Two Facebook posts about "Tomorrow Will Be Better" and an archive of important responses

A few days ago, everyone sang "Tomorrow Will Be Better" at the National Day Gala, which reminded me of this public case, and I wrote a Facebook post, which triggered a very precious discussion. Considering that Facebook often deletes posts for no reason recently, the risk of data disappearing for no reason is not small, so I will back it up here.

Article 1 (2024/10/06 01:29):

Take another look, it is said to be the original lyrics of "Tomorrow Will Be Better". I have two concerns about this document:

1. Luo Dayou left Taiwan for the United States in March 1985, bidding farewell to the Taiwanese music scene. The date written on the bottom of this lyrics is May 2, 1974. I wonder if it was faxed back to Taiwan, or if he went to the United States and then returned to Taipei?

2. "Yesterday's Suicide Note" mentioned that the original lyrics "Who can bear to watch yesterday's clown take away our smiles" were dedicated to the actor Xu Bulan who passed away that year. However, could it be that he died on July 3, 1985, later than the date noted in this manuscript?

Next time you meet Dayou, please ask him to confirm this document. I remember he said that this was not his handwriting - I compared it with his handwriting and it was indeed different, but the signature in the lower right corner should be his own.

I read it carefully and found that some parts were not neat and tidy. For example, in the first paragraph, "it hurts the girl's heart," and in the second paragraph, there is "burning the girl's heart." "Music note" is such a weird word. Could it be that this is a manuscript that was forced out just before the deadline? I handed it in first and then discussed it later. How to adjust it later depending on the situation?

As for "Tomorrow Will Be Better", was the original intention of creating "Tomorrow Will Be Better" for the Double Ten National Day? 1985 The 40th anniversary of Taiwan’s liberation? Or is it the upcoming 1986 International Year of Peace (incidentally, this event gave birth to the ground-breaking Chinese rock song "Nothing")? Or is it for anti-piracy? Was it even later officially appropriated and turned into the theme song of the Kuomintang campaign (the campaign slogan of the Kuomintang at that time was "Want a better tomorrow")? I have interviewed all the participants in this historical case, but I am still confused. I only remember that the key figure in the case is Qiu Fusheng. Maybe I should go back and ask the producer of this song, Mr. Li Shouquan.

What is certain is that Luo Dayou's original version of the lyrics was too dark and sad to be used, so he had to ask many people to come up with ideas and revise them overnight. In the end, a long list of lyricists were named (Luo Dayou, Zhang Dachun, Xu Naisheng, Li Shouquan, Qiu Fusheng , Sylvia Chang, Zhan Hongzhi), it has been difficult to check who wrote the lyrics of the later version of the lyrics (I only remember Zhang Dachun insisting that he did not contribute even a comma).

(Update: According to teacher Li Shouquan’s recollection, this image file is most likely Dayou’s first draft. After it was sent back, the production side had something available, and it was revised simultaneously. The official draft later handed over was very close to the version we are familiar with, but there are still A few words with negative semantics will be revised together by everyone. Thank you, Teacher Li!)

Should I say it's a blessing? The melody composed by Luo Dayou is really great, and the all-star chorus produced by Li Shouquan is also really nice. We don't care about the lyrics that are forced to be inspirational and positive.

"Tomorrow Will Be Better" Lyrics Draft:

Gently caress your numb body and helplessly close your eyes. This absurd world is still turning in black and white. The spring breeze has dissolved, and the amorous feelings sting the girl's heart. The old scars will never heal.

Looking up in search of the night sky, a trace of stars flashed across the sky. News came that the thousand-year-old ice and snow on the Hima plateau was gradually melting away. Hot tears rolled down in the dark night and burned the girl's heart. Angry words turned into notes to accuse shameless (delete the word "deception") lies.

Hoarse your throat and let out a roar. Let us tear this old world apart. Let us rebuild a beautiful new world. Let our tears drown the despicable souls and offer pious sacrifices to the heaven.

Who can leave their home and abandon the dignity of generations? Who can bear to watch yesterday's clown take away our smiles? Youth falls into the world of mortals, eyes covered with gray, let the long-lost tears wash away the wounded heart.

The sunrise is still cold, the earth is overgrown with weeds, and the sound of the heavy rain forms a symphony of fate.

