被消失". Sin Chew Daily (in Chinese). 3 September 2023. Retrieved 2023-11-25.
  32. ^ "歌詞協力是什麼？阿信想把〈玫瑰少年〉作詞獎座送「她」：沒她我寫不了這詞". KKBOX (in Chinese (Taiwan)). Archived from the original on 2019-08-10. Retrieved 2019-08-10.
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