One of the most popular Cantonese songs dealing with the loss of local heritage, in this case to urban renewal plans.
“Wedding Invitation Street,” sung by Kay Tse, is one of the most popular Cantonese songs dealing with the loss of local heritage, in this case to urban renewal plans. The ballad opens with the melancholy sounds of funeral bells, signifying the death of Wedding Invitation Street, as the accompanying piano chords further sadden the atmosphere while the reminiscing chorus pulls at our heartstrings. Lee Tung Street, referred to by locals as Wedding Invitation Street, was once the place where people purchased wedding invitations, fai chun, red packets, and Chinese calendars. Its demolition in 2005 caused indelible damage to Hong Kong’s cultural heritage, and many have questioned the government’s decision to redevelop the area – which was like a preserved image of old Hong Kong – for mere economic benefits. The song successfully captures the emotions felt (and always to be felt) by the Hong Kongese regarding the disappearance of Lee Tung Street, adopting the perspective of a girl who laments the loss of past loves and the changes brought by time.
The author, Wyman Wong, is one of the pillars of the local music industry. He frequently makes use of literary resources in his songs, and "Wedding Invitation Street" is no exception. The line “美滿甲天下” is a deviation of the phrase “桂林山水甲天下,” which can be literally translated into: “Guilin’s scenery is the world’s best.” The origin of this phrase has been subjected to passionate debate, but the earliest record of it is in a poem by Huang Zhenggong written during the Song Dynasty, in which the poet expresses his high expectations for students from the Guangxi Province. He encourages them to show the world their academic excellence, just like the scenery in the city of Guilin (part of Guangxi Province) is also excellent. Wyman Wong effectively rewrites literary phrases like this one to fit into the context of his song and enhance the atmosphere.
The author also works with diction and rhetoric to create a sense of antiquity and nostalgia, echoing the key themes of ephemera and the reminiscence of past glories. Parallel constructions are used in an attempt to embellish the language, as in: “階磚不會拒絕磨蝕 窗花不可幽禁落霞.” This literally means, “The bricks will never refuse to be rusted, and the lattices can never imprison sunset.” An accurate translation of the source text is quite difficult, and no translation, I believe, can do the original justice, since rhetorical aspects have to be partly sacrificed in order to fulfill the grammatical requirements of the target language.
“Wedding Invitation Street” remains immensely popular in Hong Kong and in other Asian countries. It has won singer Kay Tse numerous accolades, among them Best Song of the Year, making her one of the most influential Cantopop female singers of the 2000s. Multiple singers have produced their own covers of “Wedding Invitation Street” since its release in 2008. Nonetheless, it remains a rarity in Cantopop, since it deals with a more serious topic – cultural preservation – rather than light-hearted or cheesy themes.
