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This week we explore the language of taste, or lack of it.
Singer songwriter Lǐ Rónghào 李荣浩 released a track last November called Dark Plum Sauce (乌梅子酱 wū méi zǐ jiàng).
It's a love song to his wife, Taiwanese singer, Rainie Yang Cheng Lin (Yáng Chénglín 杨丞琳), from Li's seventh album, Across the Four Seas (纵横四海 zòng héng sì hǎi), which was released last December.
Dark Plum Sauce wasn't a hit to begin with. There were also some comments that it was a rip off of a Jay Chou track from 2005.
It reminds people of songs like Li Bai from a few years ago, and it also reminds people of Jay Chou's song, Romantic Phone.
会让人想到几年前听过的《李白》等歌曲，也让人想起了周杰伦的《浪漫手机》
After a slow start, by Valentine's Day this year Dark Plum Sauce had gained some traction online, with influential Douyin bloggers doing cover versions of it.
When it exploded in February, it was not just about timing, but also about the collective emotions of netizens, as well as the characteristics of the song itself. So it’s a combination of all three.
到了二月份的爆火，既有特殊时间节点的加持，也有网友集体情绪的引爆，还有歌曲自身的特质，是三者共同努力的结果 [4]
By late February it had topped the music download charts in China, becoming a song that everyone was singing, or a "saliva song" (口水歌 kǒu shuǐ gē), in Chinese.
This week the tune topped online rankings for different reasons. This followed a pointed comment from outspoken music critic, Dīng Tàishēng 丁太升:
This song brings with it a strong Chinese countryside taste, mixed with the popular elements of the trendy short videos. But it's just unbearably tacky. Even using the word "tacky" to describe this song is too "tacky".
一股浓郁的中国乡土风，掺杂着当下短视频的爆火元素就扑面而来。简直俗不可耐啊。甚至用俗不可耐这个词来形容这首歌，也变得俗不可耐起来了。
In his view the song is “tacky” because Li Ronghao has lowered his standards to attract web traffic on Douyin:
"Dark Plum Sauce" directly reflects the new trend of "Douyin-algorithm Songs" and even the changes in the Chinese music scene as a whole.
《乌梅子酱》背后直接反映出了“抖音推歌”乃至华语乐坛变化的新趋势
And Li Ronghao has gone as low as he can, according to Ding:
In the song, Li Ronghao is not sincere and he’s compromised his quality into the mud for the sake of popularity.
在歌曲里，李荣浩“没有了诚恳”“为了火妥协到泥土里”。[1]
But regardless of what music fans like or not, and what is good music or not, people are still singing the song wherever you go in China:
In recent days, whether it’s Douyin users or passers-by on the street, they are either listening to or made to listen to this song "Black Plum Sauce" that has become popular and taken the internet by storm.
这几天，无论是抖音冲浪爱好者还是2G网速路人甲，都主动或被动的接收到了这首火遍全网的《乌梅子酱》 [4]
So that’s what we discuss this week: the language of taste (or lack of it), and the sacrifice of art for selling out to get more attention.
Before we start, a few important slang words for you. As with Chinese language used in entertainment and gaming, the music industry has some English acronyms which have been absorbed into Chinese lingo:
UGC - User Generated Content
BGM - Background Music
2G - 2G Internet; out of date
CP - Couple
Favourite Five
1. 俗 sú
cheesy, tacky, kitschy
只有我不喜欢听这首歌吗，爱听的真的很俗 - Is it only me who doesn’t like this song? The people that do love this have no taste. [2]
More: We got quite nerdy on this translation. Kitschy comes from the German word kitschig, which apparently best captures the meaning of the Chinese word 俗 sú. I prefer tacky, which is apparently more of an Americanism.
Related:
俗气 sú qì - tacky
低俗 dī sú - vulgar
雅俗之分 yǎsú zhīfēn - the difference between tacky and tasteful
2. 药丸 yào wán
medicine pill; finished
让华语乐坛“药丸”的声音在一次次激辩声中消逝，音乐产业也会顺利迎来新的高质量增长 - Let the voices saying that the Chinese music scene is finished slowly disappear in each discussion about it. Eventually the music industry will usher in a new phase of high-quality growth. [4]
Note: Internet slang which means “you are finished”, sounding the same as 要完, or 吃枣药丸 chī zǎo yào wán (迟早要完).
