Her first break in the music world was at the age of sixteen when her parents (with mixed feelings) entered her for a singing contest in Sydney. It was organized by TVB with the winner to be offered a recording contract with one of the big music companies in Hong Kong. She won the competition and was sent back to Hong Kong and met with the TVB producers who wanted her to sign with one of the music labels. After much deliberation she finally decided that it wasn’t right for her at that time and instead returned to Australia to study at University. She pretty much just settled back into life at Uni and put aside any dreams of a music career.
After graduating from University she returned to Hong Kong in 1997 to help run her family’s accounting business and gained CPA certification. Despite her relatively settled career Susan was thinking, “is that all there is in life”. One of the students who she was teaching piano was working for a Hong Kong independent label, and she asked the boss if they wanted a singer. Susan says “I really wanted to record the English songs that I loved. We agreed to make an album and I just went into the studio feeling really relaxed with no stress or pressure and had a fun time recording my ‘Close To You’ album.” When the album came out it in 2002 it was widely acclaimed and quickly became a favourite of music stores to play and the album was soon climbing up the sales charts in countries like Hong Kong, Singapore, Thailand and Indonesia. The four album release’s since, ‘Close To You’ have also enjoyed wide critical and commercial success establishing Susan as probably the No.1 selling English language female singer of her genre throughout S.E.Asia.
In early 2007 Susan Wong signed a new recording agreement with Hong Kong based Evolution Limited and pre-production is currently underway for her new album that will be recorded in the USA in May. As Susan explains her motivation behind the new album, “Musically I wanted a new challenge and new musical chemistry to give me a different lift and to move on to another stage. Not everyone has opportunity to work with such high calibre musicians and producers like those I’m working with on the new album”.
Someone Like You (2007)
In early 2007, Susan Wong signed a new recording agreement with Hong Kong based Evolution Limited and released her first album under Evolution in August 2007.
The first release under this agreement, Someone Like You, was recorded in Nashville, USA and was quick to win critical and commercial success throughout S. E. Asia. The success of the SACD version in particular bore testament to the fine production, vocal performance and mastering by Grammy award winning engineer Doug Sax. The album was domestically released in Japan in September 2008.
511 (2008)
In Summer 2008 a newly invigorated Susan, began working on fresh ideas for her follow-up album. In September 2008 Susan travelled to Geneva, Switzerland to work on demos with producer Adrien Z. As Susan explained “He brought my music ideas to life. He was able to transform the songs I want to sing into the styling which I dare tried.” The album recording was completed in February/March 2009.
In her blog Susan said of the album; “I guess I took a "more hands on" approach with this album, more than any of the previous ones, as I felt the need to voice out my persona, be more individualistic and independent for my work.” Susan’s bossa nova inspired version of Michael Jackson’s Billie Jean received a lot of attention and radio play and the album sold widely across the region.
Step Into My Dreams (2009)
Inspired by the positive feedback to 511, Susan was anxious to start working on her next album and within months of the release of 511 she was forming ideas for new recordings, choosing to again work with producer Adrien Zerbini and arranger Ignacio Lamas. With songs for the albums mostly coming from the late 1960’s/early 1970’s Susan and her band worked on a relaxed, natural acoustic pop feel lead by Ignacio’s skilled guitar style. With some fine performances and some radically rearranged interpretations of well known classics the new album, Step Into My Dreams soon became Susan Wong’s bestselling title and a fan’s favorite.
‘Best Recording Yet’: My LIVE Stories (2013)
After 5 years, Susan Wong returned to Nashville in June 2012 to record her next masterpiece. This masterpiece called My LIVE Stories was recorded live over two days in the world famous Ocean Way Studios in Nashville, USA which Susan described was her ‘best recording yet’. With an ensemble of top notch session musicians and a first class recording environment inside a 100 year old converted church Susan performed a selection of her favourite songs from her previous albums along with new songs.
Highlights include the bossa nova influenced Billie Jean, the blues tinged Cry Me A River, an up tempo Perfect and a spine tingling performance of Desperado. The studio recording was filmed in full HD and released in DVD and Blu-ray formats in December 2012.
