Lara (Tan) is from Singapore and her version of Puppet on a string (Duo qian lang) is on this gorgeous EP.Lara's Chinese name is Ling Ling, and it's common practice that the singers use a Chinese name and add an English nickname.
The title of the song translates as 'Romantic (or emotional) man', completely different from the next Chinese version that will be featured here soon (see below).
The song is sung in Mandarin, one of the main Chinese national languages.
The Trailers were a popular sixties bands in Singapore in their own right and they covered classics like You only live twice and Lara's Theme (!).
Lara and other Asian singers recorded many coverversions by singers like Nancy Sinatra and Marianne Faithfull. A recommended LP/CD is the compilation 'Girls in the Garage vol. 9' on the Romulan label (I kid you not Startrek fans).
It features Asian versions of Fever, My boy Lollipop, As tears go by and also the a-side tracks of the featured Lara EP. As far as I know 'Puppet on a string' has not yet been issued on CD.
櫻櫻 - 多棈郎 (CEP 3006)Tracklist EP:- Run for your life
- Visions
- Puppet on a string
- Sugar Town (A Lee hazlewood classic)
Thanks to Peter for the translations
recommended links:
- Lara's discograpy in pictures
- Chinese versions of Eurovision songs = A word doc. about Chinese Eurovision covers I know of. It has record info and some picture sleeves.
- The difference between Mandarin and Cantonese
There are three Mandarin versions I know of. Lara's, another by Betty Chung which I will feature later and one by Sakura Teng and the Quests which I am still looking for..
Lara's Lyrics:
