Ingratiate Oneself
Encyclopedia
Ingratiate Oneself is a 1994
album recorded by Chinese Cantopop
singer Faye Wong
when she was based in Hong Kong
.
Cinepoly Records
released this album in December, only a few months after her highly influential alternative music Cantonese album Random Thoughts
and her second Mandarin Chinese album Sky. It did not match them in terms of commercial success.
Faye Wong composed the songs "Ingratiate Oneself" and "Exit" herself, and these continued her move into alternative music. The remaining songs were more conventional in genre.
The lyrics are all in Cantonese except for "Exit" in Mandarin. She spoke rather than sang the words to this song, so that it is sometimes described as a rap
. Somewhat pessimistic in outlook, it was not popular with all her fans. Nevertheless it was a hit single, along with the title track, "Honeymoon" and the ballad "Brink Of Love And Pain".
"Being Criminal" is a cover of "Here's Where the Story Ends
" by The Sundays
. "Sky Doesn't Change, Earth Changes" is the Cantonese version of "Amaranthine" (不變, Bù Biàn) on her Mandarin album Sky.
The album was released with three different album cover
s.
1994 in music
This is a list of notable events in music that took place in the year 1994.-January–February:*January 25 – Alice in Chains release their Jar of Flies album which debuted at number one on the Billboard 200, becoming the first ever EP to do so....
album recorded by Chinese Cantopop
Cantopop
Cantopop is a colloquialism for "Cantonese popular music". It is sometimes referred to as HK-pop, short for "Hong Kong popular music". It is categorized as a subgenre of Chinese popular music within C-pop...
singer Faye Wong
Faye Wong
Faye Wong is a highly successful and influential Chinese singer-songwriter and actress who is usually referred to as a diva . Early in her career she briefly used the stage name Shirley Wong . Born in Beijing, she moved to Hong Kong in 1987 and rose to stardom in the early 1990s by singing...
when she was based in Hong Kong
Hong Kong
Hong Kong is one of two Special Administrative Regions of the People's Republic of China , the other being Macau. A city-state situated on China's south coast and enclosed by the Pearl River Delta and South China Sea, it is renowned for its expansive skyline and deep natural harbour...
.
Cinepoly Records
Cinepoly Records
Cinepoly Records is a Hong Kong-based record label founded in 1985. It was a subsidiary of PolyGram Records and the film company Cinema City. Ownership of Cinepoly Records switched to Universal Music Group after Universal acquired PolyGram Records in 1998 and albums are now distributed by...
released this album in December, only a few months after her highly influential alternative music Cantonese album Random Thoughts
Random Thoughts (Faye Wong album)
Random Thoughts is a 1994 album recorded by Chinese Cantopop singer Faye Wong when she was based in Hong Kong. It confirmed her move into alternative music and covers songs by the Cocteau Twins, whose influence she readily acknowledged....
and her second Mandarin Chinese album Sky. It did not match them in terms of commercial success.
Faye Wong composed the songs "Ingratiate Oneself" and "Exit" herself, and these continued her move into alternative music. The remaining songs were more conventional in genre.
The lyrics are all in Cantonese except for "Exit" in Mandarin. She spoke rather than sang the words to this song, so that it is sometimes described as a rap
Rapping
Rapping refers to "spoken or chanted rhyming lyrics". The art form can be broken down into different components, as in the book How to Rap where it is separated into “content”, “flow” , and “delivery”...
. Somewhat pessimistic in outlook, it was not popular with all her fans. Nevertheless it was a hit single, along with the title track, "Honeymoon" and the ballad "Brink Of Love And Pain".
"Being Criminal" is a cover of "Here's Where the Story Ends
Here's Where the Story Ends
"Here's Where the Story Ends" is a song by English alternative rock band The Sundays, released as the second single from their debut album Reading, Writing, and Arithmetic.Although it was the Sundays' biggest hit internationally, topping the U.S...
" by The Sundays
The Sundays
The Sundays were an English alternative rock band. The band formed in the late 1980s and released three albums in the 1990s.-Career:The band's beginnings came with the meeting of Harriet Wheeler and guitarist David Gavurin at university. Wheeler had played gigs with 'Cruel Shoes' an early...
. "Sky Doesn't Change, Earth Changes" is the Cantonese version of "Amaranthine" (不變, Bù Biàn) on her Mandarin album Sky.
The album was released with three different album cover
Album cover
An album cover is the front of the packaging of a commercially released audio recording product, or album. The term can refer to either the printed cardboard covers typically used to package sets of 10" and 12" 78 rpm records, single and sets of 12" LPs, sets of 45 rpm records , or the front-facing...
s.
Track listing
- 討好自己 (Toe Ho Jee Gei) – Ingratiate Oneself
- 蜜月期 (Mut Yuet Kei) – Honeymoon
- 為非作歹 (Wai Fei Jok Dai) – Being Criminal
- 我怕 (Ngor Pa) – I Fear
- 出路 (Chu Lu) – Exit
- 平凡最浪漫 (Ping Faan Jui Long Maan) – Simplicity Is Most Romantic
- 飄 (Piu) – Float
- 愛與痛的邊緣 (Ngoi Yu Toong Dik Been Yuen) – Brink of Love and Pain
- 背影 (Bui Ying) – Silhouette
- 天不變地變 (Teen But Been Dei Been) – Sky Doesn't Change, Earth Changes
External links
- Ingratiate Oneself summary and translated lyrics
- Ingratiate Oneself / Toe Ho Ji Gei summary at another extensive fan site