Also, her image- at least at a few times, as in her most famous film Chungking Express- was tomboyish, with severely short hair. This was unusual, punk, for a beautiful mainland Chinese girl back in the early '90s. And being from the mainland, and eventually moving back there, she can be counted as a rebel in her homeland, even if by UK or US standards she may appear as just another gorgeous pop star. Finally- lyrics- she didn't write them all, but she did some- and they tend toward real poetry.
by the very conservative standards of Mandopop music before her, she was a rebel. PRC had no pop scene at all until the past 25 years. people were so enamored of just hearing a song that said "I Love You" (Teresa Teng) or proclaiming individualism (Cui Jian) that it took much longer before confrontational sounds started to develop. The late '80s/early '90s were a time of new freedoms- '60s counterculture from the west mixed with '80s pop and hip hop and HK and Taiwan styles- all with no context.
Faye's rise was soon after that era- she wasn't ahead of things, but she was pretty early, she represented the change, one of the first domestic pop stars- she repped for Teng (who was massively popular but still a somewhat countercultural figure by PRC standards) and expanded Teng's unabashedly personal and sentimental pop style into the basis of modern mainland pop. And then in '94 to '99, she embraced psychedelic influences from other genres including UK alternative and HK rock- e.g. Dou Wei.
Faye worked in HK in her early career, but when she switched to Mandarin albums, she revolutionized the mainland music industry. Given the severely limited history of pop music of any kind in mainland China, I think it's pretty impressive that a 25-year-old woman coming out of that environment produced some of the only '90s guitar pop albums that rival the ethereal perfection of The Bends. Her music is not nearly as inventive as real Cocteau Twins, but it's on another level from the Cranberries.
In HK pop she changed things too- it was a very conservative style, and had been for decades. HK rock that sold anything also tended to just ape the most popular rock sounds of the UK. Cocteau Twins were unpopular, uncool and even forgotten in their home country in the mid '90s until Massive Attack got Liz Fraser to sing on Teardrop in '98 (which only became a massive hit slowly over the next seven or eight years). Faye was ahead of 3D, Daddy G and Mushroom in recognizing that band's importance.
As far as her comments on her acting work, she is being way too modest as well. Wong Kar Wai and other true artists of cinema do not always want to seek out proper, professionally trained actors when they can find real people who embody real life more honestly and naturally. Faye Wong is such a person- in Chungking Express I don't know if I would nominate her for an acting award- only because acting awards are meaningless- but it's one of the best films ever made because of her being real in it.
Since I never knew of Faye in '98, I don't know how her fans were feeling about her new music then- but it seems like so many were criticizing her career path (even though one was actually trying to support her against the criticisms- and got mistranslated to Faye as criticizing her). I'm sure there are reasons older fans were upset- she broke with rocker Dou Wei, signed with EMI and became a bigger star. But looking back, her albums from '94 to '99 are all classic, and after that, good as well.
Faye is obviously bored in this interview, unfortunately comes through in her responses to the ridiculous questions- after dealing with that, no wonder she didn't even feel right talking about her own favorite songs- which are a sacred thing- she even said "should I?" before admitting almost secretively, to loving Cocteau Twins! When she said the Asian Financial Crisis had more of a strong effect on people's lives than the handover of HK, however, there was real truth you won't ever hear on CNN.
This is also an awkward interview for those of us who know Riz Khan now, from his substantive interviews on Al Jazeera. Not only are the questions here beneath Faye's dignity, they are beneath Riz Khan's as a serious reporter who had to pretend to be interested in them (he, unlike us, may not even have any interest in Faye or her music to help keep him awake). Faye may be a gorgeous woman and a pop star loved by billions, but she is way too ambitious to deserve these typical celebrity questions.
Beautiful that she used her first language (which is not Cantonese, or English, even if she knows them both). When non-native speakers are forced to use another language to describe their work, they're always presented as less sophisticated and thoughtful than native speakers. Even if Faye was fluent in English, which she may not have been, it's still a statement to CNN, that she won't pander. However, ALL the questions asked her were embarassing- what you ask a mindless pop star, not Faye Wong!
Of course people have to resort to criticizing faye's 'english'. When artists are perfect like faye, and there's nothing left for you to criticise, you just complain on superficial stuff. I saw her concert 4 times and she's a damn good singer.
Why the hell is everyone focusing on the artists' ”English" language skills but not on their *actual spoken content* every time an Asian artist appears on CNN interview. It shows how superficial you people are like you've never seen people speak English (international language) before.
