Chapter 165: Zhang Ye sings “Wishing We Last Forever”!
Chapter 165: Zhang Ye sings “Wishing We Last Forever”!
Why did he not want to sell?
Why was Zhang Ye so strongly against it?
The reason was because “Shuidiao Getou – When will the moon be clear and bright” was a very mature song in Zhang Ye’s world. It was called “Wishing We Last Forever“. The original singer was Teresa Teng. It was one the songs that shot her to fame and it was extremely popular everywhere. The composer was Liang Hongzhi. Later on, the Heavenly Queen, Faye Wong, also covered it as well. If one had to determine who amongst Teresa Teng and Faye Wong sang it better, it was hard to decide. Amongst the older generation, Teresa Teng was more popular. But amongst the young generation, Faye Wong’s “Wishing We Last Forever” was more famous. Faye Wong’s voice was clearer and elegant, so it suited Su Shi’s poem very well.
This song had been ingrained in Zhang Ye’s heart, and it was one of his most favorite songs. Hence, how could he let a bunch of composers blindly compose for it?
Listen to these three songs.
One was too pop-like, one was too obscure, and one was too rock-like.
What sort of crappy tunes were these? The song had been ruined by them!
Of course, maybe it was because Zhang Ye was a bit more extreme. He was not from this world, so he naturally had special feelings for his own world. It was the same feeling as for certain locations. Many people would think that things from their hometown were much better, and they were the things that made them proud. This was the reason why Zhang Ye looked down on the level of music of this world. If one took an objective stance, the three tunes were not bad, especially the first tune, which was composed by Wang Ge. It was even very catchy and it could be considered a pretty good tune.
However, Zhang Ye felt that it was not enough. In fact, it was far from enough!
For copyrights, Zhang Ye thought very highly of them. He relied on them mostly for a living. It was also the essence that allowed him to take root in this world. Every work’s copyright was meaningful to him, as they were too important. Zhang Ye sometimes also thought of not doing anything for a month, and just writing out all the lyrics from his world using the Memory Search Capsule. With the novels and movie scripts, would he become more famous faster if he threw all of them at this world?
The answer was yes, but it could also be no. Yes, because a portion of his works would definitely receive the attention of others, causing his fame to increase greatly. As for no, it was like killing the golden goose. Even if he became famous for a short period of time, people were not dumb. If he threw all these works out in one go, they would also be suspicious. Also, there could be a chance that they would feel fatigue from an aesthetic point of view. If Zhang Ye created anything else in the future, people would treat it as if it were to be expected, and they would not place much attention to them. From then on, he would only decline. And once all his original copyrights were used up, what was he to rely on, without any works he could write or produce?
Hence, Zhang Ye treated every copyright very seriously. He wanted to do it slowly, so as to let every work from his world reach its fullest extent. It would also maximize his bid to become famous. So he could not bombard everything at one go because that was undesirable and unsustainable. He had to use every work wisely!
Fang Weihong frowned, “Teacher Zhang, please consider them again. I personally think Wang Ge’s tune is good. Sister Zhang also thought so, too, when she heard it previously.”
Zhang Ye smiled bitterly, “It’s not that I’m not helping, it’s because it’s really not good.”
Feeling doubted, Wang Ge could not help but turn mad, “What part of it is not good?”
“The melody is not good. It doesn’t match it well.” Zhang Ye said whatever he felt. It was not the time and place for him to mince his words.
Wang Ge looked at him with a blackened face, “Teacher Zhang Ye, if we are talking about literary level, I’m inferior to you. Everyone in this room added up would be inferior to you. Everyone admits this, nor is there any reason to doubt you. You are an expert in literature. This we all agree on. But when talking about music, when we talk about music as an art, I believe anyone here knows it better than you and understands more than you. You can’t deny that, right?”
When Zhang Ye heard this, he was amused. He did not mind saying that he didn’t know music himself, but he could not accept it when others said it to him. Who are you? Do I know you? “That might not necessarily be true.”
Wang Ge was stunned before laughing, “Really? I really don’t believe that!”
Zhang Yuanqi looked at him, “Little Wang, why are you talking to Teacher Zhang like that?”
“Sister Zhang, I’m not convinced! I have been doing music for seven to eight years! People can doubt me in anything except my attainment and level in music!” Wang Ge had spent a lot of time on the lyrics, and he had composed the tune for half a month before producing a satisfying piece of work. However, Zhang Ye’s simple word of it being not nice and a simple word of not selling his copyright made all his efforts over the past few days be in vain. It would be a wonder if he was in agreement with that!
Zhang Yuanqi was a friendly Heavenly Queen in front of them, “Alright, Little Wang. Restrain that attitude of yours by a bit. This is Teacher Zhang’s work, so he has the right to decide who the lyrics belongs to.”
Wang Ge was still unconvinced, as he said, “But he… ”
Fang Weihong turned angry, “Just because Sister Zhang is being nice, you are still continuing on? If you have anything to say, say it to me!”
