Womxnly

"Womxnly"
Single by Jolin Tsai
from the album Ugly Beauty
ReleasedDecember 26, 2018 (2018-12-26)
GenrePop
Length3:11
Label
Composer(s)
  • Razor Chiang
  • Jolin Tsai
Lyricist(s)
Producer(s)Razor Chiang
Music video
Womxnly on YouTube

"Womxnly" (Chinese: 玫瑰少年; pinyin: Méiguī shàonián; lit. 'Rose Boy') is a song by Taiwanese singer Jolin Tsai, included on Jolin's 14th original studio album, Ugly Beauty. The song was composed by Razor Chiang and Jolin Tsai, written by Jolin Tsai and Ashin, and produced by Razor Chiang. The song was released on December 26, 2018, by Sony Music Taiwan and Eternal Music Production (凌時差音樂).[1] The song won the Song of the Year award at the 30th Golden Melody Awards.[2]

Background and release

In fact, including myself, since I was a child, we have been looking for approval from everyone; does society approve of me, do my teachers approve of me, do my friends approve of me, do my family approve of me? Then we are taught what is normal and what is right. However, we are seldom taught to have a tolerant heart and learn to accept. Start by accepting yourself, and then accept all the possibilities. Maybe, just because something special happens to you, it doesn't mean that you're weird, and when you have someone to talk to, that's the moment you start to accept yourself. I believe that when Yung-chih was telling his mom about what happened to him at school, he was actually doubting himself. So his story also encourages everyone to be more tolerant and to recognize yourself first, maybe you are different, but so what.

——Jolin Tsai talks about Yeh Yung-chih[3]。

The title of the song refers to Yeh Yung-chih (葉永鋕), also known by the nickname "Rose Boy" (玫瑰少年), who attended Gaoshu Junior High School in Pingtung County, Taiwan, and was often bullied by his classmates due to his gender non-conformity.[4][5] In April 2000, Yeh Yung-chih was found lying in a pool of blood with serious injuries and died after being taken to the hospital. The incident led to extensive discussions about gender equality education in Taiwan.[6]

In November 2015, Jolin Tsai invited Hou Chi-jan to film a documentary series called "We're All Different" (不一樣又怎樣), which included Yeh Yung-chih in her "Play World Tour".[7] Jolin Tsai has spoken out for the LGBT community many times with her influence in Mandopop culture. Speaking about Yeh Yung-chih, Tsai said, "It's not just about being gay, when you know yourself and you don't live for others, you can reach out and help the people around you."[8]

In July 2017, Jolin Tsai revealed an offer to Mayday member Ashin to collaborate on the album Ugly Beauty.[9] In July 2018, Jolin Tsai stated that Ashin had finished writing the lyrics for the song, stating, "Ashin wrote this song very well, it should be included in the main album, and I've been wanting to try different interpretations."[10] In December 2018, Jolin Tsai released her 14th original studio album, Ugly Beauty, which included the song "Womxnly", which was co-written by Ashin.[11]

Creation and recording

The song "Womxnly", inspired by "Yeh Yung-chih incident", was co-composed by Razor Chiang and Jolin Tsai, co-written by Jolin Tsai and Ashin, with lyrics by Yiru Chen (陳怡茹), and arranged and produced by Razor Chiang.[12] The song's arrangement is a fusion of Southeast Asia instruments, tropical house and dancehall reggae styles, and is an emotionally delicate song with strong textual intensity.[13]

Jolin Tsai has always been concerned about human rights movements such as LGBT rights and same-sex marriage, and the song speaks out for various sexual orientations and appearances. Jolin Tsai says, "Don't live in a social framework, femininity is not necessarily bad, masculinity is not necessarily what you want to pursue, no matter if it's a male or female, there is no set framework for gender identity.[14]

Music video

In February 2019, Jolin Tsai released the music video for the song "Womxnly" which was directed by Ryan Parma. In the music video, Jolin Tsai and her dancers are dressed in two sets of suits and casual clothes that represent "being bound" and "being yourself" respectively. With dance moves and facial expressions, the music video is shot in long shots to express the lyrics of the song, "Who puts who's soul into who's body, and who puts who's body into a prison to imprison themselves".[15]

On December 5 of the same year, the music video for the song "Womxnly" was ranked #6 on the 2019 Taiwan YouTube Hot Music Video Chart.[16]

Awards

On May 12, 2019, the song "Womxnly" won the 2018 Top Ten Singles of the Chinese Musicians Exchange Association.[17] On May 15 of the same year, the 30th Golden Melody Awards announced the finalists, and the song "Womxnly" was shortlisted for the Song of the Year Award.[18] On June 29 of the same year, the song "Womxnly" won the Song of the Year Award at the 30th Golden Melody Awards, making Jolin Tsai the singer with the most number of wins of the award in history.[19] On December 4 of the same year, Kiel Tutin won the Best Choreography at the Mnet Asian Music Awards for his choreography in the music video of the song "Womxnly".[20]

Live performance

On January 5, 2019, Jolin Tsai participated in the Taiwan Television of the "2019 Superstar Red & White Artistic Performance Awards" (2019超級巨星紅白藝能大賞) organized by Taitra and performed the song "Womxnly" at the event.[21] On August 30 of the same year, Jolin Tsai participated in the "2019 iQIYI Scream Night - Chinese Songs Music Gala" and sang the song "Womxnly" at the event.[22] On December 14 of the same year, Jolin Tsai participated in the "13th Music Festival Migu Hui" and sang the song "Womxnly" at the event.[23] 2023 On June 5, 2012, Jolin Tsai appeared on the Japanese YouTube music channel "The First Take" and sang the song "Womxnly" on the channel.[24][25]

The song was covered by previously eliminated contestants on the Chinese show Sisters Who Make Waves in 2020, representing feminist resilience. However, lines alluding to Yeh and LGBT issues were removed, representing a broader wave of restrictions on gender expression in Chinese television.[26][27] Similarly, when Zhou Shen (who had faced himself faced gendered bullying over his high-pitched voice) and GAI covered the song on April 20, 2022 (which happened to be the 22nd anniversary of Yeh's death), they replaced the lyrics about gender non-conformity with a rap verse from GAI, leading to criticism from fans that he had culturally appopriated the song to change the focus from LGBT struggles to the duo's life.[28][29] During Tsai's tour of China in 2023, she was not allowed to perform the song in Changsha and could not use a rainbow spotlight when performing in Guangzhou.[30][31]

Production team

  • Yiru Chen: Lyrics[32]
  • Razor Chiang: Harmonization
  • Jolin Tsai: Harmony
  • Wenjun Chen: Recording Engineer
  • Platinum Studio: Recording Studio
  • Luca Pretolesi: Mixing Engineer
  • Andy Lin: Assistant Mix Engineer
  • Studio DMI: Mixing Studio

See also

References

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