The song "Olive Tree" was co-written by composer Li Taixiang and writer Sanmao. It was first published in 1979 and included in Chyi Yu's first solo album. In fact, this song was written earlier, about 1970 197 1 year. At that time, by chance, Li Taixiang met the writer Sanmao, and invited Sanmao to write lyrics and compose music. So, two people worked together to create some songs, and "Olive Tree" was one of them.
We are familiar with the lyrics of this song, the second paragraph of which is: "For the birds flying in the sky, for the streams flowing in the mountains, for the wide grasslands." Actually, this paragraph was not written by Sanmao. How was Sanmao written in the original? "For the birds in the sky, for the little donkey, for the Spanish girl, for the big eyes of Spain." Some friends know that Sanmao studied in Spain. Sanmao wrote "Olive Tree" and wrote his own Spanish complex. When Sanmao handed the lyrics of "Olive Tree" to Li Taixiang, Li Taixiang was not easy to handle. Why? Little donkey, big Spanish eyes, it's strange, and it's hard to match the melody. Of course, the version we are hearing now is not such lyrics. What's going on?
1974, Li Taixiang came back from studying in the United States and met a young girl named Yang Zuzan, who was a very important singer in the campus folk song movement in Taiwan Province at that time. When Yang Zuzan visited Li Taixiang's home, she heard the song "Olive Tree". Like Li Taixiang, she thought the little donkey was strange, so she started to change the lyrics to what we are hearing now. Later, San Mao heard this version sung by Chyi Yu, and she didn't agree with this modified lyrics. She said, "If wandering is just to see birds flying in the sky and the prairie, then there is no need to wander." However, we say that Yang Zuzan changed the lyrics so much that the image of this song has more possibilities, and it is no longer just Spain or Sanmao's own dream.
After the song is written, a suitable singer is needed to sing it. At that time, there was a campus folk song competition in Taiwan Province called the Golden Rhyme Award, the second Golden Rhyme Award in 1978. Chyi Yu, then a senior student, won the championship, and Li Taixiang happened to be one of the judges. Chyi Yu's ethereal voice was exactly what Li Taixiang wanted, so the song "Olive Tree" was handed to Chyi Yu. 1979, Li Taixiang's first album "Olive Tree" tailored for Chyi Yu was published, and the song "Olive Tree" was officially released to the public.
At that time, Taiwan Province made a film called "Happy Face", starring Hu Huizhong. Some songs in the album "Olive Tree" have been selected as theme songs and episodes. Friends who have seen this film should be impressed. There is a scene in which Hu Huizhong sings the song "Olive Tree". Can you tell from Hu Huizhong's lip-synching, or "Why are you wandering? Why are you wandering far away? " But Chyi Yu's voice is "Why Wander? Why are you wandering? " What's going on here? The song "Olive Tree" failed to pass the censorship in Taiwan Province at that time. What is the reason? The problem lies in the words "wandering far away". In the view of the Taiwan Province authorities at that time, wandering far away was an allusion to the Kuomintang's retreat to Taiwan Province. No choice, Chyi Yu re-recorded a version of the movie "Happy Face" and changed "Wandering Far Away" to "Wandering Away".
Even though it was banned for several years, the song "Olive Tree" still spread among young people in Taiwan Province. We say that this song is popular for no reason. In Taiwan Province in the 1970s, politics was closed, and young people were imprisoned on an island. The song "Olive Tree" gave young people in Taiwan Province an inspiration, inspiring them to flourish and pursue freedom and distance.