Diary entry 32

Entry II/2001

Dear Friends,

I'm writing to you today from the Kuala Lampur Airport in Malaysia. Last time I was here was to do promotion for "China Strike Force" more than ten months ago. Now, here I am again with my brand new album, "Wei Yi, The One And Only". I want to give a big thanks to all the fans in Malaysia for the huge turnout at my appearances in KL, Penang and Ipoh. What a great sight to see so many thousands of fans singing "Wei Yi" at the top of their lungs!
In this week's diary, let's start talking about the album itself. The songs, the melodies, lyrics and stories behind their conception…beginning with:

"Wei Yi, The One And Only"- this song was written on Mykonos Island, Greece between 5-6 a.m. This family vacation in mid-August was filled with slow afternoons and ocean-side breezes, tanned bodies and tall drinks, all the amenities of a proper summer vacation were in full effect. It had been almost two years since the last time I took a day off, let alone week, so there I was, finally having an opportunity to slow down and reflect on my life, my own personal life. There was no work to be done in Greece, my schedule was completely BLANK for the week! I do believe that time came to a grinding halt, actually forever stopped during the course of those few days, as part of my spirit continues to rock gently on a sailboat coasting across the Aegean Sea. It was those same Greek stars and night sky, that inspired countless classic stories of Gods with human character flaws, that gave me loneliness on the morning of August 17. I quietly crawled out of bed so as not to wake my sleeping brother and father, then exited the house and began to walk aimlessly in the cold, empty street. It was 5 o'clock a.m. and I watched my moonlight shadow jot a few lines in his palm pilot, the song thus began:

　　　　wo de tian kong duo me de qing xi
　　　　tou ming de cheng nuo shi guo qu de kong qi
　　　　qian zhe wo de shou shi ni
　　　　dan ni de xiao rong que kan bu qing
　　　　shi fou yi ke xing xing bian le xin
　　　　cong qian de yuan wang yi quan dou gei pao qi
　　　　zui jing wo wu fa hu xi lian zi ji de ying zi
　　　　dou xiang tao bi…tao bi.

I must have subconsciously been thinking about how unfair love can be. How two people can be in a relationship, yet feel so differently about one another. She might be unhappy, while he might be completely convinced that she is "the one and only". When two lovers are far apart, all they have to hold on to is their promise, which in this case, is already fading more and more transparent, floating away like yesterday's air. He wonders if the star that they had wished upon together had had a change of heart, perhaps decided to abandon their wish, as it seems to be falling apart. Finally, he considers giving everything up in order to make it work. Getting away from absolutely everything, even his own shadow seems to be the only way that he can be with her.
Many of the love songs that I have written in the past are about long distance relationships, "Forever's First Day", "You Can Tell Me","Mary Says", "Trust", to name a few. You can add "Wei Yi, The One And Only", and "An Quan Gan, Sense of Security" to this list now, too. I guess when it comes to writing love songs, I can't help but write from my heart. My own personal feelings at that given time move me and inevitably come to the surface. That is how I felt, sitting alone between 5 and 6 a.m. on Mykonos Island, Greece, August 17, 2001. Thanks for listening to this song and letting it into your lives.

Peace on Earth, Leehom