Hoarse, your throat roars. Let us tear this old world apart. Let us rebuild a beautiful new world. Let our tears drown this despicable soul. God bless tomorrow will be better.

After the above article was posted, teacher Li Shouquan wrote a response, which is reproduced below for reference:

Article 2 (2024/10/06 22:36):

Regarding "Tomorrow Will Be Better", Guanzhong, who was the chairman of the Taiwan Provincial Party Committee of the Kuomintang in 1985, recorded them in his personal memoir "Tomorrow Will Be Better: The Legend of Guanzhong" (oralized by Guanzhong, written by Zhang Jingwei, published in 2020) The history of angles is worth reading. Of course, when reading history, especially personal memoirs, you cannot listen to one-sided accounts. You must be careful of taking credit, whitewashing, avoiding key points, and unverifiable parts. This was mentioned above.

To put it simply, according to Guanzhong: The provincial party headquarters of the Kuomintang formed a campaign team and came up with a strange idea, which was to use pop songs to boost the Kuomintang's sluggish election situation, and it had to be someone cool enough in everyone's mind to do this. Things work. So they asked Sylvia Chang to serve as the general convener of the "Tomorrow Foundation Preparatory Meeting" and asked her to invite Luo Dayou to write a song. However, after the song was written, the director of the Kuomintang Literary Union Soong Chuyu and the secretary-general Ma Shuli were very dissatisfied (Song Chuyu had strong opinions on the lyrics), and even alarmed Chiang Ching-kuo. Chiang Ching-kuo was non-committal, but faced resistance within the party and was already half-baked, unable to withdraw the case and cancel it. The original schedule was greatly delayed, so he had to abandon it as an official campaign song and let "private units promote it on their own." The song was a success, but the KMT's role receded into the background.

Therefore, according to this statement, the 40th anniversary of Taiwan's liberation and the International Year of Peace were both proposed at the time. Later, progress was delayed and it was left to "private units to promote themselves" before it was changed to support the Consumer Council and anti-piracy. In essence, from the beginning, he wanted to help the Kuomintang in the election, but the participants may not know it.

According to the article, it is unclear whether the unit that signed the contract with the record company that released "Tomorrow Will Be Better" (the one that won the bid among multiple bids was Blue and White Records) is the Kuomintang Provincial Party Headquarters or the "Tomorrow Foundation" that has changed hands. Preparatory meeting"? Are the record production fees actually paid by the Kuomintang?

The article also writes, "The Benevolence Group (the Kuomintang campaign task force) approached Luo Dayou's girlfriend Sylvia Chang at the time and asked her to serve as the general convener of this event." - Well, it is true that Sister Zhang invited Dayou to write a song, but as far as I know It seemed like they had broken up at that time (right?).

As for Sister Zhang and the participants who were involved in the planning at that time, did they know the Kuomintang's plan behind the whole thing? It seems that most of them may not know (if they know, they may not want to interfere with this matter). Even if some people know, they later say they don't know (this shows that the popularity of the Kuomintang is really not good).

Luo Dayou has said for many years that he was "deceived" when he agreed to write this song. I respect his statement.

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The following is excerpted from the content of China Times:

Supervising the war, the whole Taiwan was in high spirits, and the success was prosperous, and the achievements were shining brightly.

"Tomorrow Will Be Better" alarmed Chiang Ching-kuo, unprecedented situational propaganda

"Gently wake up your sleeping soul, slowly open your eyes, and see if the busy world is still spinning around lonely? The spring breeze is incomprehensible, blowing the young man's heart, and let the tears on yesterday's face disappear. The memory has dried up. Looking up for the wings in the sky, the traces of migratory birds appear, bringing the news that famine and ruthless war still exist in the distance; the white snow falling on Yushan burns the hearts of young people, making the true feelings melt into notes and pouring out distant blessings. ...Sing out your enthusiasm, stretch out your hands, let me embrace your dreams, let me have your sincere face. Let our smiles be filled with the pride of youth, and let us look forward to a better tomorrow."

When you are reading this warm, inspiring and positive lyrics, I believe that the bright and beautiful melody must be echoing in your mind, evoking infinite memories; riding on the wings of singing, even after thirty-five years In 2016, the familiar notes of "Tomorrow Will Be Better" still traveled through time and space and were clearly imprinted on the hearts of many Taiwanese people.

