Mou Ying's Music Selection

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Mou Ying's Music Selection

My friend Mou Ying, Mike who is a self made music composer, I don't mean to kiss his butt, but his current composition are way better than many professional classical composer, music is emotion art that totally relies on talent. if anyone listened his composition would fall in love with his music, and every weekend we talk about music stuff, I learned a lot about music and aesthetic view from him, he is more extreme on the standard of poetry and music, his comment on Chinese poetry: "there are 10 great Chinese poems in 2000 year span." "You now have one good poem." (he means my "Heart A Spider Web" poem, the first section).

His music and poetry standard is really strict and high, no mercy to unfinished, mundane, commercial, popular, or pick-by-fame choices... and I totally agree, because it's been a lifetime mission I've searched and selected all the music and songs from classical to now, Western and Eastern to show off my taste and wearing my pilot sunglasses and smile while playing my choices; well, my friend Mou Ying also got his music pick that totally shut me up, I feel I am blessed as a music lover, even tho my guitar skill is really mediocre, and music knowledge is still a Fan class, but a friend who is musician truly benefits my hungry soul, and his selection upgrades my music aesthetic standard. So here I post his music selection list to share with music fans, his music theory is that music is melody driven, across all culture, language and genre. totally true, because music directly speaks to heart, with lyric or not, it's beyond human logic senses, it's feeling, communication thru melody of instrument.

Mou Ying's Music Selection:

Your Love (Once Upon Time in the West) by Giorgia Fumanti
Ave Maria by Schubert
Ave Maria by Celine Dion
Lascia Chio Pianga by Hayley Westenra
Canto Della Terra with Hayley Westenra and Andrea Bocelli
Besame Mucho by Nina Mouskouri
La Paloma by Nina Mouskouri
O Habibi by Yasmeen Anima Olya
Funeral of Queen Mary (Purcell): from March to Canzona

The Moon Represents My Heart by Teresa Deng
Lover's Mountain by Tsai Chin
White Birch Woods by Tao LiZhu

Romance de Amor by Xue Feiyang
Concierto De Aranjuez by Manuel Granada
Schubert's Serenade
The Gael / Promentory
Europa (Earth's Cry Heaven's Smile) by Gato Barbieri
Two Hearts by Special EFX
Swept Away by Peter White
Straight into the Sunshine by Gato Barbieri
The Godfather by Henry Mancini with London Symphony Orchestra
25th Hour finale by Terence Blanchard
Souvenirs d'enfance by Richard Clayderman
Concerto Pour Une Jeune Fille Nomme Je' by Richard Clayderman
Fields Of Fortune by Secret Garden
You Gotta Be Real by 3rd Force

Hotel California by Eagles (Hell Freeze Live Version)
Another Day in Paradise by Phil Collins
Do It Again by Steely Dan
Careless Whisper by George Michael
Sultans of Swing by Dire Straits
Smooth Operator by Sade
The Lady in Red by Chris de Burgh
Said I Loved You...But I Lied by Michael Bolton
Women in Love by Barbara Streisand
Sacrifice by Elton John
The Sign by Ace of Base
All That She Wants by Ace of Base
Eternal Flame by Bangles

Note:
There are some songs missing, I will update later after I get his full list.

There's a late Qing novelist wrote a page about singing, pretty interesting from "The Travels of Lao Tsan by Harold Shadick (Translator)" Page 27 and 28.

Reflection on Shakespeare's Sonnets

Shakespeare's Sonnets are timeless.