90% of the comments here is about her "English language" skills, what would other people think of us East Asians. Same thing as Korean fans' comments for their stars.
she can speak fluent english I think because I have heard her singing a lot of english songs ....anyway ,she is the best chinese female singer nowadays
Personally, I don't know whether if she speaks English. BUT, she is a singer not an English teacher, why people are picking on her English here? She is a GREAT singer, that's all matters. Do you people speak all languages? She is Chinese, borned in China, it is not shameful for her not to speak English, it would be if she does not speak Chinese. Please give others credit that they deserve instead of being haters.
she doesn't really understand english although she sings english songs w/ almost no accent. i thought she spoke perfect english too until i heard her perform "eyes on me" live and she made mistakes that showed she didn't understand what she was singing.
It's quite good. There is one part where she sings, "In this tiny little bar" that sounds a bit odd to me. She separates it like "in this tine (pause) ...y little bar" rather than "in this ti (pause) ...ny little bar." It's a very subtle thing, but most of the rest of it is pretty good pronunciation.
what's wrong with her speaking in chinese? i don't recall any western superstar doing an interview in chinese. they all needed translations. so I guess theyre lazy too. the truth is they dont learn it because its not impt to them
This comment has received too many negative votesshow
faye should speak contonese instead of manderin i hate the cnn guy & the girl who translate it..the girl who call & ask question bad english..how long was this?
@cdefgqqq, she really doesn't understand english. she needed a translator not just to translate what she said go english but to translate questions into mandarin.
I thought se could speak English...Anyway, she has been one of my favourite singers since I first heard one of her songs...I tracked down all her discography and started to enjoy...A brand new music world had just opened to me...
The song in the background can be translated as "Repayment". It is the Cantonese version of the Mandarin ballad - Red Bean - included on the Eyes On Me single. It is also a song that is 100x better than Eyes On Me in my opinion.
Can someone please tell me the name of the song in 0:48 - 1:17
AyuLIN 9 hours ago
@AyuLIN there are two versions of the song, in Mandarin its called Red Bean (紅豆) and Cantonese version is called Repayment (償還)
muskmelon 31 minutes ago
好美，眼睛很嫩
CAMILLeeer 2 months ago
王菲年轻时可真是美人啊
okita9411 2 months ago
does it really matter??
she is still faye wong!!!
travellertoday 3 months ago
王菲是亚洲的天后，关TMD美国红毛鬼什么事，不说英语又怎样，她可是正宗的中国人！永远支持你，我心中的女神！
tangmingli 3 months ago
Also, her image- at least at a few times, as in her most famous film Chungking Express- was tomboyish, with severely short hair. This was unusual, punk, for a beautiful mainland Chinese girl back in the early '90s. And being from the mainland, and eventually moving back there, she can be counted as a rebel in her homeland, even if by UK or US standards she may appear as just another gorgeous pop star. Finally- lyrics- she didn't write them all, but she did some- and they tend toward real poetry.
westofthetracks 4 months ago
sorry but i really dont think faye wong is that different. how is she a rebel?
reginablablabla 4 months ago
by the very conservative standards of Mandopop music before her, she was a rebel. PRC had no pop scene at all until the past 25 years. people were so enamored of just hearing a song that said "I Love You" (Teresa Teng) or proclaiming individualism (Cui Jian) that it took much longer before confrontational sounds started to develop. The late '80s/early '90s were a time of new freedoms- '60s counterculture from the west mixed with '80s pop and hip hop and HK and Taiwan styles- all with no context.
westofthetracks 4 months ago
Faye's rise was soon after that era- she wasn't ahead of things, but she was pretty early, she represented the change, one of the first domestic pop stars- she repped for Teng (who was massively popular but still a somewhat countercultural figure by PRC standards) and expanded Teng's unabashedly personal and sentimental pop style into the basis of modern mainland pop. And then in '94 to '99, she embraced psychedelic influences from other genres including UK alternative and HK rock- e.g. Dou Wei.
westofthetracks 4 months ago
Faye worked in HK in her early career, but when she switched to Mandarin albums, she revolutionized the mainland music industry. Given the severely limited history of pop music of any kind in mainland China, I think it's pretty impressive that a 25-year-old woman coming out of that environment produced some of the only '90s guitar pop albums that rival the ethereal perfection of The Bends. Her music is not nearly as inventive as real Cocteau Twins, but it's on another level from the Cranberries.
