"Here We Stand" - 愛與行

~Composed and produced by Matthew Lien
~Performed by the Shenzhen Secondary School Girls' Choir (choir vocals), Hing Yin-zhong (bamboo flute), Chou Yi-chien (erhu), and Matthew Lien (vocals, all other instrumentation).
~ (c) Matthew Lien / Whispering Willows Music / Warner Chappell 2008. All rights reserved.

While performing concerts in China last year, I was asked by some local businesspeople connected to the Shenzhen city government if I would compose a song for their city.
當去年在中國演奏音樂會的時候，一些與當地深圳政府有關的企業家們問我是否有意願為深圳寫一首歌。

To be honest, I was hesitant at first, because I was uncertain if I could find the "heart and soul" of this city which had been rapidly developed past decades.
老實說，我一開始還蠻猶豫的，因為我不確定我是否能找到這個經過數十年迅速開發城市的「心和靈魂」。

Shenzhen is perhaps best known as a special economic zone established under the leadership of Deng Xiaoping (鄧小平). And while many consider this city to be a great success, I won't share this opinion based on economic developments alone.
在鄧小平領導的帶領下最認知的大概就是深圳這特殊的經濟地帶，當許多人認為這個城市是個重大的成功，我卻不會單獨根據經濟發展這個觀點來下定論。

If I were to create a song for this place, I must first find my inspiration, and economic interest alone would not suffice.
如果我將為這個地方打造一首歌的話，我必須先找到我的靈感，當然單獨以經濟來說並不足夠。

And so I asked to be taken to some cultural areas around Shenzhen. As it turned out, this was not an easy task because so much cultural history had been erased during the Cultural Revolution, and the inner city of Shenzhen was completely rebuilt.
所以我提出到深圳附近的文化區域看看。結果這並不是個簡單的任務，因為很多文化歷史已經在文化革命中給銷毀了，深圳也是全部從新建設了。

As I traveled around the area, I learned more about how Shenzhen had once been a frontier town some hundreds of years ago; an untamed country where people had come in hopes of carving out a new life.
當我都走完附近的區域，我學到更多有關在幾百年前深圳曾經是個邊境小鎮；那裡是一個人們想創造新生活的未開發國度。

This seemed to be a suitable history, as the economic experiment of Shenzhen much later had had again turned this place into a new frontier.
這似乎是個適合的歷史文化，當深圳在進行經濟實驗後也把這個地方變成了一個新的邊境。

During my travels, I was taken to a nearby historic Hakka village called Dapeng (大鵬), and much to my surprise this place had been preserved in its original condition. As I walked the stone streets I felt as though I had been transported back in time.
在我的旅程中，我被帶到附近一個叫大鵬的歷史客家村莊，我意外的發現這個地方還保存著它原本的形態。當我走在石頭所做的街道上我感覺到我回到了從前。

It was here that I discovered a group of children playing in the streets, and I immediately joined them. We walked and played together, and they took me to their village community centre where a traditional opera rehearsal was taking place, and it was these charming children who brought me the much needed inspiration for my composition.
這裡是我發現一群小朋友在街上玩耍，我馬上就融入了他們。我們邊走邊玩，之後他們帶我到他們村莊的社區活動中心，剛好遇到傳統歌劇正在排練中，我最需要的創作靈感正是這些可愛的小朋友給我的。

In the following days I contemplated Shenzhen's "frontier" history and realized that again today, Shenzhen had become a new frontier.
接下來幾天我細心觀察深圳的「邊境」歷史並且發現現在深圳已經成了新的邊境。

In the age of global warming, governments must shoulder a new responsibility to develop infrastructure and policies which will provide a better environmental future for future generations. This responsibility is especially potent for cities such as this which enjoy economic wellbeing.
在溫室效應期間，政府必須承擔開發為未來打造更好的未來環境的基礎建設及政策的責任。這個責任對這個喜愛經濟福利的城市是特別重要的。

It is the children of Shenzhen who will be the beneficiaries of a new environmental frontier, and I composed this song with this as the central theme.
能成為在一個新的環境邊境的受益人正是深圳的小孩子，這是我寫這首歌的主要題材。

When I was producing this song, I was greatly impressed by the Shenzhen Secondary School Girls' Choir who I recorded for this song. Their ability and discipline was added inspiration for me.
當我在製作這首歌的時候，錄製這首歌的深圳高級中學合唱團深深的打動了我，他們的能力和紀律也增加了我的靈感。

The debut of this song occurred at a benefit concert in Shenzhen, where Jet Li and I were two of the prominent presenters. I was excited to perform this song with the xiao (Chinese bamboo flute) master Fan Ray, and the Shenzhen Secondary School Girls Choir, especially because there were some very important guests in the audience...
這首歌的處女秀獻給深圳的一場公益音樂會，李連杰和我是裡面最顯眼的表演者。我非常興奮能與蕭(中國竹笛)的大師Fan Ray及深圳高級中學的合唱團一起表演這首歌曲，更重要的是因為在觀眾裡有很多重要的來賓。

The VIP guests I am referring to are some of the children from Dapeng who I invited to join this gala event. I don’t believe they had ever attended an event like this, and certainly not as honoured guests.
我提到的貴賓是我從大鵬邀請來參加這次慶典節目的孩子們。我不相信他們有參加過任何像這樣子的活動，當然不是榮譽的來賓。

When one of these Dapeng children — a young girl named Hsin-mei — was invited to the stage, the “heart and soul” of this song became vividly clear to all who watched.
當在這群大鵬孩子中的一位叫Hsin-mei的小女孩被請上台後，這首歌的「重心和靈魂」在觀眾眼裡變得清晰生動。

I offer my sincerest thanks to those who commissioned this song, and to all the children who inspired and performed it.
我要向那些參與這首歌的人及所有受益和演出的小朋友們獻上我最誠摯的感謝。

Listen to "Here We Stand"