you, there: listen to your mother's words

Yes, the video is bluish and the chorus a bit too rock-ballad, but this song belongs in the ear-diet of all those with moms that constantly feed that ear.

Argonaut Elementary, 7:30 pm on a mid-May Friday: the cowbell commands all Chinese schoolers to convene. In preparation for the graduation show, Lin (or Wang or Hsu or Wu) Laoshi has us listen to Jay Chou's "聽媽媽的話" (listen to your mom) for homework. Stepho played the drums, Julianne strummed, I tickled the plastic ivories, Jonny rapped (ever the T-pop connoisseur),  and Mandy/Derek/et al did interpretive dance-clapping. Later on, in high school, the video clip fit nicely into every Mother's Day Project assigned to us by Mrs. Fan.

It's nowhere near May or Mother's Day, but I've got the song on loop. It's the story behind it that gets me: Jay Chou's parents divorced when he was young, and he was raised by his mother. She sent him to piano and cello lessons, and supported him after he graduated high school with grades too shoddy for university. When Jay's father cursed his muddled musician of a son, his mother shielded him, patiently prodding him forward. Jay Chou is Taiwan's pride today. He credits his mother for her unwavering faith in his talents, for nurturing and pruning them until unlikelihoods unfolded into success.

周杰倫有一首歌讓我特別感動，就是“聽媽媽的話”。我們小時候每個星期五晚上去Argonaut上中文學校。有一天，我們班在準備畢業表演。老師叫我們一起唱“聽媽媽的話”。 有些向朋友打鼓，有些彈吉他，有些跳舞。我幫他們彈鋼琴。媽媽們聽我們好像挺高薪！

從那年以後，我每一個母親節會給我的媽媽彈周杰倫這首歌。“聽媽媽的話”真的很有意思，因為周杰倫在謝謝他自己的媽媽不停的支持他，雖然他想當音樂家。他的爸爸不理他的時候，他的媽媽一直站在他身邊。周杰倫成為了一歌很棒的音樂家：他所有的歌曲是自己寫的。他還拍了一步非常好看電音叫“不能說的秘密”；我常常聽到年輕人學他彈琴。據我所知，他屬於台灣的英雄！我很高興他記得好好謝謝他的母親。我有時候忘記謝謝我自己的父母保持希望。