Queen's Road East (song)

"Queen's Road East" (Chinese: 皇后大道東) is a song by Taiwanese singer-songwriter Lo Ta-yu, featuring Hong Kong singer Ram Chiang.[2] It was released on 23 January 1991 as the title track of Lo's Cantonese-language compilation album of the same name.[3][4] The song was composed by Lo and written by Hong Kong lyricist Albert Leung.[5][6] It is named after Queen's Road East, a street in Hong Kong, and satirically expresses the anxiety felt by the city's residents over the impending handover of Hong Kong in 1997.

"Queen's Road East"
Queen's Road East album cover
Song by Lo Ta-yu featuring Ram Chiang
from the album 皇后大道東 (Queen's Road East)
LanguageCantonese
Released23 January 1991 (1991-01-23)
Length4:10[1]
LabelMusic Factory
Composer(s)Lo Ta-yu
Lyricist(s)Albert Leung
Chinese name
Traditional Chinese皇后大道東
Simplified Chinese皇后大道东

The song was banned in Mainland China twice, once upon its release in 1991 and a second time in 2019, during that year's protests in Hong Kong.

Background

Queen's Road was the first road in Hong Kong, built between 1841 and 1843.[7] Named after Queen Victoria, it became a local landmark and a symbol of British rule.[8][7] The modern road is split into four sections: Queen's Road West, Queen's Road Central, Queensway, and Queen's Road East.[9]

Lo Ta-yu left Taiwan in 1985 to practice medicine in the United States, before moving to Hong Kong two years later.[10]: 5:44 [11] In 1991, he established his own record label called Music Factory, with the Queen's Road East album as its first release.[12][13] "Queen's Road East" was Lo's second song about Hong Kong after "Pearl of the Orient" (東方之珠), which he composed in 1986.[10]: 16:22  While initially performed by Michael Kwan with Cantonese lyrics by Cheng Kwok Kong, Lo later wrote and performed a Mandarin-language version of the song, which released as the final track of the Queen's Road East album.[7]: 105 [14][15]

Composition

Lo was inspired to write "Queen's Road East" by the sight of road signs while out shopping.[16] He first composed the melody and basic lyrics for the chorus, which mention Queen's Road West, Queen's Road East, and Queen's Road Central.[17] The lyrics were completed by Hong Kong lyricist Albert Leung,[17] who was introduced to Lo by lyricist James Wong Jim.[18] Leung's lyrics satirically express the anxiety felt by the city's residents over the impending handover of Hong Kong in 1997.[7][19] In 1991, he spoke of a possibly "more restrictive creative environment" after the handover, which drove his decision to write the song.[5] He expressed his hope that "people will still remember it [after 1997] and make comparisons... To exaggerate a bit, [the song] will serve as a witness of history".[10]: 18:17 

In a 1991 episode of the RTHK programme Hong Kong Connection, Lo and Leung discussed the song's musical composition and lyrics. Lo described the song's instrumental introduction as having a "mystical" quality that reflects the "vibrancy" he sees in Hong Kong.[10]: 15:43  He also explained his personal interpretation of "Queen's Road": "'Queen' obviously is the Queen of the United Kingdom. 'Road' is one's way of life. The United Kingdom is the global pioneer of capitalism, so the 'Queen's Road' is actually capitalism."[10]: 16:40  Lo thus characterises the song's chorus, "Queen's Road West and Queen's Road East /Queen's Road East turns into Queen's Road Central"[lower-alpha 1] as a reference to the journey of Hong Kong (East) from the United Kingdom (West) to China (Central), while bringing along the capitalist system (Queen's Road).[10]: 16:56 

"[Hong Kong people would] become the greatest of all comrades. [They] would truly get things done, have true constructiveness, truly use competition rather than struggle to get things done, and truly preserve Chinese tradition while incorporating with the best of West, ... the best of their culture. With all these things, life will be better for everyone."[10]: 17:50 

– Lo Ta-yu on Hong Kong people becoming "comrades", 1991

The song's lyrics mention both "the Queen" and "the Comrade". "The Queen" indirectly refers to the reigning British monarch at the time, Elizabeth II.[20][21] The opening verse describes the Queen as a "noble friend on the back of coins" with "everlasting youth".[lower-alpha 2][20] One verse also describes her as "beautiful even when saying goodbye",[lower-alpha 3] a reference to the nightly television sign-offs in British Hong Kong featuring "God Save the Queen" and the Queen's portrait.[20] On the other hand, "the Comrade" is called a "virtuous friend" who "looks familiar and friendly, thus allowing horse races to continue twice a week",[lower-alpha 4] referring to the Chinese authorities' promises to allow horse races involving gambling to continue in Hong Kong.[21] One verse of the song laments that Hong Kong will "have to rely on great comrades to cook up new ideas".[lower-alpha 5] According to Leung and Lo, while the line implies the comrades are "other people", they intended it as a reference to the people of Hong Kong, as Leung believed that the term "comrade" (tongzhi in Chinese) would extend to them after the handover.[10]: 17:20  Thus, Lo said the line was meant to encourage the people of Hong Kong to succeed into the future.[10]: 17:50 

