Back in 2008,
Leehom Wang brought us his innermost thoughts through his "Heart Beat" album. At the end of this month, on the 30th, Leehom will be returning to his musical roots with a brand new album, "十八般武艺" (Roughly translates to: Eighteen Types of Martial Arts). However, before that, he will be releasing the MV of the album's title song, "柴米油鹽醬醋茶," (Idiom roughly meaning: Daily Necessities) for broadcast onto 12 online sites, including Youtube and Facebook, on the 12th. For this song, he collaborated with Vivian Hsu to paint a picture of simple and ordinary happiness.
Having dabbled as a movie director, Leehom placed even higher demands on the quality of the MV. Besides spending NT$2,000,000, hiring 30 staff members, renting professional movie cameras, and using 35mm film for shooting, he also personally demonstrated how to walk into place and speak the lines. In one kitchen scene, "Director Wang" personally went into battle and picked up the knife and saucepan, bringing out the rare sight of him at home.
In the year and a half since Leehom came out with an album, he has been pursuing his directing dream. Day and night, he planned for his self-directed and self-starred movie, "Love in Disguise." However, while he was working on every aspect of the movie, he could not disregard his duties as an Asian superstar. He had to promote his album overseas, make his Music-Man concert rounds, act in "Little Big Soldier," promote the movie, be the spokesperson for advertisements, and prepare for his new album. Bustling to and fro, there was no time for him to rest. Thus, he decided to use an ancient saying: "早晨開門七件事─柴米油鹽醬醋茶" (Roughly translates to: The seven things needed when opening the door in the morning - firewood, rice, oil, salt, sauce, vinegar, tea) to describe his busy entertainment career and the feeling of his heart's longing to return to the ordinary.
From his baby nephew growing up to his friends getting married and starting families, Leehom can only hear of these things, but not experience it himself. Others are busy towards advancing their lives, while he is busy working towards his dream. Year after year, there is always a new dream waiting for him to pursue. When his mother went to Taipei to visit him, all she could do was watch him working from behind. Hurrying here and there, Leehom forgot to pour his mother a cup of tea and could not settle down enough for a good meal with her. Sometimes when he worked, he didn't even spare her a glance from start to end. Even after he heard the door close, it wasn't until much later before he realized: she had already left.
Pursuing a dream requires paying a high price, but his family has supported him since the beginning. That kind of acceptance suddenly made him feel of twinge of guilt. On a morning when he was trying to relax himself, despite his mind still working away searching for inspiration for an album, he saw the quiet and lonely kitchen of his own home. There was a stove that had only been used to boil water and never used oil, salt, rice, vinegar, sauce... He wrote down this song starting from the thirst of his heart. He knows that there are many people like him, pursuing their dreams, forever running without stop. He knows that the world is already flowing quickly -- no one can calm down their hearts to listen to a simple story.
As a result, he wanted, even more, to use a simple title song to share happiness -- to give you a warm embrace. With its simple warm melody, the song, flavored with an erhu accompanying the guitar, brings the feeling of an ancient place hidden in a remote area -- a simple yet meaningful taste of ordinary happiness. Through this song, he wants to tell everyone that he is like everyone else, working hard to live, working hard to find his own happiness, working hard as a person pursing his dream. There might be tears and separations in the process, but he has always believe that everyone will find their place. He wishes to tell everyone that to pursue a dream in life is very important, but you should also cherish the people around you. And, more importantly, happiness is not far away, it's right in front of you as long as you know how to treasure it.