Wang Ge turned silent. They were not afraid of Sister Zhang, as they knew that the Heavenly Queen never stared angrily at people. She was especially nice to anyone, but the manager, Sister Fang, was not someone that was easy to speak to.
Zhang Yuanqi patted Fang Weihong’s arm, “It’s fine. You don’t have to go to that point.”
After criticizing Wang Ge, Fang Weihong changed tunes and turned towards Zhang Ye, “If you think it’s unsatisfactory, you can get Little Wang or the other two composers to change it. Wherever needs changes, you can just tell them. When you are satisfied, we can talk about the copyright transfer. So don’t be in a hurry to say no. We really like your poem, or we would not have formed a team to work on this matter for the past half month.”
Zhang Ye smacked his lips, “I have other uses for this poem, so… ”
Seeing that the tunes were unable to persuade him, Fang Weihong appealed to his emotions, “You said that you like Sister Zhang’s music. Then you should know that those are things from a long time ago. In the past two years, Sister Zhang has not had any good musical productions. Even the sales barely make it, and anyone knows that it was forcefully pushed up because we were using her past fame. Only hardcore fans liked it, so it’s hard to push this any further. If this carries on, without any good musical productions, even those hardcore fans will eventually leave, too. Sister Zhang would then have to give up on music and only develop herself in the film industry.”
Zhang Ye was a bit embarrassed as he said, “I know that. I’m also aware of this from the news, but the truth of the matter is, I think these songs are very average.”
Another musician said, “The price is negotiable. Nowadays, an excellent work of a famous composer would cost from 50,000 to 100,000. Even the top lyrics would not exceed 150,000.”
“That’s true.” Fang Weihong said, “We can give you 150,000 for the licensing fee. As long as you license the rights of the song to us, we will plan on making it a single. The song will be recorded in a few days, and then it will be posted on the internet as a trial. It’s quite an anxious matter, so would you… ”
Zhang Ye remained impenetrable, “It’s not about money. It’s the tune that’s bad.”
Wang Ge spoke again, “The tune is bad? Then why don’t you make a tune for us to open our eyes?”
Fang Weihong narrowed her eyes and slammed her hand on the table heavily, “Wang Ge! Do you really want me to lose all decorum with you?”
“Sister Fang, I just can’t stand him being like that! He keeps saying our tune is bad, but it’s clearly an excuse! I’m guessing some other company must have gotten to him first!” Wang Ge said.
Fang Weihong looked at Zhang Ye, “Is that true, Teacher Zhang?”
Zhang Yuanqi also glanced at Zhang Ye.
Zhang Ye said, “When I was arrested, Sister Zhang gave a Like to my poem, and quite a number of Sister Zhang’s fans helped me. This resulted in me being able to be released so soon. Since Sister Zhang needs my help, I will definitely help if I can. However, this poem is different. No other company has contacted me for the rights. You are the first, but this poem is quite important to me. Hai, perhaps I’m not explaining clearly?” Saying that, he looked at Wang Ge, “You said that anyone in here knows music more than me? And you want me to produce a tune to open your eyes? Sure. Then I’ll incur ridicule on myself today.”
Fang Weihong exclaimed, “You can compose?”
A few of the staff members nearly fainted. Aren’t you just good at history or writing novels or poems? Composing? You can even compose?
Wang Ge found it both funny and annoying, “Sure. We are all ears!”
You want to goad me? You sure are childish! This bro… This bro loves to be goaded on!
Zhang Ye was also slightly angry from the provocation. I don’t know music? Sure! I’ll open your eyes today! Actually, he wanted to tell Zhang Yuanqi that he had a better choice for the song, and this song was left for him to sing it himself. He was not purposely refusing to sell the rights. He did not want Sister Zhang to be misunderstand.
Zhang Yuanqi said to him, “Teacher Zhang, if any member of my team was inappropriate with his words, I will get him to apologize to you. Forget about the composing. Little Wang is also… ”
Zhang Ye flatly said, “It’s okay. Give me the guitar!”
A musician blinked and handed him a guitar. He was the person who had sung and played the song himself.
Zhang Ye mimicked him as he sat over there. Lifting the guitar and then adjusting his state for a while, he suddenly coughed. He then returned the guitar to the person.
The musician exclaimed, “Why?”
Zhang Ye said awkwardly, “I don’t know how to play the guitar.”
Upon hearing this, everyone in the room nearly fainted. If you don’t know how to play the guitar, why did you act as if you did!?
Zhang Ye touched the microphone in front of him and tested the sound, “Now, I will sing a song, titled “Wishing We Last Forever”. Sorry for my shortcomings.”
Wang Ge was sneering.
A few musicians were also inattentively waiting to hear him sing.
Other than Zhang Yuanqi being expressionless, everyone else had doubt written on their faces. They only knew that Zhang Ye was trying to be obstinate. No one believed that he could compose a tune. Composing? It was a thing that only specialists in music could do! You don’t even know how to play the guitar, and you probably don’t even know the lines of a music sheet. As a person dealing with literature production, Three Kingdoms research, supernatural novels or children’s fairy tales, what sort of tune can you produce!?