"Tomorrow Will Be Better" came out in 1985. This song was composed by Luo Dayou, arranged by Chen Zhiyuan, and lyrics were written by Luo Dayou, Zhang Dachun, Xu Naisheng, Li Shouguan, Qiu Fusheng, Zhang Sijia, Zhan Hongzhi and others. It can be called the most popular song in the Chinese pop music world. The most successful charity single in history is not only an unprecedented milestone, but also an unparalleled classic, because the various star choruses that have been imitated since are incomparable in terms of scale, innovation, production, and even reputation and influence. , has almost become extinct. Although this divine song is so familiar to everyone, if it were revealed that the internal reason behind the song was originally related to "election" and had a subtle effect, I am afraid that fewer people would know about it.

In 1984, there was a famine in Ethiopia, Africa. In order to help the hungry people, the American music scene was based on the charity single "Do They Know It's Christmas" sung by British stars earlier. It was composed by the king of pop music Michael. Jackson initiated and invited forty-five popular singers to form USA For Africa, which was launched in February 1985 by Michael. Jackson and Leno. Li Qi co-composed the song "We Are The World" (We Are The World), and the album royalties were donated for disaster relief. The response was extremely enthusiastic, and a huge amount of money was raised. It became popular and imitated by many people around the world.

At this time, far away in Taiwan on the other side of the Pacific, Guan Zhong, the 45-year-old chairman of the Taiwan Provincial Party Committee of the Kuomintang, was worried about the county and mayor elections at the end of the year. The year 1985 was definitely a troubled year for the Kuomintang, which had been in power for a long time and was subject to internal and external pressure. The Jiangnan case, which shocked the country and abroad, only happened in October last year. In February of this year , the Ten Faith Cases that shook the political and economic structure broke out; other livelihood incidents including poisoned corn, rancid water and oil, floods, mining disasters, etc., a series of economic crimes also joined in the fun this year, making the Kuomintang top ten. , facing the challenge of the county and mayor election at the end of the year under the absolute decline of anger and resentment.

Not only that, the county and mayor elections at the end of 1985 were also the last local elections during the martial law period. It was still one year before the founding of the Democratic Progressive Party and two years before the lifting of martial law. The general political atmosphere was one of impetuousness mixed with hope and depression. With excitement. All these signals have given the Kuomintang a sense of crisis: "How will we fight the election campaign at the end of this year?"

"To build momentum on the theme of election propaganda, we must know ourselves and the enemy and strike first. The Kuomintang has always been passive in election propaganda in the past. This time we must create an event that deeply affects the people and restores confidence in the future. The effect must be linked "Sex, the campaign must be rhythmic in waves and continue until it reaches its climax before the election." Guanzhong decided to continue the "Seven Happiness" victory in Taipei City in 1983, so that the effect and momentum of the propaganda will continue in this election of the county mayor. The election shines.

This plan was handed over to the Taipei Office of the Provincial Party Committee. The "Benevolence Group" located next to the Howard Hotel was responsible for planning and implementation. The members of the group include Zhao Shaokang, Yu Muming, Li Shengfeng, Shao Yuming, Lin Dengfei, Liu Bingsen, Wu Zhijing and others. The person responsible for contact It was Xu Tianxiang, the secretary of the Guanzhong Committee. After discussions between Guanzhong and group members, it was established that "Today may not be good, but tomorrow will be better", which should bring hope to the people and be an inspiring tone for propaganda. The campaign slogan is "Want a better tomorrow", which reflects The approach was to follow the example of "We Are The World" in promoting the song "Tomorrow Will Be Better".

After several discussions, the Benevolence Group decided to break the traditional conservative rules of the party and select Luo Dayou, the most critical rising star in the music scene at the time, as the top candidate. Therefore, the Renai Group approached Luo Dayou's girlfriend Zhang Sijia at the time and asked her to take charge of this event. general convener.

Of course, it was impossible to persuade Luo Dayou to write this song on the grounds of being a campaign song. After many discussions, it was finally decided that 1985 coincided with the 40th anniversary of Taiwan's liberation, and the following year 1986 was the year of "World Peace". The format of "Year" and "Stars Singing for Charity" echoes the theme of World Peace Year and commemorates the 40th anniversary of Taiwan's liberation, and "Tomorrow Will Be Better" was created.

