Zai Shui Yi Fang (Across the Water) (From the 1975 Taiwanese film "The Unforgettable Character") - Chiang Lei, Teresa Teng

This song popped back into my radar whilst I was working on 海韵, only cause I vaguely recalled Teresa Teng singing this song as part of a medley in her “One Billion Applause” concert, and I was kinda just playing around with the chords in between my ‘practice sessions’ before I decided to do a piano cover on it too.

On listening to her 1980 version (a singer by the name of 江蕾 Chiang Lei sang the original for the 1975 show in a slightly more operatic style), I’m just realising how pretty the musical arrangement for the Teresa Teng version was (her album which included this song achieved Platinum the year following release). The chords were ‘updated’ slightly, which I felt made the song more surreal on top of the already hypnotic voice of Ms. Teng (slight reverb added), whilst the slow pop rhythm gently carried the song from Verse 2. The intermittent use of an oboe was such a nice touch. And finally - that intro (although I almost killed myself playing it) - I want to shake the hands of whoever who came up with that!

The phrase 在水一方 originated from one of the poems of the ancient Chinese classic 诗经 Shijing and inspired the novelist 琼瑶Chiung Yao (who herself has a bit of a cult following) to write the lyrics to this song. The phrase now is associated with something beautiful that is unattainable or elusive. So in the context of this song, the singer expresses willingness to push through all obstacles in order to reach the target of his love.

The challenge for me in playing this song was, for one, the dramatic intro (which ironically was the part most straightforward to score), and then having to play the notes accurately on a mostly white note song - yes, ask any pianist, they actually find all-white-note key signatures harder to play. There was also some difficulty in trying to convey the change into the slow pop style from Verse 2. In any case, I hope my cover does this truly golden song justice.

Piano cover: https://youtu.be/tahcpPTljMk

Music sheet: https://mymusic5.com/addygurl/347916

Teresa Teng cover: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9d2HY6xPCYw

Chiang Lei original: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rPX4fHiVTw8

Lyrics: cn.hujiang.com

Translation: xahlee.org