The western classic I love: Iliad, Odyssey, Shakespeare Sonnets, Hamlet. but I never took classes and seriously studied, yet during my young adult years drifting in ny, away from home and family, and lived solitude lifestyle that I gained some special, personal understanding about these great works. of course, I have read many Chinese classics, the great four novels, Water Marshal, Romance of Three Kingdom, Journey to West... when I was elementary schooler, 5th grade, and later Tang and Song poetry books always by my bedside, late teenage years came to US, dipped in the Western Classic.

the Bard's Sonnets give me sense of Tang poetry style, skillful, playful, natural and acrobatic in wording construction, broad in content and subjects, liberal from Love topic to more of Social and Human concerns, it seems only Bard can express himself fully in strict sonnet form. many his sonnets speak about his society, express his views in disguise of Love. so the Bard kind of inspired me to write a reflection on each his sonnet. and I invented a poetry game with some rules to achieve this task:

1) Start from Sonnet 001 to 150, every night I write one.
2) 30 minute reading, 30 minute writing a related subject
3) compose my reflection in 14 lines, not in sonnet form.
4) no extra editing, no deleting the failed ones, no make up

150 nights since Feb, the first 18 nights were totally scary and humbling experience, I never knew whether I could write 14 lines reflection, often the Bard's 2 great couplets in each sonnet like master swordsman totally cut my brain in halves, in 2 strokes, literately speaking, before writing I felt like I was on the way to my execution or waterboarding program, after writing it, a miracle, especially when the reflection read like something, I was happy, felt lucky, which more important. also I want to preach too, update our social status to Bard's sonnet invention, and keep on all classic poetry tradition, that serves two purposes:
record the society from writer's own angle
break some boundaries that I have touched

30 years Classic Chinese (Tang and Song) poetry reading really helps to build my poems, it's not difficult for me to write couplets, and I have lived in 2 world, Chinese world, and new immigrant in America world, that gives me confident in my writing, also limits my views or broadens my thoughts.

I've been trying to mimic sonnet for a few years, never achieved, 3 samples:
To My Bright Star                                       2009.10.01
Quit The War, And Come Back We F%$#   2009.04.30
Shall I Compare Thee To A Wintry Night   2009.04.03



Successful reflection samples, most only with 2 good lines (*), a few whole thing look great(***):
Sonnet 002 **
Sonnet 008 *
Sonnet 009 *
Sonnet 011 ***
Sonnet 012 **
Sonnet 014 **
Sonnet 017 ***
Sonnet 019 **
Sonnet 023 *
Sonnet 027 ***
Sonnet 032 ***
Sonnet 033 ***
Sonnet 034 **
Sonnet 035 ***
Sonnet 036 **
Sonnet 041 *
Sonnet 045 **
Sonnet 046 ***
Sonnet 057 ***
Sonnet 059 ***
Sonnet 061 **
Sonnet 063 *
Sonnet 069 (use Bard's line for his birthday)
Sonnet 072 **
Sonnet 085 ***
Sonnet 086 *
Sonnet 087 ***
Sonnet 092 *
Sonnet 095 **
Sonnet 096 *
Sonnet 097 ***
Sonnet 098 ***
Sonnet 099 ***
Sonnet 104 **
Sonnet 106 *
Sonnet 107 ***
Sonnet 110 **
Sonnet 113 ***
Sonnet 115 **
Sonnet 117 ***
Sonnet 118 **
Sonnet 119 ***
Sonnet 122 **
Sonnet 133 ***
Sonnet 141 ***
Sonnet 142 ***
Sonnet 143 *
Sonnet 146 ***
Sonnet 147 *
Sonnet 148 **
Sonnet 149 ***
Sonnet 150 **

Sonnet 150

Sonnet 150

Laijon Liu 20160712

This power comes from the weak and helpless

That it’s in lacking their hearts do desire

Many worlds, many many worlds we should see

The days are not bright even in sunny times

Beauty ill, rude honorable, strong weak

Things are not always what they seem

When men offer their hearts to the Mt. Everest

Then Her highest peak turns into a walking cane

Every step toward solitude, toward storms, toward stars

Every step into courage, into new dawn, to the next

Miracle sparked, kindled in primitive hands

Then the whole vast plains filled with lights and songs

We are worthy, we deserve love

We need to keep this fire alive!

