By Skye Tan May 01, 2005 (The New Paper, Singapore)
BILLIONS of people have been on David Tao's mind. You, me, him and her.
And it's because of 'a problem that has been around for thousands of years'.
What is affecting the 36-year-old Taiwanese singer?
Click to see larger image
It's not his love life.
'There isn't one clear prospective partner who stands out right now, though there are many fine prospects. The question is also whether I am ready to commit,' he told The New Paper.
(And for you sharp-eyed fans, no, the Katrina attributed as the lyricist for the track 2Night on his new album is not the same Katrina he wrote a song about.)
It's not the sales of his recent album The Great Leap 2005, which had a January release date, which meant that he was not eligible for this year's Golden Melody Awards in Taiwan.
David claimed to be completely comfortable with the latter, an oddity in his eight-year career.
'I know of people who had brought forward their album release date to qualify for the nominations but if I had done that, it would have compromised the album,' he said.
And the album has already gone platinum (15,000 copies) locally.
So what is it?
Well, it's something David calls 'cultural division'.
'I have been aware of this for some time. It's about the Chinese people. We are so many but we are so divided. One of the album's tracks, The Art Of War, is about this,' he said.
The recent anti-Japanese sentiment raging across China bothered him too.
'It's a political issue but I don't see it that way. I see it more as a humanity issue. A war doesn't have to be fought with guns, it can be fought with prejudice,' he said passionately.
NOT ASSIMILATED
Not quite something you expect from a celebrity.
But then, David has never completely assimilated into Mandopop's world of common bubblegum personas and lyrics.
He knows what sells, he confessed freely, but 'to change and pander to the market is to lose oneself'.
His fourth album title's allusion to China's historic modernisation efforts is obvious.
And Ghost, David's rock delivery of how 'politics is a farce', has already been censored in China, he shared.
Is the US-bred Chinese trying to be the socially-conscious Bono of Mandopop, we asked?
'I'm not modelling myself on any one and I'm not trying to carve out a niche,' said the John Lennon fan who grew up listening to The Beatles.
'I'm who I am. I'm what I am and I write about what I care for.'
David's aware that his socially-opinionated songs may be 'hard to accept' for some fans but he rather risk lower popularity than just write 'a song that people can sing, when they are drunk in KTV'.
'I'm trying to give people strength, some stimulus of sorts, create that spark that causes them to think about things they have never thought about before... I want to be remembered as someone who was not just a pop musician.'
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Last edited by chiu_pat on 2005-5-2 at 22:30 ]
