葉麗儀

Frances Yip Lai-yee (born 1947) is a Hong Kong English pop and C… Read Full Bio ↴葉麗儀

Frances Yip Lai-yee (born 1947) is a Hong Kong English pop and Cantopop singer. She is best known for performing many of the theme songs for television series produced by TVB in the 1980s and early 1990s.

Born in 1947, Yip is of Hakka ancestry, and is the youngest of 5 siblings. She grew up in a rural area in Hong Kong, and studied in St. Clare's Girls' School, an English Catholic school.

Her first singing job was in 1969 when she won a talent contest called Sharp's Night Four Lights Competition on Hong Kong television where she met the composer, Joseph Koo. Koo used Yip to sing commercial jingles while she was working as a secretary in HSBC, one was the jingles was a song about savings account for HSBC. Her first record, Bu Liao Qing (Love Without End) was recorded in the same year. She recorded predominantly English covers of Mandarin songs and Mandarin songs then.

In 1972, Yip and Joseph Koo went to Japan's World Singing gathering in Nippon Budokan. In 1973, Yip was working for Cathay Pacific as an Ambassador of Hong Kong under Hong Kong Tourism Board for a year, and her album, Discovery, was based on her experiences travelling. Discovery was sung in nine different languages to represent the 9 major destinations for Cathay Pacific then, and the album inspired a London talent agent to find her. She signed onto EMI records and lived in London for two years.[3]It was a worldwide contract, meaning she can have one English album released in 6 different languages in different areas of the world. Since then, she had renewed her two-year contract until now.

Yip hit international fame with her signature tune, The Bund from the TVB drama of the same title.[4] After she recorded The Bund, she returned to Hong Kong.

In her 45-year career, Yip has released more than 80 albums, mostly of songs in American English, Indonesian, Thai, Malay, Mexican Spanish, Japanese, Tagalog, Hong Kong Cantonese, and Taiwanese Mandarin. She has performed on television, and in films, concerts and cabarets in more than 30 countries on five continents. Her linguistic skills, with unique interpretations of lyrics in English, Cantonese and Mandarin, as well as several other Asian languages, have led to a fan base across a wide range of cultures and countries.

Yip has worked with the Hong Kong Philharmonic Orchestra, the Vancouver Symphony Orchestra, the Hong Kong Chinese Orchestra, the Macau Chinese Orchestra, the Singapore Chinese Orchestra, the Youth Orchestra from the Nanyang Academy of Fine Arts, Singapore Symphony Orchestra and Thammasat University Philharmonic Orchestra in Bangkok as well as large orchestras in Kuala Lumpur.

Yip achieved worldwide recognition when she was selected by the Hong Kong government to be a co-presenter at the British Farewell Ceremony to mark the transfer of sovereignty in Hong Kong. The event on June 30, 1997, was watched by a television audience estimated at 120 million, in more than 80 countries worldwide.

In 2012, Yip recorded her first Christian album, Grace and Glory Psalm 84.

Yip is fluent in Chinese (Hong Kong Cantonese and Taiwanese Mandarin) and English. She often spends time in Sydney where her son and grandchildren live.

She was diagnosed with breast cancer in 1996, but was considered free of cancer in 2002. To celebrate eight years of being cancer-free, in 2010, she held a charity concert in Kuala Lumpur to benefit cancer research and treatment.

Since 2013, she and her husband have lived in the rural suburbs of Sydney, Australia with their son and grandson. They have Australian citizenship, and also own rental properties in England. She occasionally returns to Hong Kong to perform and make TV appearances.

Wan Ban Qing
Frances Yip Lyrics

Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴

萬般情萬般恨
像那春江河波瀾隱隱
什麼緣什麼份
隨逝水東流再不要問
前塵舊事偏偏多記憶
心中種種歎息都烙下印
潮濤永遠沖不去
心裡面往日痕

越多情越多恨
何日江水會停
平息愛恨
前塵舊事偏偏多記憶
心中種種歎息都烙下印
潮濤永遠沖不去
心裡面往日痕
越多情越多恨
何日江水會停
平息愛恨

何日江水會停
平息愛恨

Overall Meaning

The lyrics of Frances Yip's song "萬般情" reflect the emotions of an individual who is struggling to let go of their past. The song talks about the various feelings of love and hate that the person has experienced, much like the ebbs and flows of a river. The lyrics suggest that the person is unable to comprehend the reasons and causes for the events that took place, and as a result, they find it challenging to move on with their lives. The song acknowledges that the person is holding on to their memories and struggles to forget the past.

The chorus of the song repeats the phrase "前塵舊事偏偏多記憶," which translates to "the past and old memories are particularly difficult to separate from." The person realizes that they cannot wash away the memories and feelings of love and hate, and they are engraved in their heart like a mark. The song's title "萬般情" and "萬般恨" implies that the person has experienced every kind of emotion that they could, leaving them hurt and unable to cope. They are left with the question of when their emotions will settle, and they will be able to move on.

Line by Line Meaning

萬般情萬般恨
Feelings of love and feelings of hatred are both countless.

像那春江河波瀾隱隱
Like the rippling waves of a spring river, feelings are hidden yet present.

什麼緣什麼份
What is the reason for this feeling, and what is the relationship?

隨逝水東流再不要問
Just let them flow away like the passing water of the east, and do not ask any questions.

前塵舊事偏偏多記憶
Memories of past events and worldly affairs are particularly abundant and vivid.

心中種種歎息都烙下印
All kinds of sighs and regrets are imprinted on the heart.

潮濤永遠沖不去
The tide will never wash away these feelings.

心裡面往日痕
Traces of the past are left deep in the heart.

越多情越多恨
The more love one has, the more hatred is possible.

何日江水會停平息愛恨
When will the river stop flowing and allow one to forget about love and hatred?

Lyrics © Sony/ATV Music Publishing LLC
Written by: DI YI CHEN, JAMES WONG, JOSEPH KOO

Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind