Bright Light

Words by: Mei
The melody to accompany the words is an excerpt taken from "The Dark Tales" [聊齋新誌] musical, original music by Marco Wan.

Looking upon the nightly sky,
I see the stars are shinning bright
Smiling brightly, smiling back at you and me
And the silvery moon!

Brimming from afar
Under the darkness of night
Moonlight shinning, showing us the way
To walk with love and compassion. (2x)

And when the night has ended
The sun comes up to say: ‘Hi!’
# Happy sunrise, shimmeringly bright
A new day has just begun.

Repeat # (1x)

Writer’s Notes:
Back Stories
After finishing with the set up for the Vietnamese “Tet” New Year’s postings, I checked the calendar and noticed that this year’s Easter comes early because soon after the Tet festival and Valentine’s Day celebration, Ash Wednesday (Thứ Tư Lễ Tro) is fast approaching. February 17 is the official day to mark the beginning of the Lenten season (Mùa Chay) according to the Catholic Church. Thus, I thought of putting up a post for the occasion; however, I didn’t know what I will write about at the time.

At or around the same time, one of my Hai Trieu Am family friends talked her way into asking me to record songs in different languages. Note that I listen to music recording in different languages - not to sing them. But, my friend kept on assisting otherwise and even telling another friend (in rumoring) that I can sing. In trying to “avoid” the whole issue altogether, I fearfully made the promise without knowing what to do next.

In the end, Bright Light lyrics are the fruits of my labor in fulfilling a promise I made to friends. And that I was led along the way in preparation for Lent and looking forward to Easter Sunday (Lễ Phục Sinh).

Musical Influence
For those who are closed to me; especially, my friends and classmates back in Viet Nam, they knew too well that I was very passionate about Vietnamese stage plays and musicals “cai luong”, a mixture of Southern Vietnamese folk songs (vọng cổ) and classical form of Chinese Opera performances (cải lương tuồng cổ/cải lương Hồ Quảng). One even gave me the title of “Cô bé mê cải lương như cơm bửa.” Literally, it is to say that: “She’s the one who loves cai luong as rice meal.”

With the sagging decline in popularity of Vietnamese stage plays and musicals in the 90s, partly due to commercialized shows not up to par and partly due to the generation gap whereas the majority of the young became disinterested at the art form and that I personally disappointed at it myself, I once dreamt of taking on the task in reviving the popularity of the Vietnamese stage plays and musicals to give them the justification they desert to that of Broadway plays and musicals and probably a bit more.

Since early 2000s, I have re-engaged back to live stage performances by attending National Broadway Tour shows at a local theatre as well as watching live recordings of Hong Kong’s Cantonese theatre productions. Among the latter ones are The Dark Tales [聊齋新誌], A Sentimental Journey [劍雪浮生] and Only You [天之驕子]. All were produced by Spring-Time Stage Productions. A Sentimental Journey in particular had me being intrigued to Cantonese operatic (粵劇 yuet kek) history of the art and its performances such as Princess Changping [帝女花] Dai Nui Fa, The Legend of the Purple Hairpin [紫釵記], Dream of the West Chamber [西樓錯夢] Sai Lau Chor Mung and so on.

Being the first Cantonese stage production I ever watched, The Dark Tales musical left much of an imprint in my mind. Together with the personal fondness of the Southern Vietnamese folk songs and classical Chinese Opera, it is only natural for the melody to accompany the above words be an excerpt taken from The Dark Tales [聊齋新誌] stage production, original music by Marco Wan.

Inspiration for the Words
I like to go to work early and come home late. Huh? One would ask. Yes, it is true! As much as I love my job, honestly to say, I tried not to time the hour that I would come home from work late in the afternoon because it doesn’t always work the way I have planned :( And that, I rather try not to plan so I can come home early :P

With that being said, the sky is (still) dark on my way to and from work; especially, in the winter. There were days with no stars and the moon is hidden behind the clouds. Yet, there were also days stars are shinning bright and the moon can be seen as it is lit up in different shapes. Either at the break of dawn or as the sunset at dusk, the bright red orange sun hovering at the horizon is oh so pretty. Those images of scenery are the foundation from which I drew the words for Bright Light.

Also, there was a song I initially think of for reference in writing Bright Light’s short set of verses. It’s The Moon Represents My Heart [月亮代表我的心], originally sang in Chinese Mandarin by Teresa Teng (鄧麗君). I personally think of the song as a love song for everyone, among friends, family and not necessary between a man and a woman in term of a romantic love alone.

Thoughts and Reflections
Leaving the words open for the interpretation, I only want to share my thoughts and reflections about them. . .

Looking back, those truly are loving words deep rooted in my faith, my beliefs and values.

The stars, the sun, the moon, the sky, this universe, the seen and the unseen, bright light is always there guiding the way, shining in light and out of the darkness. It represents an eternal flame of everlasting love. When one touches it, it grows near.