Fa Ru Xue

Infobox Song
Name = Fa Ru Xue
髮如雪


Caption =
Artist = Jay Chou
from Album = November's Chopin
Released = November 1, 2005
Recorded =
Length = 5:00
Genre = C-pop
Label = Sony BMG
Writer = Jay Chou
Vincent Fang
Producer =
Misc = Extra tracklisting
Album = November's Chopin
Type = studio
prev_track = "Lan Se Feng Bao"
藍色風暴
prev_no = 2
this_track = "Fa Ru Xue"
髮如雪
track_no = 3
next_track = "Hei Se Mao Yi"
黑色毛衣
next_no = 4

Fa Ru Xue (zh-tsp|t=髮如雪|s=发如雪|p=fā rú xuě) is a song by Taiwanese artist Jay Chou.

The song

Fa Ru Xue is the third track on Jay Chou's album, November's Chopin. Fa Ru Xue translates as, Hair Like Snow. The title may seem odd to non-Chinese speakers, the song also makes numerous references to Chinese philosophy, including past lives, reincarnation, and mythology, which leaves many non-Chinese fans confused when they read the translation of the lyrics. This confusion does little to impact the overall popularity of the song. The song was acclaimed by many of Jay's fans and critics, it is known to be one of Jay's best works. The lyrics for the song was written by Vincent Fang, Jay's lyricist and good friend. The lyrics, which were written before the actual composition, earned Fang his 6th straight nomination for Best Lyricist at Taiwan's 17th annual Golden Melody Awards.

The music video

The music video begins somewhere in medieval China, portraying a respected warrior, and his lover, a beautiful maiden in red. The two lovers are shown embracing on a couch, with a maidservant pouring drinks in the background. As the video progresses, the warrior hears music being played by another woman on the lower level of the building. He leaves the lady in red as he goes to seek the maiden playing music, who is contrastingly dressed in white. Then the warrior and the white lady are seen embracing, enjoying each other's company. The white lady is shown drinking tea, then the scene switches to a flashback. The lady in red, presumably jealous, is shown poisoning the white lady's tea. The white lady drinks the tea and dies in the warrior's arms. The warrior immediately suspects the red lady and makes an attempt to kill her with his sword, but he relents and she embraces him with tears in her eyes. During this portion, the video switches between shots of Jay singing, and shots of the actual story.

The video then progresses ahead to modern day Taiwan. It shows the same warrior, but as a modern day businessman, seemingly melancholy, in the company of a girlfriend (the same girl as the red lady). Then she and the background melt away, and he is shown in an elevator leaving work. A businesswoman (the white lady) enters the elevator and both struck by a sense of familiarity although they do not speak. When they exit the building, the man finds the courage to go up and talk to her, but right when he is about to do so, his current girlfriend arrives, stopping him. The other girl gets into her boyfriend's car, and his girlfriend drags him away. He looks back one last time, and the other girl sees him in the mirror (of the car). Then someone's hand reaches for hers and takes it (in the car) and the video ends.

The music video was directed by Jay himself as the first video he directed.

References