Sing and Play

Sing and Play (Chinese: 唱遊; pinyin: Chàng Yóu) is a 1998 Mandarin album by Beijing-based singer Faye Wong. It includes 10 tracks in Mandarin, with a bonus disc of 3 Cantonese tracks.[1] It was released on 21 October 1998 in Japan.[2]

Chàng Yóu (唱遊)
Studio album by Faye Wong
Released	02 October 1998 (China) 21 October 1998 (Japan) 3 March 1999 (Japan, rerelease)
Genre	Mandopop, Cantopop
Length	44:18
Label	EMI
Faye Wong chronology
Faye Wong (1997) Chàng Yóu (唱遊) (1998) Lovers & Strangers (1999)

Sing and Play
Traditional Chinese	唱遊
Simplified Chinese	唱游
Literal meaning	Singing game/Singing voyage
Transcriptions Standard Mandarin Hanyu Pinyin Chàng Yóu

The album title is usually translated as Sing and Play in English sources.[3][4][5] Others refer to the album as Song Tour[6] (遊 can mean tour), Scenic Tour[7][8] which was the name of Wong's 1998–1999 concert tour, Love Life,[9] or Song Play.[10]

Sing and Play was the first Chinese album recorded using HDCD techniques.

The album was noted for some of its ballads, in contrast to the pop songs which had provided most of Faye Wong's hits around that time.[3] "Red Beans", "Face" and "Love Commandments" have been popular songs of the album.[7]

As of February 1999, the album sold almost 90,000 copies, including imports.[2] It was rereleased in Japan on 3 March 1999 with the bonus track, "Eyes on Me".[2]

Track listing

No.	Title	Lyrics	Music	Chinese titles	Length
1.	"Emotional Life" (or "Sensational Life")	Lin Xi	Faye Wong	感情生活; Gǎnqíng shēnghuó	5:15
2.	"Face[n 1]"	Lin Xi	Faye Wong	臉; Liǎn	3:34
3.	"Sex Commandments"	Lin Xi	Adrian Chan (陳偉文)	色誡; Sè Jiè	4:53
4.	"Give Up Half Way"	Pan Xieqing (潘協慶)	Pan Xieqing	半途而廢; Bàntúérfèi	3:32
5.	"Fly"	Pan Xieqing	Pan Xieqing	飛; Fēi	5:41
6.	"Our Lord"	Wyman Wong	Xu Wei	祢; Nǐ[n 2]	4:22
7.	"Whimsical" (or "A Little Wit", "A Little Cunning", "Clever-Clever", "Sharp but Petty" and "Mortal Wisdom")	Lin Xi	Faye Wong	小聰明; Xiǎo Cōngming	4:02
8.	"Wake Up" (or "Wakeless", "Not Awake" and "Not Waking Up")	Kwan	Jack Wu (Jack吳2)	醒不來; Xǐng Bù Lái	4:03
9.	"Red Beans"	Lin Xi	Jim Lau Chung-yin (柳重言)	紅豆; Hóngdòu	4:15
10.	"Child[n 3]"	Faye Wong	Faye Wong	童; Tóng	4:41

Notes

1. The word refers to the social concept
2. The word is only used to address deities
3. Part of the name of Wong's daughter Leah Dou; the word also means child

Hong Kong edition and Taiwan deluxe edition bonus disc[11]

No.	Title	Lyrics	Music	Chinese titles	Length
1.	"Yuen leung chi gei" ("Forgive Myself", "Pardon Myself" or "Excuse Myself")	Lin Xi	Pan Xieqing	原諒自己; jyun^4 loeng^6 zi^6 gei^2	3:39
2.	"Seung waan" ("Repay" or "Reimburse")	Lin Xi	Jim Lau	償還; soeng^4 waan^4	4:17
3.	"Love Commandments"	Lin Xi	Adrian Chan	情誡; cing^4 gaai^3	4:17

1998 Japanese edition bonus track

No.	Title	Chinese title	Length
11.	"Ma zui (Remix)" ("Numbness" or "Anesthesia")	麻醉	4:09

1999 Japanese reissue bonus tracks [12]

No.	Title	Length
12.	"Eyes on Me" (featured in Final Fantasy VIII)	5:43
13.	"Yuen leung chi gei"	3:39
14.	"Seung waan"	4:17
15.	"Love Commandments"	4:17

Reception

The album debuted at number three, respectively, in Hong Kong on the week of 4 October and in Malaysia on the week of 13 October 1998.[13] It peaked at number one in Malaysia on the week of 20 October 1998.[14] It reached number two in Hong Kong on the week of 11 October 1998.[14] Billboard's Asia bureau chief, Steve McClure, placed it in number seven of his top ten list of 1999 Asian albums.[9]

References

1. Anthony Fung and Michael Curtin, “The Anomalies of Being Faye (Wong): Gender Politics in Chinese Popular Music,” International Journal of Cultural Studies 5, no. 3 (September 2002) - album not mentioned by name
2. Billboard, Faye Wong article by Steve McClure, 6 February 1999, page 51, "Global Music Pulse" column, edited by Dominic Pride
3. Stan Jeffries, Encyclopedia of world pop music, 1980-2001 2003 p224. "In January 1998, Wong won the favorite female category at Taiwan's Channel V awards. As part of her new goal of winning wider recognition, in the same year she released Sing and Play. The album included some Wong compositions and introduced more ballads to her canon, as most of her previous releases had been unerringly jaunty pop numbers. She then undertook a tour of Japan that lasted for six months. Her nomadic lifestyle throughout this period made her one of the most widely recognized people in East Asia (Asiaweek magazine included her in a list of "50 people you should know in China"), but it began to have an effect on her private life."
4. Shane Homan, Access All Eras: Tribute Bands and Global Pop Culture, 2006, p224. "... almost exclusively on contributions from Hong Kong-, Beijing- and Singapore-based composers along with her own compositions on Sing and Play (1998), Only Love Strangers (1999), Fable (2000), Faye Wong (2001) and To Love (2003)."
5. Faye Wong is all woman, Taipei Times 2004-11-24. "Sing and Play"
6. "In the mood for Chinese?". Channel News Asia. 16 October 2008. Retrieved 28 April 2013. Faye Wong's 1997 album, Song Tour
7. "Faye Wong turns on the charm in return". 9 August 2010. Retrieved 26 April 2013.
8. Chan, Boon (28 October 2011). "Faye's back". The Straits Times. Singapore. p. C2.
9. Billboard, "Critics' Choice: Steve McClure", page YE-67, 25 December 1999
10. McClure, Steve (6 February 1999). Dominic Pride (ed.). "Global Music Pulse". Billboard. p. 51. Retrieved 12 June 2016 – via Google Books.
11. Sing and Play at Discogs, Hong Kong release
12. Sing and Play at Discogs, Japan release
13. Billboard, "Hits of the World", page 61
14. Billboard, "Hits of the World", page 51