Random Thoughts[1][2] (Chinese: 胡思亂想), alternatively Thinking Here and There[3] or Wondering Music,[4] is the seventh Cantonese studio album by Chinese recording artist Faye Wong. It was released through Cinepoly Records on 29 June 1994. It confirmed her move into alternative music and covers songs by the Cocteau Twins, whose influence she readily acknowledged.[5]
The album cover was unusual for its time: instead of any image of the singer's face, the main cover design shows overlapping phrases such as "no new images" and "no photo booklet" in Chinese characters of varying size, all of which have some strokes missing but allowing the phrase still to be discerned.[2][5] An alternative cover was all white except for the artist and album name, the latter in the same partial characters. The cover was the first to include the Mandarin name 王菲 (Wang Fei).[2]
Songs
The title track "Random Thoughts" is a cover of the Cocteau Twins' "Bluebeard". Track 5, "Know Oneself and Each Other", covered their song "Know Who You Are at Every Age", which was likewise from their 1993 album Four-Calendar Café. Track 3, "Heaven and Earth", is a cover of Taiwanese singer Phil Chang's 1993 hit "Well-Intentioned" (用心良苦).
"Dream Lover" (sometimes translated "Person in a Dream") is a cover of The Cranberries' "Dreams". It was a successful hit single, and was featured in Wong Kar-wai's critically acclaimed film Chungking Express in which Faye Wong also starred. She also recorded a Mandarin version, "Elude", on Sky.[6] Both versions are still played frequently in Chinese media.[7]
↑Shane Homan, Access All Eras: Tribute Bands and Global Pop Culture, 2006, p228. "Faye Wong (1993) 100,000 Whys? Hong Kong: Cinepoly. Faye Wong (1993) No Regrets. Hong Kong: Cinepoly. Faye Wong (1994) Mystery. Hong Kong: Decca/Cinepoly. Faye Wong (1994) Random Thoughts. Hong Kong: Cinepoly."
↑Anthony Fung and Michael Curtin, "The Anomalies of Being Faye (Wong): Gender Politics in Chinese Popular Music", International Journal of Cultural Studies 5, no. 3 (September 2002) 'Wu Shi Lun Shung' (Thinking Here and There, 1994),
↑Faye Wong is all woman – Taipei TimesArchived 6 October 2013 at the Wayback Machine Max Woodworth 2004 "Wong also had a brief fascination for the ethereal music of the Cocteau Twins in the mid-1990s, which manifested itself in three covers of the Scottish band's songs on Wondering Music (胡思亂想, 1994) and collaborations with the band on Impatience (浮躁, 1996), and Faye Wong (快樂不快樂, 1997).
