''To Love'' () is a 2003 Mandarin album by Beijing-based
C-pop singer
Faye Wong.
''To Love'' is Wong's 19th official studio album, and the first to be released by
Sony Music Asia. it remains her last album to date.
Released on 7 November 2003, it has 13 tracks: 10 in
Mandarin
Mandarin or The Mandarin may refer to:
Language
* Mandarin Chinese, branch of Chinese originally spoken in northern parts of the country
** Standard Chinese or Modern Standard Mandarin, the official language of China
** Taiwanese Mandarin, Stand ...
and 3 in
Cantonese
Cantonese ( zh, t=廣東話, s=广东话, first=t, cy=Gwóngdūng wá) is a language within the Chinese (Sinitic) branch of the Sino-Tibetan languages originating from the city of Guangzhou (historically known as Canton) and its surrounding are ...
. Wong wrote the music and lyrics for 3 songs, the title track "To Love", "Leave Nothing" (不留) and "Sunshine Dearest" (陽寶), as well as the music for "April Snow" (四月雪).
Before the album's release, the Cantonese version of the title track "In the Name of Love" (假愛之名), with lyrics by
Lin Xi, was banned in some areas such as
mainland China
"Mainland China" is a geopolitical term defined as the territory governed by the People's Republic of China (including islands like Hainan or Chongming), excluding dependent territories of the PRC, and other territories within Greater China. ...
and
Malaysia
Malaysia ( ; ) is a country in Southeast Asia. The federation, federal constitutional monarchy consists of States and federal territories of Malaysia, thirteen states and three federal territories, separated by the South China Sea into two r ...
because the lyrics mentioned opium. Interviewed in December 2003, Wong said that she preferred her own Mandarin version of the song, which made no reference to drugs.
[China diva, Faye Wang, changes her Ice Queen image?]
Straits Times, 2 December 2003. Cited at China Daily. Retrieved 25 September 2010.
Wong said that her favourite track was "MV", written by
Nicholas Tse
Nicholas Tse Ting-fung (born 29 August 1980) is a Hong Kong actor, martial artist, singer, songwriter, entrepreneur and chef.EEGmusic.EEGmusic." ''Nicolas Tse profile.'' Retrieved on 22 April 2008. As multi talented celebrity, he became a TV ch ...
with whom she had had an on-off romance. She admitted that her song "Leave Nothing" was a reflection of her love life, but declined to identify the other persons referred to in the lyrics.
[
The album also includes "Passenger" (乘客), a cover of ]Sophie Zelmani
Sophie Zelmani (born 12 February 1972), later raised with the surname Edkvist, is a Swedish singer-songwriter who released her first single in 1995, called "Always You".
Early life
Zelmani was born in the suburbs of Stockholm in 1972. Her fathe ...
's "Going Home".
Asked about the pattern of 2-character titles for the songs, Wong said that this was not important, but reflects a modern habit of abbreviating things in everyday speech.[
]
Reception
''To Love'' was more successful than her previous self-titled album, both financially and critically. It sold more than one million copies in Asia within a week of its release, half of those within China. Afterwards, she held numerous successful concerts for over a year; ticket sales in Hong Kong set a new record.[
''Taipei Times'' called it a mixture of "saccharine pop and daring avant-garde".Faye Wong is all woman]
''Taipei Times'' 2004-11-24. "Her most recent album, To Love (將愛, 2003), is a mosh of her two recent artistic tendencies: saccharine pop and daring avant-garde."
Variations
"All-In" versions were issued with the music videos on VCD and DVD. These versions had a different cover with a portrait of Faye Wong printed in black on a red background.
Track listing
Tracks 1–10 are in Mandarin, and the last three are Cantonese.
Tracks 12 and 13 are Cantonese versions of tracks 1 and 5 respectively.
References
{{Authority control
2003 albums
Faye Wong albums
Sony Music Taiwan albums
Mandopop albums