westofthetracks 4 months ago
In HK pop she changed things too- it was a very conservative style, and had been for decades. HK rock that sold anything also tended to just ape the most popular rock sounds of the UK. Cocteau Twins were unpopular, uncool and even forgotten in their home country in the mid '90s until Massive Attack got Liz Fraser to sing on Teardrop in '98 (which only became a massive hit slowly over the next seven or eight years). Faye was ahead of 3D, Daddy G and Mushroom in recognizing that band's importance.
westofthetracks 4 months ago
@reginablablabla It's the hair! It's not asian enough
DudethatyelledMurloc 3 months ago
As far as her comments on her acting work, she is being way too modest as well. Wong Kar Wai and other true artists of cinema do not always want to seek out proper, professionally trained actors when they can find real people who embody real life more honestly and naturally. Faye Wong is such a person- in Chungking Express I don't know if I would nominate her for an acting award- only because acting awards are meaningless- but it's one of the best films ever made because of her being real in it.
westofthetracks 4 months ago
Since I never knew of Faye in '98, I don't know how her fans were feeling about her new music then- but it seems like so many were criticizing her career path (even though one was actually trying to support her against the criticisms- and got mistranslated to Faye as criticizing her). I'm sure there are reasons older fans were upset- she broke with rocker Dou Wei, signed with EMI and became a bigger star. But looking back, her albums from '94 to '99 are all classic, and after that, good as well.
westofthetracks 4 months ago
Faye is obviously bored in this interview, unfortunately comes through in her responses to the ridiculous questions- after dealing with that, no wonder she didn't even feel right talking about her own favorite songs- which are a sacred thing- she even said "should I?" before admitting almost secretively, to loving Cocteau Twins! When she said the Asian Financial Crisis had more of a strong effect on people's lives than the handover of HK, however, there was real truth you won't ever hear on CNN.
westofthetracks 4 months ago
This is also an awkward interview for those of us who know Riz Khan now, from his substantive interviews on Al Jazeera. Not only are the questions here beneath Faye's dignity, they are beneath Riz Khan's as a serious reporter who had to pretend to be interested in them (he, unlike us, may not even have any interest in Faye or her music to help keep him awake). Faye may be a gorgeous woman and a pop star loved by billions, but she is way too ambitious to deserve these typical celebrity questions.
westofthetracks 4 months ago
Beautiful that she used her first language (which is not Cantonese, or English, even if she knows them both). When non-native speakers are forced to use another language to describe their work, they're always presented as less sophisticated and thoughtful than native speakers. Even if Faye was fluent in English, which she may not have been, it's still a statement to CNN, that she won't pander. However, ALL the questions asked her were embarassing- what you ask a mindless pop star, not Faye Wong!
westofthetracks 4 months ago
poor interviewer, poor me, we don't know how to speak chinese
corkystorky 5 months ago
Of course people have to resort to criticizing faye's 'english'. When artists are perfect like faye, and there's nothing left for you to criticise, you just complain on superficial stuff. I saw her concert 4 times and she's a damn good singer.
auscent 7 months ago
Why the hell is everyone focusing on the artists' ”English" language skills but not on their *actual spoken content* every time an Asian artist appears on CNN interview. It shows how superficial you people are like you've never seen people speak English (international language) before.
90% of the comments here is about her "English language" skills, what would other people think of us East Asians. Same thing as Korean fans' comments for their stars.
bigfatdick5000 8 months ago
那个时候回答就超得体 天后就是天后
yanli42 9 months ago
she can speak fluent english I think because I have heard her singing a lot of english songs ....anyway ,she is the best chinese female singer nowadays
jenmacau 10 months ago
Why should she speak English? She's Chinese, if you want to know what she's saying, YOU translate it.
victastic92 11 months ago
she needs a translation...it`s obvious that she cant speak english...
v3noms 11 months ago
'Chungking Express' is quickly becoming one of my favorite films, and Faye Wong's performance (along side Tony Leung's) is easily the most memorable.
KiernanMooney 1 year ago
And Hong Kong is the best!!! Hong Kong makes STARRRSSS
snowygirl 1 year ago
8D I need time machine to go back in time so I can talk to herrrrrr or ask her questionnnnnnnnnsss
snowygirl 1 year ago
Personally, I don't know whether if she speaks English. BUT, she is a singer not an English teacher, why people are picking on her English here? She is a GREAT singer, that's all matters. Do you people speak all languages? She is Chinese, borned in China, it is not shameful for her not to speak English, it would be if she does not speak Chinese. Please give others credit that they deserve instead of being haters.
leynaw58 1 year ago
I only found out about Faye Wong through the ending song of FFVIII "Eyes On Me", but I can tell she's one heck of a singer! 8D
UrbaniteLN14 1 year ago
her songs are unforgettable. I have always remember her song ever since i saw mermaid got married. love the two songs in there.
lcha1 1 year ago
王菲不懂英文, 要不然就不需有翻譯.浪費時間.
