Author: Maurice Lee
Lyrics are magic, being the art of germinating emotions and imaginations. The following, from the song “Windmills of Your Mind”, are my best-loved lyrics, though not written by Chris Shum:
Round
Like a circle in a spiral
Like a wheel within a wheel
Never ending or beginning
On an ever-spinning reel
Like a snowball down a mountain
Or a carnival balloon…
The lyrics however correspond with what Shum said as the ways to put a great story into music.
Chris Shum is a colourful and thrilling lyricist in Hong Kong. He writes for different forms, theatre, film, pop music, television and advertisement. His career has been rewarded with multiple glittering awards including the Golden Horse Award, CASH Golden Sail Music Award, Hong Kong Drama Award and Hong Kong Film Award. Since his teens, he had been a ‘bookster’ ―an intellectual, literary and discerning young man. His hobby was to contribute to newspapers on art and culture & his fresh perspectives soon gave him a name known. He graduated from Baptist University and became a teacher.
His strong passion drove him to volunteer to assist theatre people in producing lyrics. Soon, he rose up to a popular stage lyricist. Feeling trapped by his unamiable career, he decided to quit teaching after obtaining a master degree from University of Hong Kong and plunged into the whole new world of being a full-time lyricist. The transformation was drastic, but time of fear was simultaneously his moment of faith. He penned good lyrics for theatrical productions such as Sunday in the Park with George, The Last Tycoon and The Great Pretender. ‘You must do what you are enjoying to do’ is his maxim.
Natalie Wilson once said veraciously, “The best songs in history have incorporated lyrics that use clever rhyming schemes and syllabic patterns, a story-like progression, personal but relatable topics and a catchy hook.” For me, lyrics are ideas which are perpetrating a ‘story’ and such a story must resonate with the listeners after they finish the song. In a fine song, melody is the key and so are the lyrics.
I asked Chris Shum what added up to a good lyricist. Chris chuckled, “First, no laziness! Long hours of writing and re-writing are needed.” “Research and thoughtfulness are the two indispensables too. When I write, I always got few dictionaries and lots of information materials lying on my desk.”
I was curious, “How do you grab hold of the ears of the listeners?” Chris explained, “In our trade, the point which can hit a listener emotionally is called a ‘hook’. Not only does a song need to contain hook, it needs to put the hook in a strategic spot, normally at the beginning or chorus of a song. On a related note, a hook cannot simply be catchy or trendy expressions but its underlying message must crumble the heart of a listener. Once hook ideas open, there is no closing.”
“Many new lyricists just repeat their line after line without a solid story to be moved along with more new ideas. This is a common problem.”
“One very memorable verse for me is a song ‘Love & Honesty’ in which lyricist Albert Leung put down ‘Be cats, Be dogs. Why be lovers….’ He then went on to justify a very ingenious story of a pair of goodbye lovers. This song is almost a case study for any diamond in the raw who wants to make things happen with lyrics. However, you can read theory but cannot read experience. Keep looking and keep writing are my advice.”
Talking naturally high with an eloquent artist like Chris Shum is my special of the day. Success is not a matter of co-incidence for artists. The gamble with their career or life is the big courage that I cannot anywhere get near. Lyric writing is a great art as much as a craft.
