The Texual and Melodic Arrangement in Wen-hsia’s Taiwanese Cover Songs

Abstract

Past studies on 1950-60s Taiwanese cover songs usually focused on the political, economical or social aspects, and the musical aspects were rarely talked about. This study began on cursory listening experiences: how Taiwanese cover songs are similar to the original songs but also differ from them? This phenomenon may be intertwined with the musical activities at that time, and may also have affected the form of Taiwanese songs from then on. In this thesis I focus on Wen-hsia’s songs, which are representative of Taiwanese cover songs in 1950-60s. I compare them with the original songs, including the positions, contents and sound of the texts, and the relationship between them and the melodies, and try to present the hybrid phenomenon of texts and melodies in Taiwanese cover songs. The fact that this phenomenon cannot be fixed on a single definition, but is rich and diverse, manifests the subjectivity of the music workers and their choice, especially that of the lyricists focused on in this thesis.