MsSlk350 1 year ago
@MsSlk350
王菲曾在美國留學，
在美國生活了一段時期，
誰說她不懂英文？
呂友杰 101208 筆
LERYUKIAT 1 year ago
@LERYUKIAT 可能她的英文不是很好, 她似乎不明白那主持的問話, 要等翻譯講给她聽
MsSlk350 1 year ago
LERYUKIAT 1 year ago 4
@LERYUKIAT 我都是王菲的歌迷,那男主持的問題非常簡單,你可以從王菲的表情看得出是聽不明,聽了翻譯后馬上可答.
MsSlk350 1 year ago
faye fans MSN group group533110@msnzone.cn
welcome the faye wong'fans to come in
wuleping1989 1 year ago
faye fans MSN group group533110@msnzone.cn
welcome the faye wong'fans to come in
wuleping1989 1 year ago
I don't understand how she sings PERFECTLY in English, but doesn't know how to speak it. That's how you know you're a good singer.
bigdaddybrazil 1 year ago
这个是多久的时候的啊？
MrYannc 1 year ago
听的好乱.....
tiantian036 1 year ago
以王菲是绝对不会面对cnn讲英文
tomatokaka 1 year ago
she doesn't really understand english although she sings english songs w/ almost no accent. i thought she spoke perfect english too until i heard her perform "eyes on me" live and she made mistakes that showed she didn't understand what she was singing.
and here, she needed a translator.
mlsi 1 year ago
村姑王菲.....
zayir521 1 year ago
@zayir521 對阿.真遜.這麼紅英文卻這麼差...
egg2201 1 year ago
@egg2201 是英文比中文高级吗，日本狗
19990806able 1 year ago 2
@egg2201 操你妈
19990806able 1 year ago
This has been flagged as spam show
@egg2201 操你妈
19990806able 1 year ago
@egg2201 你腦子進水? 還是剛才被門擠了一下? 紅就要會說英文? 什麼邏輯啊? 不會講英文就遜? 告訴你, 我們是都是土生土長的中國人, 只要我們能夠說英文, 不管說得好與不好, 只要老外明白了, 就是成功! 但是, 就算在外國人面前, 我們也沒這個必要說他們的語言啊?! 以王菲的性格來看, 就算她能說, 她也未必會鳥它CNN? 咂拉? 你要知道, 那可是外語啊, 我想你吃的是飯吧, 為什麼吐出來的都是X 呢?! 真是變態......
lovetangheping 4 months ago
@zayir521 你妈屄
19990806able 1 year ago
我靠，不然就把中文音频关掉，不然就保留中文音频再配上英文字幕。两个声音混在一起都不知道听哪个
donnamatch225 1 year ago
I love her very much.
Not only her music,but her personality~~
if you know her better,you'll find it is fantastic!!
prayerer 2 years ago
whatever ~~ donnot care about her accent ~~ she's got style~~~~~ :)
publicsharer01 2 years ago
shit the translation is so irritating, cant hear properly
pureecstasy 2 years ago
She reminds me of me.
Asparagusville 2 years ago 4
her song "eyes on me" is in english, how do you guys think about her accent? Good?
welsper999 2 years ago
It's quite good. There is one part where she sings, "In this tiny little bar" that sounds a bit odd to me. She separates it like "in this tine (pause) ...y little bar" rather than "in this ti (pause) ...ny little bar." It's a very subtle thing, but most of the rest of it is pretty good pronunciation.
ittehgapsytterb 2 years ago
LOL she seems so cool and lazy as usual. Love her.
xxxbilly 2 years ago 4
This comment has received too many negative votes show
她懶而已，沒決心學英文。
krystianji 2 years ago
what's wrong with her speaking in chinese? i don't recall any western superstar doing an interview in chinese. they all needed translations. so I guess theyre lazy too. the truth is they dont learn it because its not impt to them
stategeneration 2 years ago 5
Har? She knows english you know that? She lived in New York and her accent is purely American. Better than yours I bet.
googoochung 2 years ago
"her accent is purely American"???? LOL, so many pretentious people among the Chinese.
krystianji 2 years ago
Anyways, I'm glad you're defending Faye. But it would have been better if some of her fans did not appear so pretentious and snobbish.
