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.
You Don't Have To Say You Love Me
Frances Yip Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴
唱：葉麗儀
曲：Donaggio Giuseppe
詞：Wickham Vicki Heather / Napier-bell Simon
編：David Packer
When I said I needed you
It wasn't me who changed but you
And now you've gone away
Don't you see that now you're gone
And I'm left here on my own
And I'd have to follow you and beg you beg you to come home
You don't have to say you love me
Just be close at hand
You don't have to say forever I will understand
Believe me, believe me I can't help but love you
But believe me, I'd never tie you down
Left alone with just a memory
Life seems dead and so unreal
All that's left is loneliness
There's nothing left to feel
You don't have to say you love me
Just be close at hand
You don't have to say forever I will understand
Believe me, believe me
You don't have to say you love me
Just be close at hand
You don't have to say forever I will understand
Believe me, believe me, believe me
These lyrics from Frances Yip's song "You Don't Have To Say You Love Me" convey feelings of heartache, longing, and acceptance in a relationship. The singer reflects on a love that has ended and expresses her yearning for the other person to come back, even though they have already moved on.
The first verse suggests that the singer initially believed their love would last forever. She invested in the relationship, needing the other person's presence and assurance. However, it becomes evident that it was the other person who changed, not her. They have left, leaving her feeling alone and abandoned.
The chorus emphasizes the central theme of the song: the singer does not need to hear the words "I love you" anymore. She simply desires the other person to be close to her, physically and emotionally. She no longer wants to be tied down by their love, but still longs for their company and presence.
The second verse reflects the aftermath of the breakup. The singer is left feeling empty, as if her life lacks substance without her former lover. Loneliness permeates her existence, and there is a sense of numbness, as nothing seems to matter anymore.
The repeated chorus reiterates the singer's plea for a continuous connection without any promises for the future. She reassures the other person that she understands their need to be free and not tied down. Despite this, she pleads with them to be near, to offer solace in her loneliness.
Overall, these lyrics explore the complex emotions that come with the end of a relationship. The singer acknowledges the heartbreak and longing, but also demonstrates a level of acceptance and understanding. She wants to move on, but still desires a connection with the person who has left her.
Lyrics © O/B/O APRA AMCOS
Written by: DUNCAN MILLAR, GIUSEPPE DONAGGIO, SIMON NAPIER BELL, VICKI HEATHER WICKHAM, VITO PALLAVICINI
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind
NW
on Shang Hai Tan
I assume this "translation" was a joke. OP literally just made everything up. Not a single line is even REMOTELY right. I got a good laugh out of it though.
Kek Joo
on Shang Hai Tan
I just happened to see your translated lyrics. I am afraid they are absolutely incorrect. The song speaks of the rise and ebbing of the tides and likens the experiences of love and hate/revenge to the changing tides. There is no mention of buildings (long pang long lau means the tide/current rises and ebbs). Shi hei shi sau is not it’s black, it’s majestic but whether it is joy or whether it is sorrow. Etc etc. This is very in line with the themes of the drama and movie versions which has this song as its theme song. This is a melancholic song and not one prompting SH as a tourist attraction toon
Janet Lim Swee Kim
on Bengawan Solo (Indonesia)
Very beautiful , you , love to listen to your song, thank you Mdm. Yip.
Janet Lim Swee Kim
on Bengawan Solo (Indonesia)
Many thanks Yip Lai Yee mdm.