To Be Free
"To Be Free" is a promotional song created by Hua Chenyu for the movie "Warrior's Gate". The film crew found Yin Yue, who had cooperated with Hua Chenyu, to write a tailor-made lyrics for the song, and it went through several drafts. The main melody of the song was originally completed by the piano, but Hua Chenyu felt that the piano was not "burning" enough, so he invited his friend Zuo Li home to help, and finally completed the demo with a guitar. When communicating for the arrangement with producer Bernard Zheng, Hua Chenyu hoped to incorporate choir in the verse, when Bernard Zheng suggested using children's chorus, an agreement was achieved immediately on using children's chorus in the verse to highlight the theme.
The style of the song is passionate and powerful, and the melody is quite exotic. The prelude starts with intermittent Bass, the smooth and fully powerful drum part, together with Hua Chenyu's magnetic tone and lazy to explosive vocal style, it shows the singer's confusion, hesitation, rebellion, and anger towards the world. The lyrics fully represent the image from the film. it not only describes the process of a cowardly and confused teenager growing into a warrior, but also analyzes the emotional changes in the characters' hearts, and shows many microcosms of the real world as well.
《To Be Free》是华晨宇作曲，歌曲最初的古典双声部主歌旋律由钢琴创作完成，但钢琴写摇滚歌曲具有难以表达躁动情绪的局限性，为了让歌曲更“燃”，华晨宇邀请到好兄弟左立来家中帮忙。根据两人设想的和声与节奏，一首充满异域风情的中速摇滚浑然诞生。虽然demo只有一把吉他，但也让制作人郑楠眼前一亮。在跟郑楠的沟通中，华晨宇希望在主歌中有大合唱，用怎样的人声成了有趣的争议点，是单独的女声还是更大胆的选择。最后，郑楠建议用童声大合唱，两人一拍即合，用一群孩子的大合唱，既着气势，稚嫩的音色又和摇滚形成强烈对比，很有戏剧性。
郑楠的编曲也想法丰富，前奏以断续的Bass跳跃入题，大合唱更是苦心找来一群音色相近的孩子们专程录制，鼓的部分平稳而又富于张力，各种元素的闪现让你感觉在看一部电影，带给耳朵无法挥去的体验。没有铺垫，没有矫情，能量单刀直入，最后呈现的歌曲成为这部魔幻动作大片的引领者，向你扔出第一枚深水炸弹。重要音节上的变调小音符使歌曲多了几分异域色彩，配合华晨宇从慵懒到爆发的磁性嗓音，那种对世界的困惑、彷徨、叛逆、愤怒、对未来的种种不确定，集体爆发。
为这首歌填词的是女词人尹约。身在海外的尹约跨越太平洋的时差为歌曲几经易稿，最终呈现出一首极具异世界视角，张弛有力的作品。歌词创作沿着故事脉络，还原电影角色心声，画面感十足，既承载了一个懦弱迷茫的少年成长为能依靠肩膀的勇士的过程，又剖析了大陆纷争下人物内心的情感变迁，同时还能看到许多现实世界的缩影。
作为创作和演唱者，华晨宇坦言这是一首非常有力量和共鸣的歌曲，"歌词写得很用心，很有代入感。就像你真的卷入了一场惊心动魄的种族斗争，在一次次险象环生的经历中斗智斗勇一样，歌曲的最终呈现很电影。"
