The Research on “Taipei drifter” Image of Taiwanese Popular Songs and Folk Songs – since 1980 to 2005

Abstract

The population of Taiwan began to migrate in the 1980s. From 1977 to 1980, folk songs had begun popular on campus. This research used the Ministry of Culture and the Taiwan Golden Melody Award database to collect three Chinese folk songs and three popular songs about " Taipei drifter " from 1980 to 2005. The matching six songs were selected based on the definitions of scholars' folk songs and pop songs. This study explored the three viewpoints of expression, reflected social phenomena, and homesickness after Taipei drifter based on comparing major record companies' lyrics. The differences between folk songs and popular songs were also studied. The findings were: (1) The lyrics/literature of the three folk songs were presented in colloquial., which was easier for the middle and low-level people to understand. Folk songs' lyrics reflected the feelings of "homesickness" by describing the scenery of the hometown. For example, use Taipei's high-rise buildings as a contrast to highlight the simple life of the wayfaring strangers' hometown; The lyrics of folk songs were mostly presented from a male perspective. (2) The two Hokkien songs’ lyrics used the Native Language, "Han" which directly reflected that wayfaring strangers are pure and simple. (3) The lyrics of three popular songs’ lyrics were written in a gorgeous, story-like, and exaggerated way, and the lyrics were not easy to understand, which may lead to audience segmentation. Thus, popular songs might be less popular than folk songs. (4) In the 1980s, 1990s, and 2000s, there were obvious differences in writing lyrics and conveying the conception. In the 1980s, the lyrics were simple and rich in feeling; in the 1990s, the lyrics were written in a story-telling way with self-mocking; After 2000, the song's lyrics used the Parable way to express the "Taipei drifter" feelings. Those results can be a reference for educators.