Sonnet 149

Sonnet 149

Laijon Liu 20160712

Yes, I say I love but I never do, it's true, it's true

Like that slogan I shout “World Peace!” too

I want love but I know there’re more important things

Like skills, possessions, price tags, and sacrifice

Emotion part is not yet a main component of humanity

Love is not economy, not politics, not religion

We are pyramid builders, weapon inventors

We can’t bond like dolphins, nor sing like whales

Love is utopia, luxurious brand, the future

Something on stage, in a song, on a page

It’s a dream we tell ourselves daily

When we trying on clothes in front of mirror

So hate me that I spill the beans

For love is not love if truth not told

 

Sonnet 148

Sonnet 148

Laijon Liu 20160712

My mind deceives me whatever I see

Past experiences register in the memory parts

Ready to differentiate, discriminate all information

Wealth, class, race, cultures are sorted

So this monkey eagerly does what monkey sees

I wish love dominates me, leads the programs

Like preschoolers judge not good or bad

But embrace everyone, partake in everything

We’ve been brainwashed since men hunt in group

We believe we’re better, stronger, and we struggle

To dominate the competitive nature and ‘other kinds’

Evolution of brain is a long, slow, painful process

I do admire blind lovers

They are forever young!

Sonnet 147

Sonnet 147

Laijon Liu 20160711

Your love is not fever but a mental illness

It’s caused by chemical imbalance in the brain

You feel dizzy, unrest, high, overly optimistic

Detached from reality, and speech incoherence

Often you sing and dance, write love poems

Lack sleep, good appetite, wanna try new things

And naturally adapt to mood swing

You are bold, go mad or break bad

Adrenaline increases in your blood, rush, thrill

Dopamine drives you want it and get it, hell yeah!

Serotonin kicks in your brain so you become a hippie

It’s addictive, contagious, and incurable

But a headache remedy worth a try

Apply an ice pack to you head

Sonnet 146

Sonnet 146

Laijon Liu 20160710

Fine silk fabric to dress my body

Handcrafted mahogany casket to box this corpse

Silver trays and crystal cups feed my mouth

Orchestra and opera cater my aesthetic choice

I’m rotting every minute, this stench breath

Waste excrete through the pores of my skin

So I routinely bathe and apply perfume

Because the body can be cleansed, unlike soul

The sewage pipes spread beneath the city, like webs

Statues in the parks, trophies in glass cabinet

A wall of books on all subjects ready to serve

But my soul is still hungry, and hungry

I lust for the body, it's beautiful, athletic

That temporary cloth wrapped a dark worm

  

Sonnet 145

Sonnet 145

Laijon Liu 20160709

O, the lips of love make you suffer?

Well, feel the pain buddy, enjoy it

They say this is not done by you

But the feeling is very real, so own it

Mercy don’t make you cry with quill

But her grilling words do motivate you

Chiding is part of love, remember Helen and Paris?

And the doom part draws more audience

Nobody likes a good happy ending

Classics always outsell fairytales

We dig dirts, gossips, and lingering bitterness

That’s how we feel we are alive.

Broken heart is perfect shape of love poem

Like a love letter written by someone unknown

Sonnet 144

Sonnet 144

Laijon Liu 20160708

Inner struggle, our spirit vs. our flesh

Battling thoughts, our desire vs. reality

Dust blasts in our faces like incense ash

Can silent cries ever be turned to joys?

Endless troubles wander here and there

Like a starved soul, homeless, scavenging

World is a tiny box, world is a vast desert

It makes every heart prey and beg

Tempted? Nay. We don’t have choices.

Living in the moment, lucky if we’re wooed

What men on earth can truly do

When hell angel and heavenly spirit in matrimony?

