Behind the scenes story author talks about the theme song of the Universiade, Global Singing Theme | Music | Global
The 31st Summer Universiade will open in Chengdu on July 28th, with the theme song "Love is the Same" sung globally, showcasing the spirit and vitality of friendship, unity, and progress of the younger generation to the world.
What is the creative inspiration for the theme song of this Universiade? What are the essential elements of the theme song for sports events? How to tell Chinese stories well through music? The People's Daily Strong Country Forum interviewed Wang Pingjiu, Deputy Editor in Chief of the Program Center of the Film Channel, and music producer Chang Shilei.
Host: How did the creative inspiration for the theme song of the Universiade burst out?
Chang Shilei: There are various orders for writing songs. The large-scale events we collaborate on, or songs with strong purpose, usually start with text, and music is a form of auxiliary text. Launching a song for promotion at an important moment is a very important means to make more people resonate with the song and the event, and thus have a stronger dissemination power.
Wang Pingjiu: Often these good song titles are just ordinary things, and "Love is the Same" is just an ordinary thing. Before writing the lyrics, we first clarify the concept of the theme song "Love is the same", which means that the love given by young people from various countries around the world is the same. After the theme is determined, further consideration will be given to the background, artistic conception, and context of the song, and the lyrics will be gradually improved. Finally, Chang Shilei will compose the music.
Host: What are the essential elements of the theme song for sports events? What is special about creativity?
Wang Pingjiu: The theme song for sports events should have different uses, such as power songs like "Stand Up", warm songs like "Love is the Same", and heartwarming songs like "Me and You".
The creation of theme songs for sports events requires clear planning, including the singer, promotion methods, singing occasions, target audience, and usage methods of the songs. When everyone likes this song, the singer likes it, the creator likes it, and the people like it, its creation is successful.
Host: Is it a common technique for us to combine the lyrics of many event theme songs in Chinese and English?
Chang Shilei: Because music itself is a language, it can directly enter the hearts of many people, making them want to understand and communicate with each other. Therefore, music is the most perfect bridge. The combination of Chinese and English lyrics can express different emotions and feelings, encompass more possibilities, and thus find the best option.
Wang Pingjiu: The theme song for international competitions needs to cater to some foreign audiences, so English will be included in it. These songs have simple lyrics for easy transmission, such as "Love is the Same".
Host: How to tell Chinese stories well through music and play a good role in conveying emotions and values?
Chang Shilei: The simplest way for people to connect with each other is through love, but love is a very complex and highly personal behavior. Music, a unique language that even surpasses human language, is very effective and accessible. With the highly developed Internet, I think music has the fastest transmission speed except air and light. It can gather the feelings that many people are familiar with in their daily life.
Wang Pingjiu: Music is boundless, no matter what language you know or not, but after adding a certain language to the melody, it can naturally be sung, which is a very magical thing. The reason why music is more charming than ordinary words is that it has melody. Melody is something with infinite charm, and through the carrier of melody, the audience can remember the words and also remember their connotations.