He was the national singing champion in Hong Kong 1984 with the song Fatherland, ousting more than ten thousand other contestants. He was signed by the then Polygram Records, now Universal Music Group. Although encouraged by a bright start, he was not yet able to achieve immediate supremacy in Cantopop, then dominated by 譚詠麟, 梅艷芳, Leslie Cheung and 陳百強. Cheung suffered a nosedive in his career in 1988 after a best-selling first two albums. That year he did not have a single song awarded in the annual TVB JSG. His subsequent sales record dipped and one of his albums in the late 1980s managed just around ten thousand in sales. The reason for the fall in his CD sales was partially attributed to his alcohol problem - he could get drunk 5 times a week. After disrupting his friend's birthday party while being drunk, Cheung vowed in public that he would not consume alcohol again till he was 40. He kept that promise.
His recording career subsequently returned to its track. Then, in 1991, with the song 每天愛你多一些 (Loving You More Everyday), his career took a massive upturn. The album, 真情流露True Love Expression in 1992, as well as the succeeding release, 愛火花Love Sparks in 1992, became the two most successful albums in Hong Kong history, achieving audited sales of over 400,000 copies in Hong Kong alone and turned Cheung into a superstar, paving the way for himself and his contemporaries, Andy Lau, Leon Lai and Aaron Kwok, to take Cantopop to even greater heights. Subsequent albums continue to be a hit like 我與你True Love Expression 1993, 餓狼傳說 Wolf Tale 1994 etc. Since then his career has grown from strength to strength, and Cheung has managed to garner thousands of fans overseas as well as numerous music awards both in Hong Kong and elsewhere, including the best-selling Chinese singer in the Worlds Music Awards. Cheung has also been elected one of the world's Ten Outstanding Young Persons.
Among his most famous songs are Amour, 只想一生跟你走 (Only Thinking of Going Through Life With You) and the everlasting 吻别 (Goodbye Kiss) which confirms his status as one, and many consider the pre-eminent member, of the Four Heavenly Kings of Cantopop. Goodbye Kiss, a Mandarin number, was also one of the best-selling albums of all time, achieving more sales in Hong Kong, Taiwan and Southeast Asia such as not attained before, with an astounding 5 million copies sold in 1993 alone, a record that has remained yet unbroken. Goodbye Kiss was also instrumental in helping Cheung to break into the mando-pop market, and it also prompted other Hong Kong singers who wanted to gain a wider market to follow suit, even though, to this very day, very few indeed have been able to approach Cheung's level of success.
His work on the ground-breaking cantonese musical, Snow, Wolf, Lake musical (1997), was also enthusiastically received by both audiences and critics. Cheung not only played the male lead, but was also the artistic director for this production. The female lead was played by Sandy Lam and they achieved 43 full-house performances at the gigantic Hong Kong Coliseum. In November 2004, Jacky and his concert manager, Florence Chan Suk-Fan, worked on a revised Mandarin version of Snow, Wolf, Lake so as to bring it to a wider audience. The estimated budget for this revised production was HK$100 million and the show premiered on 24 December 2004 in Beijing. The production subsequently toured China and other Asian destinations to huge acclaim.
Cheung won, for the umpteenth time, the Best Selling Cantonese Album Award in the Hong Kong IFPI Awards of 2005 with his live album, Jacky Live Performance. In the fast-changing scene of canto-pop, Cheung is able to maintain his popularity and sales power for more than 20 years after his debut, which is unparalleled in the history of Hong Kong pop music.
Cheung acted in many films, although singing has always been his priority. His versatility and acting skills have enabled him to play a lot of diverse parts. He received the Best Supporting Actor Golden Horse Award for his work in Swordsman (1990). He also received the Best Actor Award at the New Dehli Film Festival for his portrayal of the protagonist in July Rhapsody. His song Perhaps Love, which serves as the theme song for the multi-award-winning film Perhaps Love, also won the Best Song Award at the 2005 Hong Kong Film Awards.
He is married to May Lo with two daughters.
Cheung was named spokesperson for Hong Kong Disneyland in 2004. As the theme park's spokesperson, Cheung took part in a number of large-scale marketing events organized by The Walt Disney Company and Walt Disney Parks and Resorts, beginning by hosting a TV program, Magical World of Disneyland. [1] He also recorded a song for Hong Kong Disneyland, a multi-lingual song entitled One. The music video for One was filmed at Hong Kong Disneyland.
我應該
張學友 Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
我在探聽誰像你在懷內 可是你 心不會裝載
而我知深受其害 仍然在說都不必分開
應該早已沒期待 應該心死為何仍未放開
應該不要回來任你傷害 戀什麼愛 你精彩 我悲哀
盼你性格會更改 始終苦等一個未來
我在探聽誰像你在懷內 可是你 心不會裝載
應該早已沒期待 應該心死為何仍未放開
應該不要回來任你傷害 戀什麼愛 你精彩 我悲哀
呀
應該早已沒期待 應該心死為何仍未放開
應該不要回來任你傷害 戀什麼愛 你精彩 我悲哀
戀什麼愛 你高山 我深海
The lyrics of 張學友’s song, 我應該 [I Should], seem to portray a conflicted state of mind. The first two lines paint a vivid picture of the singer's perceived loss of color, both literally and figuratively, as he describes the eyes of the subject of the song having lost their vibrancy and her scarf about to loosen. The singer then indicates that he is searching for someone who may resemble this person but notes that she is unable to hold onto feelings. Despite the obvious pain the singer feels in response to the situation, he believes that he need not separate.
The chorus of the song repeats the phrase "應該" [I should have], tempting the listener to infer the singer's indecision and inner turmoil as he tries to reconcile his emotions with his perceived actions. By saying that he should have already lost hope, that his heart should have died and that he should not let the other person come back to hurt him again, the singer implies that he is still grappling with a situation that he knows is no good for him. Even as he acknowledges that the other is wonderful and he is sad, he cannot change what he feels. The lyrics then end with the phrase "戀什麼愛 你高山 我深海" [Love what love, you're the mountain, I'm the sea], which seems to suggest that the relationship is impossible because the two individuals are too different.
Overall, the lyrics of 我應該 [I Should] seem to portray a complex range of emotions. While the singer acknowledges that he is probably better off without the other person, he also struggles to let go and move on.
Line by Line Meaning
你眼蓋脫了色彩 頸巾即將鬆脫下來
Your eyes have lost color, and your necktie is about to come undone.
我在探聽誰像你在懷內 可是你 心不會裝載
I'm trying to find someone like you in my heart, but you're not capable of carrying my love.
而我知深受其害 仍然在說都不必分開
I know it harms me deeply, but I still say we don't have to break up.
應該早已沒期待 應該心死為何仍未放開
I shouldn't have any more expectations, I should be heartbroken, so why can't I let go?
應該不要回來任你傷害 戀什麼愛 你精彩 我悲哀
I shouldn't let you come back and hurt me, you're amazing at love, but it only brings me sadness.
盼你性格會更改 始終苦等一個未來
I hope your personality will change, I've been waiting and waiting for a future with you.
常痛哭躲在門外 誰人共你正在內 傳來聲聲喝采
I often cry outside the door, while you're inside receiving endless applause.
戀什麼愛 你高山 我深海
You're a mountain in love, but I'm the deep sea.
Writer(s): Eddie Ng
Contributed by Isabella L. Suggest a correction in the comments below.