Candidates vying for public office in the Nov. 29 elections are running a fierce race for votes and to get an edge on their competitors, many are seeking to get a boost by picking theme songs for their campaigns they hope will resonate with voters.
For example, Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Taipei mayoral candidate Sean Lien’s (連勝文) campaign office hired musician Huang Kuo-lun (黃國倫) — best-known for composing Hong Kong pop diva Faye Wong’s (王菲) hit I Do (我願意) — to compose a song titled Seeds of Hope (希望的種子) for Lien.
The song revolves around the theme that “seeds of hope” will be planted in the hearts of all Taiwanese that will then blossom into a better future, Lien’s office said.
Lien’s opponent, independent candidate Ko Wen-je (柯文哲), has opted for a creative collaboration, which involved Ko’s campaign team asking the public to submit songs and putting the entries in an online voting contest. The 20 songs that got the most votes were passed on to a panel of professionals, who selected the top 10 tracks to compile an album titled Taipei Melody (台北調) to accompany Ko’s mayoral bid.
Taoyuan County Commissioner John Wu (吳志揚), running for re-election on the KMT ticket, and his Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) opponent Cheng Wen-tsang (鄭文燦), also have campaign theme songs.
Wu picked two songs: I Believe (我相信) by singer Yang Pei-an (楊培安) and the classic children’s song The More We Get Together. His campaign team said that the first song contains encouraging, positive lyrics that click with Wu’s political style, while the latter symbolizes solidarity and merriness. The songs are meant to bolster Taoyuan residents’ confidence and pride in the county’s scheduled elevation to a special municipality next month, the team added.
Cheng, on the other hand, has chosen the Taiwanese song that DPP Chairperson Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) used for her presidential election campaign in 2012: Having You as Company (有恁作伴).”
Cheng’s campaign office said the song is upbeat with sincere lyrics that signify the awakening of the people as masters of their country. The song also describes how the public are dissatisfied with their current living situation, it added.
Among those vying for a seat on the Taoyuan County Council, several candidates have made interesting campaign song choices.
DPP candidate Chiu Su-fen (邱素芬) is using a Taiwanese song often played at green-camp campaign activities, She Is Our Baby (伊是咱的寶貝), in which “she” refers to Taiwan, while independent candidate Huang Ching-hsi selected (黃景熙) Bobee (保庇), which means “blessed by the gods” in Hoklo (commonly known as Taiwanese), and KMT Taoyuan County Councilor Wan Mei-ling (萬美玲) opted for pop singer Richie Jen’s (任賢齊) Going Again (再出發) as the theme of her re-election bid.
Huang Ching-ping (黃敬平), a political pundit-turned-KMT candidate, chose Jen’s Never Back Down (永不退縮) as his theme song, saying it reflects his determination to win over the electorate despite pessimism expressed at his chance of being elected due to his lack of resources and connections with Taoyuan.
DPP candidate Lu Lin Hsiao-feng (呂林小鳳) said she chose Life Is A Song (人生一首歌) as it echoes her view of going forward in life without fear of encountering storms.
Independent candidate Chen Sung-fu (陳松福) opted for A Hero Who Went Into Politics (參政的英雄), while the KMT’s Liu Mao-chun (劉茂群), who is competing in the same district as Lu Lin and Chen, is also using one of the Taoyuan commissioner’s choices I Believe.
The DPP’s Huang Chih-hsin (黃智信) said he is using the Sunflower movement’s theme song Island’s Sunrise (島嶼天光) to show his support for activism, while there are also many candidates who have written their own songs.
The Non-Partisan Solidarity Union’s Hung Che-chung (黃哲鐘), for example, is the lead singer in his campaig song, Taoyuan’s Future (桃園的未來), which has parts in Mandarin, Hoklo and Hakka.
Some candidates have made music videos for their campaign songs and put them on Youtube, such as People First Party’s Lai Li-chu (賴立竹), independent Liu An-chi (劉安祺) and the KMT’s Lee Po-fang (李柏坊).
Additional reporting by Hsieh Wu-hsiung and Cheng Shu-ting
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