THE GENRE PROJECT - January 14 - Campus Folk

Genre of the Day - Campus Folk

Album of the Day - 之乎者也 by Lo Ta-Yu (1982)

Today’s genre was completely contextually different from anything else I’ve covered thus far in this series, and personally relevant as a student myself. One realization of this project for me is that there are so many modes from which we can study and appreciate music, but the lens of global politics is not particularly one I’d anticipated, even though now that I’ve covered today’s genre I feel it’ll come up a lot more throughout the project. I’m certainly welcoming of this, though, as I’m actually an international relations major at my university and a music industry minor, so this intersection is definitely my bread and butter. 

The genre at hand today is campus folk—no, not that shitty self learning guitarist friend who insists on pulling it out and croaking out something sentimental as every function winds down—but a very niche portrait of a particular generation living though profound yet subtle political changes and an uncertain future (certainly sounds familiar). This genre was developed out of the folk songs of Taiwanese university students in the 1970s during a period of malaise following the national upset over Taiwan being expelled from the United Nations in favor of mainland China as the sole representative of the nation and the US gradually breaking its pro-Taiwan policies and establishing greater diplomatic ties with the PRC. The currents of international and domestic malaise are always woven deeply into the fabric of popular music, the most obvious example in the US being the EDM and club pop explosion of the late 2000s in the US essentially tied to the recession. It’s fascinating to see what types of directions that youth go in in periods of widespread uncertainty and downswings and the creativity it engenders. In the face of what was unfolding in Taiwan during their university years, students sought to assert a distinctive identity musically and pulled from the idealism of American folk revival to do so. 

Today’s top album is from influential singer Lo Ta-yu, and while this album comes from 1982 which is after the main timeframe of campus folk, he’s still considered a great contributor to the genre—and the shoe truly fits, as he quit his own tenure in school to be a physician to make music. It’s truly unfortunate that I don’t understand any Chinese nor is there an easily accessible translation of this album, because I’m sure understanding the lyrics would've enhanced my appreciation for it even more. Either way, this album captures a lovely variety of moods, clearly drawing from American rock and other music trends but putting his own spin on it with rich, multilayered music. Lo Ta-yu varies his musical talent and grasp on many styles deftly across the album, from the Love Hangover-esque build and sudden disco release of 錯誤 (Mistake), to the melancholy psych-rock of 鄉愁四韻 (Four Nostalgic Rhymes), and the Elton John-esque balladry of 搖籃曲 (Lullaby). This was an excellent album. Not only is it a testament to well-done genre hopping, but also the power of young, thoughtful musicians to capture generational dissatisfaction and release it through music.