Tribute to Female Vocal: Woman In Love (2014) & SusanWongVEVO
From the time when My LIVE Stories was being recorded, the idea for Woman In Love was already in conception. 2 ½ years in the making, recorded over 8 studios in 3 continents – Woman In Love was released worldwide December 1st, 2014. Woman In Love is Susan’s tribute to great women singers before her who made their fame with sensuous and endearing love songs. The album features romantic love songs old and new from Olivia Newton-John’s I Honestly Love You, Barbra Streisand’s classic Woman in Love to Rihanna’s hit Stay and Adele’s Make You Feel My Love.
For Woman In Love, Susan crafted a rare original song Can’t You See (I’m Falling In Love) to be included in the album.
Susan took her rendition of Mary Macgregor’s Torn Between Two Lovers to the big screen where the music video was released in full HD live on SusanWongVEVO. Susan Wong’s VEVO channel now holds a dear collection of Susan Wong’s best and most popular music.
On the Street Where You Live
Susan Wong Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
But the pavement always stayed beneath my feet before
All at once am I several stories high
Knowing I'm on the street where you live
Are there lilac trees in the heart of town
Can you hear a lark in any other part of town
Does enchantment pour out of every door
* And oh, the towering feeling
Just to know somehow you are near
The overpowering feeling
That any second you may suddenly appear
People stop and stare they don't bother me
For there's nowhere else on earth
That I would rather be
Let the time go by I won't care if I
Can be here on the street where you live
The lyrics of Susan Wong's song "On the Street Where You Live" are expressive of the emotions of a person who is in love and cannot stop thinking about the object of their affection. The singer has walked down this street before, but it was only after falling in love that she became acutely aware of her surroundings. Suddenly, she feels like she is several stories high and her feet are no longer on the pavement, which indicates that she is on the brink of losing her mind for love.
The singer goes on to ask whether there are any lilac trees in the heart of town or if you can hear a lark in any other part of town. She suggests that the street where her love interest lives is unlike any other, full of enchantment that pours out of every door. The singer's emotions are overwhelming, causing her to feel like she is towering and on the verge of losing control. She wants nothing more than to be on that street and feel the presence of the person she loves. People stare at her, but she is indifferent since she is in the one place where she wants to be.
Line by Line Meaning
I have often walked down this street before
I have walked on this street countless times.
But the pavement always stayed beneath my feet before
The sidewalk has always been under my feet.
All at once am I several stories high
I suddenly feel elevated and alive.
Knowing I'm on the street where you live
I'm aware that I'm on the street where you reside.
Are there lilac trees in the heart of town
Are there any lilac trees in downtown?
Can you hear a lark in any other part of town
Can you hear a lark in any other place in the city?
Does enchantment pour out of every door
Does magic spill out of all the doors?
No it's just on the street where you live
No, just on your street.
And oh, the towering feeling
The feeling of grandeur.
Just to know somehow you are near
To know that you are in the vicinity somehow somehow.
The overpowering feeling
The feeling of being overpowered.
That any second you may suddenly appear
That at any moment you could appear unexpectedly.
People stop and stare they don't bother me
People gawk, but it doesn't bother me.
For there's nowhere else on earth
Because there's nowhere else on this earth.
That I would rather be
That I'd rather be.
Let the time go by I won't care if I
I don't care if time passes.
Can be here on the street where you live
As long as I'm standing on your street.
Contributed by Julian L. Suggest a correction in the comments below.
Anonymous
on Imagine
Imagine - Susan Wong - Lyrics
You may say that I'm a dreamer
But I'm not the only one
I hope someday you'll join us
And the world will be as one
Imagine there's no Heaven
It's easy if you try
No hell below us
Above us only sky
Imagine all the people
Living for today
Imagine there's no countries
It isn't hard to do
Nothing to kill or die for
And no religion too
Imagine all the people
Living life in peace
Musical Interlude
Imagine no possessions
I wonder if you can
Nothing to kill or stifle
A brotherhood of man
Imagine all the people
Sharing all the world
You may say that I'm a dreamer
But I'm not the only one
I hope someday you'll join us
And the world will live as one