From the makers of Take Me to Your Heart comes a cover of Yi Wu Suo You

Have you heard of Michael Learns to Rock? No? Well, then you’re not a Chinese middle school student. Or Chinese university student. And you’ve never put in your time as an English teacher at any level, in China. Or Vietnam. Or Cambodia. And you’ve successfully avoided being dragged into an English Corner.

Michael Learns to Rock (MLTR), a Danish group formed in the late-1980s and composed of pianist/singer Jascha Richter, drummer Kare Wanscher and guitarist Mikkel Lentz, never made much of a splash in Europe, but their slow melodies, painfully simple English lyrics and repeated verse-chorus-verse structure struck a chord with English-language students all across Asia.

Now the makers of Take Me to Your Heart (which is, itself, a cover of a Jacky Cheung song, "Wen Bie," a.k.a. "Goodbye Kiss") have released an English version of Cui Jian’s student anthem Yi Wu Suo You (一无所有, Nothing to My Name).

The lyrics to Yi Wu Suo You were never overtly political (see Chinese lyrics here, pinyin translation here and English translation here) – but it found appeal with disillusioned youth of the era. MLTR have kept the spirit of the song – it’s still about losing out in love – but changed the lyrics. The background music is almost exactly the same as the original.

The band is currently in China promoting their album. Their MySpace page mentions a stop in Beijing, but no word on any concert.

Listen to MLTR’s version (I Walk this Road Alone) here.

Listen to Cui Jian’s original version here.

Links and Sources
Taipei Times: Michael’s Learned to Rock
Michael Learns to Rock’s website