Chapter 148: The New Era Arrives

“I admit that I still cannot comprehend how vast, peerless, and wondrously strange Poison’s musical world must be. In the realm of music, there is no doubt that he is a god.”

“I once thought that after the merciless ridicule ‘Wife’ received from the public, Poison would write a song with a beautiful melody, like ‘Sunny Day,’ and give the ignorant a resounding answer. Yet I had still underestimated his pride.”

“When I saw the title ‘Nunchucks,’ I felt a little worried. Not because I doubted Poison’s musical quality. As it turned out, his first five songs, including another version of ‘Sunny Day,’ were all masterpieces at the very peak of the Chinese-language music scene. ‘Wife’ simply had its value misunderstood by the public. But before I had even heard ‘Nunchucks,’ the title made me fear that Poison was straying farther and farther down the path of music too lofty for ordinary people to appreciate. In truth, he did go farther—so far that all we could do was look up at his retreating figure. He did not slap us across the face with a loud crack; he struck everyone with something heavier still: a pair of nunchucks.”

“When all his fans were waiting to see how he would prove himself, when everyone was calling him a musical fraud, he switched on god mode. To every accusation—‘Your songs are ugly and your melodies are unpleasant’—he answered by writing a song with no melody at all. Do you understand what this means? The entire song has no melody! Can you understand how I feel? My whole worldview has been overturned. I, Hao Yifeng, have lived for nearly forty years, and I have never seen anyone this outrageously incredible.”

“After lying low for so many days, Poison posted a short message—those who like him can follow his updates; that is beside the point, though I follow him too—saying that this was a landmark piece of music. I believed him, but I think Poison completely underestimated the song’s value. It is not merely a landmark. It is something unprecedented and unlikely ever to be surpassed. Forgive me for saying that it has no successor, but at least within my lifetime, I do not think I will ever see music capable of surpassing it.”

“Why is ‘Nunchucks’ so incredible? After replaying it all night and listening to it nearly one hundred and ninety times, I finally dared to write this analysis. Come with me into Poison’s spiritual world.

“From the first second to the twenty-ninth, the electric-guitar solo in the intro is not particularly complicated. One point deserves mention: the electric guitar is rarely used in the arrangements of Chinese music. This instrument, so common in American rock, has never been especially favored by Chinese musicians. But Poison uses it brilliantly here, giving the song a blood-pumping opening. The heavy metallic flavor, together with the percussion that enters at the eleventh second, instantly establishes the rhythm and creates an extraordinarily strong sense of immersion. When you hear that opening, you could never imagine that the song had anything to do with Chinese music, much less guess how wildly brilliant the arrangement would become later.

“From the twenty-ninth to the forty-seventh second:

The barbecue shop is thick with smoke; next door stands a martial-arts school
The proprietress serves tea in three movements
The owner teaches boxing and trains iron-palm strikes, wielding the Yang family spear
He specializes in hard-bodied kung fu, and knows the Golden Bell and Iron Shirt techniques
I am their son; I have been steeped in it since I was young
Knives, spears, staffs, and clubs—I can handle them all with ease
Of all the weapons, I love nunchucks best: soft yet strong
I want to travel to Mount Song in Henan to study Shaolin and Wudang

“At thirty-seven to thirty-eight seconds, there are several cries of ‘an—ananan—.’

“The arrangement here is simply explosive. Setting aside the synthesized tones woven into it, the most astonishing element is those few strikes of the gong. Could a human being really have imagined such an arrangement? Electric guitar, gongs, and drums—is this something Chinese musicians can actually make work? I will say nothing more about the guitar; honestly, I still think this technique is impossibly cool. For one thing, not every song can accommodate gongs. For another, not every arranger can absorb the colors of traditional music into pop so completely.

“I mentioned at the beginning that when I first heard this song, I had no idea how it was supposed to be sung, because it had no melody. Yet strangely, when Poison sings it, it feels as though there is a melody after all.

“The most important thing in the first spoken passage is Poison’s rhythm, which is astonishingly sharp. For example:

Next door stands a martial-arts school
Tea served in three movements

“These two lines reveal how cleverly the singing and lyrics are designed rhythmically. Not only does this eccentric genius rhyme ‘martial-arts school’ with ‘three movements,’ he also places the connective points of the lyrics precisely on the beat.

“Other outstanding lines include:

He specializes in hard-bodied kung fu, and knows the Golden Bell and Iron Shirt techniques
I am their son; I have been steeped in it since I was young
Of all the weapons, I love nunchucks best: soft yet strong
I want to travel to Mount Song in Henan to study Shaolin and Wudang

“I listened to this section more than a hundred times. Some of it does, in fact, have a melody, which is why the rhythm feels so powerful and immersive. The final line sounds slightly restrained as it concludes, yet it reveals Poison’s coolness and crisp efficiency.

“From forty-eight seconds to one minute fifteen seconds:

What are you doing? What are you doing?
Breathe in, breathe out; keep your spirit calm
What are you doing? What are you doing?
Sink your breath to the elixir field; open your palms
What are you doing? What are you doing?
Run a thousand miles a day with sandbags tied on
Leap over eaves and vault across walls; do not be surprised—gone and back in a flash
Horse stance forward, one left hook, one right hook
Anyone who provokes me is in danger—again and again
One cigarette I never smoke, kept at my side for years
What are you doing? What are you doing?
I have opened the Conception and Governor vessels
What are you doing? What are you doing?
The signboard of a musical fraud
What are you doing? What are you doing?
I have kicked it away with one foot—hm!