"Tomorrow Will Be Better" brings together nearly 60 top-notch musicians in Taiwan's Chinese pop music scene to work together. Among them are many popular singers with both strength and sales. They can only include Chen Shuhua, Qi Yu, and Pan Yueyun, the three major queens of the Rolling Stones at the time. , the four UFO queens Su Rui, Tsai Qin, Huang Yingying, and Wang Zhilei "Qiao" sang together, which was an almost impossible task. Other well-known male singers include Yu Tian, ​​Li Zongsheng, Li Jianfu, Hong Ronghong, Wang Menglin, Fei Yuqing, Qi Qin, Tong Ange and others.

According to Luo Dayou himself, this song was composed by him in the United States. The lyrics were based on the memories of the creators who participated at the time, because Luo Dayou's original version of the lyrics was considered to be "too gray and negative in theme awareness" and could not be adopted in its entirety. On the eve of the recording, the organizer invited Luo Dayou, Zhang Dachun, Xu Naisheng, Li Shouquan, Qiu Fusheng, Zhang Sylvia, Zhan Hongzhi and others to co-write lyrics. Luo Dayou's version was mainly used, and they were refined sentence by sentence before they jointly changed it into the final version of the lyrics. It was sent to the recording room of the chorus of stars to complete.

In the name of "Tomorrow Foundation Preparatory Meeting", the album production unit invited Taiwan's most well-known record companies at the time, including UFO, Himalaya, Xinge, Kolin, Rolling Stone, Xiangcheng, PolyGram, Liguo and other record companies to participate in this event. album, with various record companies bidding for distribution rights. It was eventually released by Blue and White Records.

After the song recording was completed, the Provincial Party Committee drafted a publicity plan and handed it over to Jiang Xiaowu, who was the chairman of the Radio and Television Industry Association of the Republic of China at the time, and asked him to help promote it. The plan was then handed over to the Central Literary and Art Workers’ Union, who was the then Chairman of the Literary and Art Workers’ Union. The director, Soong Chuyu, obviously had some objections to this song. The lyrics realistically described the gloomy side of society and believed that it was not suitable for use as an election image song, which greatly dampened the spirit of the provincial party committee.

Not only that, but Ma Shuli, then secretary-general of the Party Central Committee, was not impressed by Guanzhong's emphasis on publicity and publicity. He came to Guanzhong and said, "Why are you doing this? A poster is all it takes to elect members of the Japanese parliament. Elections still rely on local foundations and factions." Mobilization is the only way to be effective. "The chief said this. He was really worried about the suffering in the center. He thought that this was how the Kuomintang was declining step by step. Therefore, Xiang Ma Lichen said that if he cannot grasp the pulse of society and impress the people, elections will be very difficult. It's hard to pick a winner. Ma Shuli couldn't listen, and said to Guanzhong: "I heard that you are making a song? It's a good election. It's not a show business. Don't try to impress people and imitate those tricks outside the party."

Later, even Chiang Ching-kuo came to Guanzhong to ask questions. At first, he talked politely about other things, and then asked that he heard that you were recently working on a campaign song called "Tomorrow Will Be Better." "It seems that it is not good to complain now. Is this appropriate?" Guanzhong, who has always been outspoken, replied without flinching: "Report to the Chairman, there have been a series of floods, mining disasters, Shixin case, Jiangnan case, poisonous corn, sour water and oil... the people will feel that How are you now?" Jiang Jingguo did not say anything and looked at Guanzhong. Guanzhong confidently emphasized the importance of publicity and momentum building, as well as the need to face reality, solve problems, and reverse the situation in a timely manner when outside the party criticizes and attacks the government and the Kuomintang. Rebuild confidence. "We admit that today is not good, but it can be explained by many factors. But through everyone's hard work, we will strive for a better tomorrow. Today may not be good, but tomorrow will be better."