We can only battle and hope

Or accept our fate, live in doubt

Sonnet 143

Sonnet 143

Laijon Liu 20160707

Housewife runs after fowls, father out to buy milk

A black stallion out of the barn into night

So we caught up in the moment sometimes

Need a wind chase or a quick escape

The river suddenly takes a swirling turn

Nosedives into a waterfall, becomes ten thousand pieces

Memories bubble, burst, and reappear

The past that makes us now non existent

We can’t go back in time to fix things

Nor to exit the karma of bad gone worse

Catch our hope, can we? Or turn back, can we?

Then let’s play our part, kiss, love, and be kind.

I wish you may have your will

Forget me if I’m chill or ill

Sonnet 142

Sonnet 142

Laijon Liu 20160706

If love resurrects us, then love cleanse our sins

Milky Way cuts off a couple, an old warrior returns home

A pair butterflies float, lovebirds drink that bittersweet dose

That feeling hits us like a head on train

It smashes us and it takes us

It makes us burn and welcome hell

Feel that moment we are alive for the first time

All our senses are magnified, goose bumps, colors and smells

Deafening thunders is a soothing melody

Chaotic scenes make us smile more

This romance must proceed in a grand scale

Or heaven pours down all its tears

It needs power to revive us

It’s record breaking crime, a medal sweep

Sonnet 141

Sonnet 141

Laijon Liu 20160705

Love is a very illogical thing

It’s a concept, but concrete feeling

Not a transaction, not thoughts exchange

It’s faith that comes with our birth

No need to prove and we are certain

I can’t explain base on science or religion

Why we choose right one without doubt

So we drop this and pick that

That thing hides in our heart, some dark corner

Dictates our mind and revalues everything

It drives fools to happiness, rich discard wealth

Sane to insane, and everyone wants to suffer pain

Love never consummated, still love

Dream never fulfilled, yet lasting

Sonnet 140

Sonnet 140

Laijon Liu 20160704

Dying men only want to do good things

Like visit relatives, friends, or some places special

Finish their projects, duty and do some cleaning

Settle all debts, or even give more to charity

Life to this world like unfinished painting

That music sheets must be complete

There are many things to say, to write

Like apologies, love letters, and best wishes

I’m not living up to my potential, toward death

I still hate the world and hold grudges

True, only near death experience can change men

So they know life only deserves good, not ill-wresting

Dying make us smart and brave

We don’t waste time, nor hang on bitterness

Sonnet 139

Sonnet 139

Laijon Liu 20160703

A hopeless love poem

Penned down by the Man

A lunatic, a lover, and a Poet

Of his obsession, passion and imagination combined

Manic, manipulative and borderline

That love you need saves and kills

You want power, you want art

In the end you destroy everything just for thrill

It’s kind of scary to overlook the facts

Her eyes, her tongue, her unkindness

She dares not to look at you in the eye

She fears to leave that you might revenge

Love too deep is some kind of madness

Slay and kill are bad word choice

Sonnet 138

Sonnet 138

Laijon Liu 20160702

My love lies with me, so I with her

I pledge to the flag that she’s beautiful

And she pretends my loyalty is innocent

Like a native born and bred in this land

I still believe she is brave, true and free

But we both go for glory and gold

I sing her folk songs and share her dreams

But false interpretations keep truth suppressed

We are deep in debt, my love, past and now

All of us are toting this heavy load

Yes, love’s best habit is in seeming trust

So forget about history and truth untold

I praise her with my half truth

She takes me in, ignores all my faults.

Sonnet 137

Sonnet 137

Laijon Liu 20160701

There’s no remedy for this disease

I’m too far gone and out there for so long

I know what beauty is, I can draw it clearly

But the ugly parts are more enticing

I know what’s right and what’s best for me

But the worst traits are truly sexy

Blindness makes me wanna see orange green

Fears and doubts give me sense of being

Pain thrills me, exhaustion measures my energy

And dangers check my surviving ability

However I still have some regrets

I should have played more, and worked less

Too many cities I have never seen

And more tasty beers I must have