Release

The Queen's Road East album was released on 23 January 1991,[8]: 23  with "Queen's Road East" as its title track.[3]

Later that year, Lo released an album in Taiwan titled Homeland (原鄉),[4] which included a Taiwanese Hokkien version of the song featuring Lim Giong, titled "Everyone is Not Shocked" (大家免著驚).[22][23] This version was featured in the 1992 Taiwanese film Dust of Angels, in which Lim and Lo perform the song in a cameo appearance.[17][24]

Music videos

One of the music videos for the "Queen's Road East" was produced by TVB.[25] In the video, Lo and Chiang perform the song in Red Guard uniforms[26] while uniformed young people imitate the poses of revolutionary statues and display red flags and banners. The video also shows cars and pedestrians moving in reverse, and the two singers imitating Chinese state leaders by walking along a street while clapping their hands.[7]: 104–105  Researcher Sun Hongmei described the video as "shed[ding] all subtlety" compared to the song's lyrics, which "rel[y] on uncertainty, uneasiness, and subtle satire".[7]: 104 

An alternate music video for the song presents it in a more subtle manner, alternating between Lo and imagery of Hong Kong.[7]: 187 

Awards

"Queen's Road East" received awards for Best Lyrics and Best Composition at the 1991 Jade Solid Gold Best Ten Music Awards Presentation.[27]

Censorship

Due to its politically sensitive lyrics, "Queen's Road East" was banned in Mainland China upon its release in 1991, before being unbanned in 2000.[28][29] During the Hong Kong protests in 2019, lyrics from the song were used by Mainland Chinese internet users to circumvent censorship on the topic and express support for the protests.[30][14] According to Quartz, some comments may have been referring to the occupation of Queensway during the protests on 12 June 2019.[14] "Queen's Road East" was removed from major Chinese music streaming platforms in June 2019,[5][6][31] with some reports stating the song was banned due to its lyrics and association with the Hong Kong protests.[28][29] Later that year, over 3000 songs written by Leung were reportedly taken off Chinese music streaming platforms after he voiced support for the protests in Hong Kong.[32]

Also in 2019, the Sing Tao Daily reported that a karaoke operator in the Chinese city of Beihai was investigated and fined for playing a music video of "Queen's Road East", which features a scene with the portraits of Chinese state leaders repeated across the screen accompanied by the song's lyrics. The reported cited an Administrative Penalty Decision by the local police, which characterised "Queen's Road East" as a "prohibited song" and stated that the scene "mocked" state leaders.[29]

Legacy

Lyrics from "Queen's Road East" were shared by Hong Kong internet users in remembrance of Queen Elizabeth II following her death in September 2022.[33][34]

Notes
  1. Chinese: 皇后大道西又皇后大道東 /皇后大道東轉皇后大道中
  2. Chinese: 有個貴族朋友在硬幣背後，青春不變名字叫做皇后
  3. Chinese: 這個漂亮朋友道别亦漂亮
  4. Chinese: 這個正義朋友面善又友善，因此批準馬匹一週跑兩天
  5. Chinese: 要靠偉大同志搞搞新意思

References
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  2. Barmé, Geremie R. (1 January 1997). "Hong Kong the floating city". Index on Censorship. 26 (1): 150. doi:10.1177/030642209702600131. ISSN 0306-4220. S2CID 152126729. Retrieved 11 August 2022.
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  5. 罗大佑《皇后大道东》被音乐平台全面下架 [Lo Ta-yu's "Queen's Road East" taken down from music platforms]. China Digital Times (in Chinese). 21 June 2019. Archived from the original on 26 January 2021. Retrieved 12 August 2022.
  6. Huang, Chi-lin 黃啟霖 (22 June 2019). 香港反送中 「皇后大道東」遭中國下架 [Hong Kong anti-extradition protests: "Queen's Road East" taken down in China]. Radio Taiwan International (in Chinese). Archived from the original on 12 August 2022. Retrieved 12 August 2022.
  7. Sun, Hongmei (18 March 2018). Transforming Monkey: Adaptation and Representation of a Chinese Epic. University of Washington Press. p. 104. ISBN 978-0-295-74320-2. JSTOR j.ctvct027d. Archived from the original on 23 August 2022. Retrieved 23 August 2022.
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  17. Dai, Yuxi 戴玉玺 (30 July 2015). 罗大佑：不好意思当“教父”，压力很大 [Luo Ta-yu: It's awkward being a "godfather", there's too much pressure]. The Beijing News (in Simplified Chinese). Archived from the original on 18 August 2022. Retrieved 18 August 2022.
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