What songs do the crazy rich Asians listen to? If we are to believe the choice of tunes heard in the soundtrack of the motion picture titled Crazy Rich Asians, we can say that they like their sounds, old and familiar, alternately fun and sentimental and when played loud, are mostly about money. Then because these crazy, rich Asians are based in Singapore, their songs have either English or Chinese lyrics and done by artists of assorted styles and nationalities.
Heading the music line-up in the picture based on the bestselling novel by Kevin Kuan is Waiting For Your Return performed by Jasmine Chan. While it seems like the crazy, rich Asians could not care less about an old patriotic Chinese song, I thought it was nice of director Jon M. Chu to include the controversial Waiting For Your Return in the soundtrack. This was composed by Hua Shen and Hong Zhao Yuan back in the 1930s and was first performed by the actress Zhou Xuan in a film.
I think of this song as the Chinese version of our Babalik Ka Rin, a composition by Constancio de Guzman and which is also from the 1930s. Both are love songs that are in truth, veiled expressions of the people’s desire for the return of their liberators, the freedom fighters in China and Gen. Douglas MacArthur in the Philippines and an end to the then ongoing wars.
Waiting For Your Return was banned from performance by China and later even by Taiwan for many years. It was, however, revived most successfully by the huge singing star Teresa Teng and became a massive hit. Before technology made it easy for us to listen to those Cantopop idols anywhere we are, a search for Chinese pop songs would most likely yield recordings by the sweet-voiced Teresa and most of the time that song on tap would be Waiting For Your Return.
Another old tune was selected to be the background music to one of the most eye-popping scenes and certainly the most romantic moment in the picture. This was a wedding ceremony that costs millions of dollars and in which the bride walked on water in a waterproof gown. But I do not think anybody in the audience cared about that, filled as they were with so much love radiating from the players of the film unfolding on the screen.
Helping convey the sweet sentiments of the scene to the moviegoers is the much-loved song Can’t Help Falling In Love sung by the soulful Kina Grannis. This was composed by Luigi Creatore, George David Weiss and Hugo Peretti, based on an old French tune, Plaisir d’Amour by Jean-Paul-Egide Martini. We know it better as a hit by Elvis Presley from the movie Blue Hawaii in 1957. After the way it was used in Crazy Rich Asians, you can now be sure that you will come across this song in a lot of future weddings.
And since the picture is all about being crazy and rich, the soundtrack includes several “money” songs, most notably Money, the Berry Gordy composition sung by Barrett Strong, that began the Motown label way back in the late ‘50s. It was so popular that it was covered by the mopped-topped band called The Beatles in one of its early albums. It is performed in Crazy Rich Asians by Cheryl K with rap by the scene-stealing actress and hip-hop star Awkwafina.
You might also hear snatches of Money Made Me Do It by Post Malone and 2 Chainz; Money Trees by Kendrick Lamar and Jay-Z; Money On My Mind by Sam Smith; Money Maker by Ludacris and Pharrell Williams; Bitch Better Have My Money by Rihanna; Dirty Sexy Money by David Guetta and Afrojack ft. Charlie XCX and of course, the ultimate “I want money” song, Madonna’s Material Girl by Sally Yeh.
All done in Chinese versions from many years ago but with very recognizable melodies are Wo Yao Ni De AI; the rousing boogie-woogie jump blues number I Want Your Love, I Want You To Be My Baby; Give Me A Kiss, which sounds like Georgia Gibbs’ Seven Lonely Days; and Coldplay’s Yellow, performed by Katherine Ho from The Voice; and which I noticed sounds really odd with Chinese words.
I cannot say that this soundtrack is representative of the sounds of Singapore today. Neither is the picture. But both are thoroughly enjoyable, overfilling romps.