krystianji 2 years ago
Boy-o-Boy she is a good sort
Rogapol 2 years ago
说中文，因为大家是平等的。
说中文，因为自信。
huei321 2 years ago 11
非常对
jayzyc 2 years ago
非常对
jayzyc 2 years ago
This comment has received too many negative votes show
fake can't speaks english too bad
lovona09 2 years ago
The interview wasn't really organized properly... None the less she's the best Hong Kong has to offer in music.
dillonhe 2 years ago
What's annoying is the interpreter's voice keeping us from hearing Faye's
maldova 2 years ago 2
This comment has received too many negative votes show
faye should speak contonese instead of manderin i hate the cnn guy & the girl who translate it..the girl who call & ask question bad english..how long was this?
moto815 2 years ago
Strange they chose her native Mandarin. Her cantonese and english are perfectly listenable.
hoyle1911 3 years ago
Her home was in Peking. ofc she used to speaking Mandarin.
caily111 3 years ago
She did spend quite some time in the USA, but Beijing is her hometown, she can really speak hardcore homegrown Mandarin!
GrrlGrowler 3 years ago
天后就是天后啊，会英语都用中文接受采访
tzjc 3 years ago 24
她干嘛要翻译啊？
不是会英语吗？
很费解啊
NMEYYW 3 years ago
根据我做了10年菲拥的经验来看，faye的english应该和章子怡差不多，甚至可能还差些，faye只在US短期停留，她可以用英文唱歌，但是要自如对话还是不行的，anyway，天后就是天后，英语烂照样是天后！
tzjc 3 years ago
她不說英語可能是想表現自己是中國人，要說國語，你來採訪我，那請你自己翻譯吧...好像成龍去外國出席某些場合穿唐裝一樣吧...天后嘛, 當然是要外國禮讓她啦! 好像日本的濱崎步都是大部份時間用日語接受外國cnn訪問 (好似是cnn, 或另一個台)!
cdefgqqq 3 years ago 27
@cdefgqqq, she really doesn't understand english. she needed a translator not just to translate what she said go english but to translate questions into mandarin.
mlsi 1 year ago
@tzjc 王菲英文很爛好嗎
egg2201 1 year ago
I thought she could speak good English too... weird... The interview is horrible btw. Love Faye!
coracutie 3 years ago
She's Chinese who works and lives in China, English is not her language, why would she do the interview in English?!
Of course she should NOT have done the interview in English? It was a great idea to answer the questions in Mandarin.
Answering in English would have seemed desperate, because CNN was the one who wanted to interview her, not the other way round.
Rab1975bit 3 years ago
what a horrible intervew.....
i love her tho
juinshii 3 years ago
haha I agree...but its CNN after all
publicsharer01 3 years ago
I thought se could speak English...Anyway, she has been one of my favourite singers since I first heard one of her songs...I tracked down all her discography and started to enjoy...A brand new music world had just opened to me...
foreverspaced 4 years ago 4
viva faye wong
17janice 4 years ago
the mandarin version english name is red bean, cantonese version is diff.
janeqy 4 years ago
The song in the background can be translated as "Repayment". It is the Cantonese version of the Mandarin ballad - Red Bean - included on the Eyes On Me single. It is also a song that is 100x better than Eyes On Me in my opinion.
YunaHamasaki 5 years ago
uhh forget the last comment
AznDudex9 5 years ago
OMG THAT WAS EYE ON ME CHINESE VERS SHE WAS SINGING... i think YEA IT IS
AznDudex9 5 years ago
no it wasn't. the song they have showed there is called "sometimes"
Gorillayue 5 years ago
i thot it was like Red Bean or somethig wit red... like it says down there forget the last comment... lol
AznDudex9 5 years ago
yea, you're right. that song was "Red Bean", but the hell "sometimes" comes from then? maybe just my recall of the lyrics. lol~
Gorillayue 5 years ago
no the songs English name is red bean !
stamie446827 4 years ago
and is considered the chinese eyes on me (it was on the single) so Azndudex9 was actually right
Fayenatic 3 years ago
maybe she just wants to be sure of the question.
roseedewdew 5 years ago
I agree it's smarter to pretend you don't understand at first and be able to choose your answere carefully espically depending on what they're asking
temptationofmemories 5 years ago
She doesn't know English? awww
janster20 5 years ago
she is on CNN?!
WOW,not so many people in China could see this ~~
TotalWong 5 years ago
Agreed. It was my first time seeing this.
lastklim 5 years ago
Wow, this was managed very badly. But yeah, she's pretty.
aznjacinda 5 years ago