After Jiang Jingguo listened, he just nodded and said, "Okay, I understand." To Guanzhong, although Jiang did not definitely say yes, he did not stop him, which was tantamount to acquiescence. What remains is the question of how to compromise with Ma Shuli. "Ma is still very insistent not to do it, but I am also very resilient. Ethically, I respect him. I will discuss matters as they are and do it in moderation. I will not make it ugly and leave it alone every time." " In the end, Guanzhong had to compromise: "If we want to stop now, some can be stopped, and some can't. For example, holding a grand public press conference on Liberation Day, which we held, and there is still more than a month, this can be stopped; but the release of records , The contract was signed to promote the song on TV, and it cannot be withdrawn..." In the end, each side compromised and took a step back. The press conference was held in private, but everything else remained the same, so the publicity became relatively smaller.

Due to the opposition of Ma Shuli and the Cultural Workers' Union, the original plan to commemorate the 40th anniversary of Taiwan's liberation on October 25 came to nothing, and most other TV and broadcast plans were also postponed. However, the Provincial Party Committee, on the grounds that it had signed a distribution contract with the record company and could not take it back, turned to private units to promote it on their own. Unexpectedly, it became very popular as soon as it was released. In just a few months, the album was sold in Taiwan, Hong Kong, etc. It sold more than 250,000 copies and became a model of charity songs.

"Tomorrow Will Be Better" has been widely sung since then. It is an extremely popular hit song from charity activities, entertainment performances to ordinary people's KTV singing. Of course, it also includes chorus play or background music in many election activities. .

Perhaps because of the above-mentioned behind-the-scenes twist, everyone later had their own opinions about the origin of the song. In fact, from the perspective of Guanzhong, the Kuomintang was responsible for auxiliary election marketing because the Kuomintang’s image was not good enough, so it spent money and effort to produce the song. What’s wrong with a campaign song that inspires people and gathers positive energy in society? But as far as artists and musicians are concerned, because they don’t want to be tainted with political overtones, they try their best to stay away from it, which is understandable.

The strange thing is that if this song had been produced by the Kuomintang in name when it was released, or if it had overemphasized the campaign meaning, it may not have been as popular and influential later; because of the lyrics and music of "Tomorrow Will Be Better" There is no political or electoral reference at all, so it can be loved by the public in a natural and comfortable situation. Not only during the election campaign of that year, it became a classic of "situational propaganda" and brought hope to Taiwanese people of that era. and confidence, and always warm the hearts of young people of every generation!

A song can bring so many beautiful shared memories, so why should we care about why it was originally written? To the melody of "Tomorrow Will Be Better", the curtain of time slowly opens, and the camera begins to travel through the hustle and bustle of the 1985 election campaign...

Extra chapter one

In the record of the conversation between Luo Dayou and Long Yingtai published in the Journal of Seal Literary Life published in January 2011, Luo Dayou said that only after agreeing to the songwriting job did he know that the Central Committee of the Chinese Kuomintang had originally wanted to use the song on the spot. As the party's election anthem, the song makes me feel "cheated" at the moment.

According to the author's review, there was an article "My Time, My Song - Luo Dayou VS Long Yingtai" in the January 2011 issue of Yinji Life Magazine, which published Luo Dayou's statement. I quote it from the original text here to respect the composer's position.

Luo: When I left Taipei on March 9, 1985, I think I may have suffered a greater blow than you.

Long: Is it related to "Tomorrow Will Be Better"?

Luo: "Tomorrow Will Be Better" was originally a scam. The person told me that it was to celebrate the 40th anniversary of Taiwan's liberation. I said that I had been away from Taiwan for a while, so I was only responsible for composing the music. Please find someone else to write the lyrics. I still remember that forty artists were already preparing in the recording studio. The night before, Qiu Fusheng and I were working on the lyrics in the hotel, which made people gasp. At that time, I had just learned that the KMT’s year-end campaign slogan was “Want a Better Tomorrow.” When I found out, it was too late for everyone to evacuate.

Long: Does that mean you wrote a propaganda song for the Kuomintang?

Luo: Yes. But fortunately, I retained the sentence "rouge is stained with ashes." This sentence was almost deleted, and there was an internal struggle for a long time. I said, if there is only light and no darkness in life, you will never see the bright side. Therefore, keeping these few sentences makes me feel that life is still worthy of myself.

After the above post was posted, teacher Li Shouquan left a message:

I added a record of Luo Dayou’s interview in 1991 mentioning this incident. Teacher Li and Takeo both left messages:

The full text of this message can be found at http://www.lotayou.com/2012/01/blog-post_6467.html

My additional comments:

Ms. Chen Wenqian also left a message: