Yamaha Electone ELS-02C arrangement of the Taiwanese evergreen hit, 流水年華. This was a Taiwanese pop cover of the 70s Japanese hit, あなただけを (Anata Dake O).
The usual happened. Again.
Was supposed to be working on my next retro HK TV theme song but ended up getting side-tracked. What happened was, out of the blue, I experienced this sudden curiosity about retro Taiwanese songs, particularly those from the 70s and 80s. (Tai Wan Lao Ge (台灣老歌), as they call it) Did a quick search in YouTube, listened to a few, and before I knew it, I was hooked. I’ve been listening non-stop since two weeks ago.
Among all the hits I was re-introduced to, 流水年華left a particularly strong impression. As in, the breezy Pop Bossa version by the legendary Queen of Hats, Feng Fei Fei (鳳飛飛).
There is just so much that’s mesmerising about Feng Jie’s version, be it her perfect articulation or her immaculate style during live performances. The short of it, I put everything else aside so as to have a go at arranging her version for the Electone Stagea.
As for the final arrangement, I don’t think my sound selection is able to fully capture the sweetness or naturalism of Feng Jie’s voice. But for a bit of enjoyable playing, I believe it suffices. I hope it does.
Note: Other than Feng Fei Fei, 流水年華 was covered by many other Taiwanese singers over the years too. From Liu Wen Zheng to Tsai Chin, to an R&B version by Harlem Yu.
What’s interesting is that the song is actually Japanese in origin. Known as あなただけを (Anata Dake O) and the signature song of Aoi Teruhiko, one of Japan’s earliest boy band singers, the original Japanese version has a distinctively happier beat and feel.
What’s doubly interesting is that the original Japanese lyrics tell quite a different story too. It’s a straightforward serenade asking for the love of a girl. The Taiwanese Mandarin version, on the other hand, is about one’s longing for a lover who’s far away. And patiently awaiting that lover’s return.
Note 2: Now, this is pure coincidence. Frightening coincidence! The Japanese name of the song translates to “Only You,” which was the title of my previous upload i.e. a homage to Far Cry 5. Joseph Seed a.k.a. The Father truly has mysterious ways of working on your mind!
Free Yamaha Electone Score & ELS-02C Registration Data for 流水年華 (Liu Shui Nian Hua)
Warning! The registration and Finale PrintMusic files are zip files! You might need to disable your virus/malware protection before downloading.
As I have disabled the function, do not right-click to save as. On PCs, simply click on the links and the file should auto download in a separate window.
Electone Registration Data for Stagea ELS-02C
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Arrangement Notes
- While researching with YouTube, I found over ten versions of 流水年華 / あなただけを! As highlighted above, this is the Pop Bossa version sang by Feng Fei Fei during one of her concerts.
- Pop Bossa. There’s a … drums preset by that name? That’s where I got most of my drum patterns from.
- I’ve included an adlib to give the song a slightly more jazzy, live concert feel. On this, the Super Articulation Saxophone that I used has a slight delay as well as a glide when accented. You need to be aware so as not to be caught off guard.
- I initially wanted to do the entire song using only Organ Flutes. That was … a truly terrible idea. However, traces of this awful notion remains …
- I have various “traps” scattered all over the stanzas. As in, slight variations in melody here and there. Please take note.
- My melody line isn’t completely the same as the one sang by Feng Fei Fei. Nor is it that of Aoi Teruhiko. It’s a hybrid. Please feel free to amend/modify, if you’re downloading my free score.
Full List of Downloadable Electone Scores and Stagea ELS-02C Registrations. ( English / 中文 / 日本語 )
Check out my other Electone posts here!
