My best friend in law school Karen asked me to put some Taiwan music on my blog. So here it is.The song is called <Windstar 125>. Windstar 125 is a name of a 125 c.c. schooter. Just like "Camry" is a name of a car. This song is perfect for foreigh students and is currently my No. 1 favorite song.
It's actually not a Taiwanese song, but in Haka (客家話), written and played by Labor Exchange Band (交工樂隊). The lyrics is about a young man's journey. He grew up in the country side of Taiwan, but was never satisfied with his farming life. Instead, he dreamed of living big, shiny and glorious in a big city. One day, he secretly left school and his family and took a train in Taipei (the capital of Taiwan).
After several years of struggle, he failed and was frustrated. He missed the land and smell and sunrise of his home, but he was too embarassed to return without achievements. He missed his parents and his old grandmother. One night, he finally took his Windstar 125, and rode towards home.
When he got close to his home county, he started to pray for the moon to hide, for the gods to turn the lights of the roads off, so he can quietly return without notice. He saw the door of his home, saw his parents in the farm, saw the sunrise. And he left.
The song I put on here is a bad recording (don't know how to put on the album version). It was recorded in Jan 2001 at NTU student center, a live performance that I attended. I still remember my thrill when I first heard the suona horn (a windwood instrument, 嗩吶) raised. It penetrated my heart like John Coltrane's solo. It washed my soul.
To me, that suona is the sound of Taiwan, the sound of home.
