"Here We Are" is the theme song created by Hua Chenyu for the movie "Line Walker". The inspiration came up one early morning when Hua was on an overseas vacation. He looked at the bustling crowd and a thought suddenly caught on him that maybe everyone plays an unknown role in their life, and then he wrote the demo of this song.
This is a very theatrical piece of work, with variable melody and integration of multiple elements and layers. There are rhythm changes showing hidden murderous themes, compassionate melody, and progressive rap containing classical Chinese elements. The song echoes the fluctuation of the storyline in the movie "Line Walker", making the music itself full of mysterious feelings. In the seemingly casual singing, Hua Chenyu also incorporates elements of Chinese folk songs, which add some oriental hint to the English lyrics of "Here We Are".
《Here We Are》是一首极具戏剧化张力的作品,而且在一首歌曲里,融合了大量的元素和层次,以至于从第一个音符开始,你很难确定整首歌曲的走向。不像有些正常的流行歌曲,歌手唱上一句,你能跟着接下一句,唱完主歌还能够判断副歌怎么走。《Here We Are》却不是这么一览无遗的,这倒更应了《使徒行者》这部卧底警匪片的主题,让音乐本身也充满了一种神秘的悬疑感。
华晨宇在开始那段飘逸中有着舞台剧风格的唱腔,几乎已经成了他出道后的一种风格印迹,那种柔中带刚的声线,既给人一种东方式仙的感觉,同样也有着英式摇滚那样的内敛和神经质。此后反复循环的“Here We Are”则是整首作品的支点,同样的句子通过不同的和声选择,就像是古诗中定字、定位、定声等手法的运用,从而给人一种抑扬顿挫之美。这种用不同和声变化去“包装”一句歌词,从而形成丰富变化的手法,其实华晨宇早在《Why Nobody Fights》里也曾经运用过,而这种由简生美的创作,历来也是音乐创作中一种比较高级的手法。
与此同时,"Here We Are"这段支点型的旋律,还有学问和讲究。那就是华晨宇在看似随意的吟唱中,还融入了民歌小调的元素,这也让"Here We Are"这句英文唱词,听起来竟然有种东方的味道。东西融合,一直是中国流行音乐的终极命题,也有很多人通过各种的技术,强行并生硬地拼贴各种元素。但"中国风"的更高境界,就应该是这种简简单单一句,就能让你感到既中国又现代,即使英文词都能唱出民间小调的味道。
作为递进的最高潮,《Here We Are》还设置了一段说唱部分,从而将作品开始的迷惘情绪,带到了一种坚定并无所畏惧的确定。除了郑楠在编曲上从钢琴到弦乐,再到Nu-Metal加说唱的戏剧化营造之外,这首作品的填词部分也同样精彩。新生代音乐人赵一腾和莫安琪(今年超女的参赛选手),很好地将《使徒行者》中卧底阿Sir的内心戏,进行一定程度的破题,从而引申到人心和人性的高度。那种欲说还休的情绪拿捏,不仅很好地完成了电影主题曲定向打造的任务,其实也保证了歌曲本身的独立艺术生命体。
"Come Sing With Me" S3 EP8 2018/06/16 华晨宇 刘宪 - 合唱纯享《我想和你唱3》
Lyrics
《Here We Are》
Composer: Hua Chenyu
Lyricists: Mo Anqi, Zhao Yiteng
Arranger: Bernard Zheng
The more I am at a loss
The more everything goes against me
In the interlaced time and space
The soul plummets down faster
Dreams are gone and left no traces
My dream changes in the reality of time and space
In flickering lights, it is hard to grasp
I stood on top of the mountain
Praying to the night sky as if there's a higher being
The meteor streaking across the sky
Passed the nebula
Yet I could not see it in the clear sky after the rain
I do not have a lot of wishes
Only peace on earth is what I pray for
Mi-ni-ma-ni
The city of steel in the roar never hears a moment of peace
This soul is abandoned like an infected wound
But don't be cold anymore
Raise your hands
Warmly embrace one another
Don't keep quiet any longer
It's not about right or wrong, gain or loss
Courage has always stayed
Dreams are gone and left no traces
Looking ahead, the night is impregnable
Full of panic, yet everything continues to sprout
Swiftly, after one night
The spring breeze arrives and everything grows
I shed old habits of callousness, stubbornness, and resistance
Yet still have to endure materialism's hold over me
I don't want to forget what I set out to be
I still firmly believe in the ideals I've had
Sadly, all expectations,
efforts, and promises of that time
Were all swept into the wind in vain
Looking back to revisit the scenes along the way
I've made amends till I'm satisfied
God has given me encouragement
To pour out my heart
Dreams have gone and left no traces
Wait no more
Don't find excuses and say you're helpless
If you want to win
You have to prove yourself right now
If you don't want to be weak
Then strike the pose of the strong
Looking into the future
I expect even more
Constant progress is my stance
I cannot just wait
From the beginning until now
I've never stopped
Never been mediocre
Never slacked off, yielded
Nor followed blindly
In my heart, I never stop dreaming
I forge ahead and shake off fatigue
I bravely stride forward
Wake up the passions in my heart
I cannot wander around anymore
Nor wait any longer
How helpless it is if one cannot heed reality
If the future is elusive
It's better to start a new era from now on
If you want to win
You have to speed up
Prove yourself right now
Every time I look out the window facing the other side of the river
I want to change the times
Start through the dawn
Don't be discouraged
Take my courage
No need to worry
With all my might, I broke the bottleneck
Start the big plan
I take every day as a new beginning
A new revolution
I cannot wait
I want to change the existing world order
Dreams are gone and left no traces
My dreams have not changed
Translated by Hua Chenyu English Subs