Hai Yun (Rhythm of the Wave)

Teresa Teng  

Yet another Teresa Teng classic penned by the composer-lyricist pair 古月 and 庄奴 and is the main theme to a 1974 Taiwanese film of the same name. The movie's opening shows a woman walking into the ocean only to be stopped by a man who notices her doing it. The song's lyrics itself is poetic; the chorus reads, "啊! 不是海浪, 是我美丽的衣裳飘荡…" translating to "Ah, it's not the ocean billows but my beautiful dress furling…"

Music-wise, if there was a song intro that was made specifically for a piano - this was it. What made this song unique is its iconic intro and ending (which, in the revamped classic, was probably some kind of harpsichord played on keyboard). It also has several time signature shifts between 4/4 and 2/4 (something I only realised upon scoring out the music, even though I’ve listened to this song a gazillion times in the last 30-plus years).

This song also really showcases the singing lilts that Teresa Teng is known for, which I can’t fully replicate on piano, but I’ve put in whatever piano-ish stuff from the song and her more dramatic concert versions… (though I almost excluded the glissando cause I hadn’t done glissandos in ages and it hurt lol).

I hope y’all like this piano cover!