【The End of the World】A List (The List)

Mar 12, 2022

Getting to know Rosanne Cash is a thing of the past when I was a teenager. At that time, I was still in middle school in Hong Kong, and I just had a record player, and I just started to buy records myself. It was Rosanne Cash's first solo album, and the agency was promoting the big event. Looking sweet? American folk music has never been the way to go, especially in a tiny place in the Far East. And why she bought this record is also a mystery, is she attracted by her sweet appearance, or is she attracted by her name? I think I was starting to pay attention to music at the time and was looking for my position, to establish a different taste, so when not many people knew who Rosanne Cash was, there was a certain appeal to me! This record didn't rewrite anything in my life. For a newcomer's debut, it can be considered a listen, but American folk songs are not my cup of tea, so I don't pursue them any more. My own musical tastes are gradually taking shape, and Rosanne Cash's is getting farther and farther away!

Thirty years have passed, Rosanne Cash has been ups and downs, got married, divorced and remarried, and became a mother. It can be considered that she has left a little merit in the music world, and it is not just because of her that I am interested in her again. , but two guest musicians on the CD - Bruce Springsteen and Elvis Costello! However, in this CD called "The List", the protagonist should be the "song" on this list! This is a group of classics of American roots and folk music. For us, the significance is not that big, and we can only listen to it from a reference point of view. However, the origin of the "list" is worth discussing.

Rosanne Cash on the origin of lists

It turned out that when Rosanne was a little girl, she had often accompanied her father on tours across the state and the province. In those days, the way to pass the time on the bus was very limited. Along with reading, listening to music was only talking. Both father and daughter love music, but after a casual chat, Cash's father realized that the little girl's musical taste was just on par with the current younger generation, and she knew almost nothing about her origins. Dad sometimes mentioned some classics, and the little girl looked blank. Dad muttered to himself: You should know these classics. So from a certain day, Dad wrote down the information of a batch of songs, and wrote as much as he thought of, and added them day by day to become a list of over a hundred classic country songs! Dad gave it to the little girl grandly, hoping that it could be passed on from generation to generation. After the little girl took it over, she put it away grandly, but she never took it out to look at it again.

Time flies, the little girl grows up, and she has a career of her own, and her father has also advanced to a new level, and has become a generation of masters. I found this list when I was packing, and I had mixed feelings all at once! Dad was gone, the little girl looked at the list and re-recognized her roots. In order to commemorate her father, she finally selected twelve songs from the list, sang them again, and recorded them into this CD.

This story touched me, but what I feel more emotional is that this kind of story will never appear in Chinese society! Yes, many Chinese parents let their children learn musical instruments, but think about it, how many parents will sit down and exchange knowledge and experience of music with their children? In today's Hong Kong music scene, how many people wanted to play music without telling their parents? It is common to see some interviews with seniors in the music industry. When asked if they would encourage their children to go their own way, they almost unanimously answered: let it be! It sounds very democratic and open, but why don't you go with the flow when you take the preschool test? Education takes time to cultivate, and tutoring/example is an important part. Please take a look at "Fu Lei's Family Letter" to know the hard work behind the success. I know that not too many people have the cultivation and knowledge of Mr. Fu Lei, but it should never be an excuse for you not to communicate with your juniors, pass on knowledge and experience in chats like Dad Cash, or write down a list in your spare time. Shouldn't be too difficult! Hong Kong music may only be decades old, but writing a list of songs based on cultural history is still not an easy task.

If you were asked to make such a list, what would you choose? Also hope that the people who are willing to put it into practice.

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