3. 口水歌 kǒu shuǐ gē
saliva song; a song that everyone is singing
这首歌曲虽然也在工业流行音乐的及格线之上，但无论在歌词还是旋律方面，都有些过于“口水歌” - Although this song is passable in terms of pop music, it’s lyrics and melody are a bit too cheesy. [1]
Note: A “saliva song” is a derogatory term: although everyone is singing it, the tune is also seen as poor taste and annoying.
Related: 糖水歌 táng shuǐ gē - sugar water long; love song
4. 俗不可耐 sú bù kě nài
tacky
“俗不可耐”，这是丁太升的最终定调 - The song is “tacky” was Ding Taisheng’s final conclusion. [1]
More: We discuss this more in The Chinese Project Phrase of the Week.
5. 人红是非多 rén hóng shì fēi duō
gossip follows the famous
不过，歌红是非多，《乌梅子酱》再次把“华语乐坛完没完”这个陈年老梗炸了出来 - When a song gets famous there’s bound to be criticism. Dark Plum Sauce has brought back the old online discussion about whether the Chinese music industry is past it. [4]
More: Here the phrase is adapted from the original which we first discussed in July last year.
Consuming the Conversation
Useful Words
6. 土 tǔ
earth; tacky
如果一件事物土得很真诚，我们反而就不会觉得它土，而会称之为天然或者艺术 - If something is tacky but sincere, we actually feel like it’s not tacky. Instead, we think it's “natural” or “a work of art”. [1]
More: In this context, 俗 and 土 mean the same thing.
Related: 乡土风 xiāng tǔ fēng - Chinese country style
7. 神曲 shén qǔ
divine song; popular songs on social media platforms
抖音神曲也不全是听众的选择，《乌梅子酱》的走红有多少运作痕迹，不得而知 - Popular songs on Douyin are not entirely the result of having a lot of listeners. There are signs that Dark Plum Sauce's success was orchestrated, but we’ll never know. [3]
8. 翻唱 fān chàng
covering a popular song
没想到这首歌被百万网红们翻唱，上各大音乐榜单top1 - This song was sung by millions of Internet celebrities, and unexpectedly hit the top of the major music charts. [2]
9. 找茬 zhǎo chá
find fault
擅长 “找茬”的乐评人丁太升，在个人账户发布了一条点评视频 - Ding Taisheng, a music critic who is good at "finding faults", posted a review video on his personal account. [1]
Note: Same as 挑毛病 tiāo máo bìng.
10. 弊病 bì bìng
shortcoming
质量下滑、数量激增、风格向口水歌靠拢，也出现了和《乌梅子酱》类似的弊病 - The quality has deterioated, the quantity has surged, the style has moved closer to kitschy pop songs, and there are lots of similar examples like "Black Plum Sauce". [1]
11. 肉麻 ròu má
mushy; cheesy
并不比《乌梅子酱》高深，肉麻程度更是有过之而无不及 - It’s no better than Dark Plum Sauce, and it’s definitely cheesier. [2]
More: 有过之而无不及 yǒu guò zhī ér wú bù jí - More than ever. Which we discussed in December last year.
12. 谄媚 chǎn mèi
to curry favour to
这首歌旋律如何、歌词如何，到底是扎根群众还是向下妥协，是故意对市场谄媚还是纯粹有感而发 - What is the melody and lyrics of this song? Does it have mass appeal or has it compromised on quality? Is it simply catering to what the market likes, or does it come from the bottom of his heart? [2]
Three-character Phrases
13. 拉仇恨 lā chóu hèn
pull hatred; to attract criticism
丁太升其实不是第一个骂的，只不过这人确实自带流量，也自带拉仇恨属性 - Ding Taisheng is actually not the first one to criticise the song, but he has a big profile and what he says attracts a lot of criticism.
14. 违和感 wéi hé gǎn
contrast; awkward, out of place