“Anyone who writes lyrics may notice a problem: ‘Nunchucks’ is avant-garde and eccentric not only in its singing and arrangement; even its lyrics refuse to follow convention. If you still do not understand why this song has no ‘melody,’ then here is the truth:

“Poison’s spoken delivery is the melody of the song. His recitation carries both the melody and the essential rhythm of the human voice.

“Pay particular attention to the harmony in Poison’s right ear at fifty-one seconds and in his left ear at one minute twelve. It is incredible. The line ‘the signboard of a musical fraud’ is also a razor-sharp response to his critics’ mockery: I am this good—what are you going to do about it? I can imagine how cool and magnificent Poison must look while singing this. It is practically a custom-made soundtrack for him to walk into a fight.”

“From one minute sixteen seconds to one minute thirty-five seconds:

Use the nunchucks quickly—heh, heh, ha, heh
Use the nunchucks quickly—heh, heh, ha, heh
Those who study martial arts must remember: the benevolent are invincible
Who is practicing tai chi, stirring up winds and waves?
Use the nunchucks quickly—heh, heh, ha, heh
Use the nunchucks quickly—heh, heh, ha, heh
If I possessed the lightness skill to vault over eaves and walls
I would remain upright and unyielding, filled with righteous spirit—hm

“Did you notice that the accompaniment in the chorus is the same as in the intro? If not, listen again.

“In the first chorus, pay attention to the heavier percussion and the intensified guitar and bass. They create the momentum and immediacy of an actual fight breaking out.

“And Poison’s lyrics are beyond criticism. In ‘Nunchucks,’ what matters most is not merely the neat rhyming and the way the words fit the theme, but also the sense of language that his original spoken style emphasizes.

“If the lyrics of ‘Nunchucks’ were changed, the song would lose its original flavor and rhythm. If the lyrics became too aggressive, the song would lose the balanced symmetry of tai chi that lies within its Chinese character. If they became too gentle, the song would turn effeminate.

“From one minute thirty-six seconds to two minutes:

I am their son; I have been steeped in it since I was young
Knives, spears, staffs, and clubs—I can handle them all with ease
Of all the weapons, I love nunchucks best: soft yet strong
I want to travel to Mount Song in Henan to study Shaolin and Wudang

“Here Poison clearly reconstructs his spoken-delivery strategy, changing the method while keeping the original rhythm. The most captivating thing in music is the preservation of anticipation. After hearing one phrase, you naturally look forward to the next. Poison does not do that. The essence of anticipatory phrasing is displayed here: he brings what comes later forward, allowing it to enter the listener’s mind in advance.

“Likewise, this approach lets a spoken passage flow uninterrupted and exhilaratingly from beginning to end. Before the listener has even recovered, it has already struck home.

“What do you call that? An instant kill. Not like those syrupy pop songs of years past, which made you hum along endlessly before finally telling you that the love you gave could never be reclaimed.

“Then, after the electric guitar, gongs, and drums, the erhu enters. It is difficult to imagine how these instruments could possibly work together, yet Poison makes it happen. I truly cannot describe how inspired this erhu solo is:

One-two
One-two
Five-six-one-two
One-six-one-five
Six-five-six-five-six-five-six-five-six-five-six-five-six-five-six-five-six-five-six-five-six-seven-three-six-seven-three-six-seven-three-six-seven-three-six-seven-three-six-seven-three-six—

“There is really nothing more to say. At first glance, it hardly seems difficult, does it?

“Yet placed within ‘Nunchucks’ and performed on the erhu, calling it a stroke of genius would not be an exaggeration in the slightest.

“His decisive use of the erhu shows how willing Poison is to experiment as an arranger. The drums, bass, and electric guitar establish the elements of pop rock; the interwoven traditional instruments provide a rich Chinese character without the slightest sense of incongruity. And still, this is not the end...

“With the erhu solo accompanying it, the chorus enters and brings everything into perfect order.

“The ingenious combination of the spoken lyrics creates no discord at all. The arrangement continues the contrast between weight and lightness: weight comes from the drums, bass, and guitar; lightness comes from the erhu, which fills in for the melodic and vocal elements. This allows the song to display sufficient melody beyond the spoken delivery, making the middle section far richer.

“From two minutes twenty-four seconds to three minutes: do you know what a first experience in life feels like? It feels like this piano solo, as though everything has suddenly stopped...

“If the earlier fusion of Western and traditional instruments was already exuberant, then this sudden piano entrance, which brings everything to a halt, makes you feel as though you have stepped directly into a film. It shows you what cinematic art in popular music truly means.

“Music is an art of imagination, while film depends more heavily on images and camera movements. In other words, music allows us to unleash our imaginations freely, whereas film may require a tangible sample image before that imagination can take shape.

“That is precisely the charm of music. You need not see anything to imagine the fiery force of opening the Conception and Governor vessels while crying out in martial ecstasy. Through the erhu, you can even sense that while Poison is locked in combat, a mysterious old monk sits nearby, sweeping the ground and playing the instrument. Then, at the height of the fight, the piano solo begins, as if the film has shifted into slow motion. The contrast between stillness and movement reveals the beauty of art. Tell me—how could that not be incredible?

“Stop asking how powerful this song is. I think Poison must be lonely, standing at the summit of music and looking in every direction without seeing a single opponent worthy of a battle. He and we do not belong to the same world. Chinese music will surely remain under his rule for the next twenty years. Do not doubt it: the age of Poison has arrived.

“‘Nunchucks’ is the landmark he has erected. From this point onward, this era shall be called Poison’s.”