Chinese singer-songwriter Pu Shu: Pure forever

By APD writer Zu Li

While performing the song Bidding Farewell for a recorded show, Pu Shu, a critically acclaimed Chinese singer-songwriter, lowered his head, turned his back to the audience and began sobbing. It was a manifestation of his loneliness and sensitivity, though it might not be understood by others.

Talented as he is, Pu Shu was not prolific throughout his musical career.

In 1999, Pu Shu, a young man who seemed to be out of step with the world, released his first album I Went to 2000. The album was so popular that it was played by both fancy clubs and corner stores. Four years later, his second album Born Like a Summer Flower was released. This album again caused a sensation, and the year 2003 was even named Pu Shu Year by media. However, instead of striking while the iron is hot, his third album did not come until 14 years later.

His hits like Where Have All the Flowers Gone and Birch Forest were played almost everywhere throughout the 2000s and sung widely by college students. No doubt the first two successful albums had brought fame and won thousands of fans to him, but he was not happy being a celebrity. He had to attend various shows and social engagements that he hated. That kind of life took its toll on Pu Shu. He said he felt like a walking dead wearing fancy clothes. His eyes were dimmed and his hair became whiter and thinner. Eventually, he quit his career as a superstar after having suffered a serious mental illness.

Over the following years, he managed to make peace with himself and returned to the stage with his third album Orion in 2017. His experience is just like what he wrote in the song Ordinary Path created for Chinese popular writer Han Han’s directorial debut, The Continent. The lyrics go like this:

I once crossed mountains and seas

And passed through sea of people;

Everything I used to own

Now is gone like a puff of smoke;

I was upset, disappointed and lost

Until I know that ordinary is the only answer

We love Pu Shu, for he sings out the life and freedom that are desired but lost by us. Despite that time goes by, Pu Shu remains sincere and pure. He loves this world in his own way, by sticking to the principle of being true to himself. So from the views of his audience, he is forever the young man with a crystal clear voice and an innocent heart.

(ASIA PACIFIC DAILY)