William Chong

This is a pared-down, guitar and voice number describing how beautiful the Lord’s sacrifice is.

 How Beautiful [3:06m]: Play Now | Play in Popup

How Beautiful – WILLIAM CHONG

How beautiful the rose, stranded in the earth
with thorns that pin it down
How beautiful the rose, buried yesterday:
it’s gonna rise again tomorrow

Now I know the reason He suffered for
And I know it’s not just a metaphor
What a way to bless us forevermore
Oh Lord I’ll worship you

For I’d have no protection
And no chance for correction
If not for His resurrection,
the most glorious thing there ever was
So this is my reaction
To praise Him for his actions
His undying love for me is still
the most glorious thing there ever was

How beautiful the Lamb seated on His throne
He was a sinless provider
How wonderful his plan, to sanctify our souls
And all we had to do was ask
Yes I know that I’m not worth dying for
Still I know His words now mean so much more
So I’ll sing to Him in praise once more
Oh Lord I’m in love with you

Yep. Another one, spent all of today doing this.

This one started as a lazy Saturday morning where two Chinese boys sat on the boot of their car with 2 guitars and tried to compromise their riffs and ideas.

Dennis: I think you must have lost interest, but it was written in my notebook so I had to finish it. I admire your concise under-3-minute approach and gave it a go. The lyrics I’ve also tried to be more flexible, i.e. less set-in-stone lyric sheet, more organic sand-castle approach.

Like all my songs, they’re loosely drawn from ideas and events in the lives around me. Mainly this one’s for everyone, including myself, who have loved and lost something (or someone) close to them at some stage in their life. It’s OK to be sad at times. Another Sunrise.

 Another Sunrise [2:43m]: Play Now | Play in Popup

Another Sunrise – WILLIAM CHONG

Lyrics:
Daylight savings cravings for the
Happy summer times together
Go as far as to bribe the weatherman

Here’s a question: have you ever
Had a fight you regret to this day
Wake up: you’ve just missed another sunrise

Roll down your window take note that the sky is
a playground for clouds to play
Your open-top 4-door drives along the parade
But your sorrow is leading the way
A sunrise takin’ your breath away

Daylight savings: feels like winter
Need the strength to walk on water
Go as far as to pray for the courage to smile again…
Could your sorrow be leading the way
Will it ever melt away

Wish that I had loved her better
Turning back regret for compassion
Couldn’t change the way the sky seems to
colour my face
and the way
that I feel
now she’s gone

Dress yourself in sad nostalgia
Scatter ashes ‘cross the water
Wake up: you won’t see another sunrise

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The three indicators of typical Christian Contemporary Music (CCM):

1. happy joy instrumentation. Lots of uplifting singers, they’re all so happy!
2. suspended chords (sus4, 9th chords, etc). Very good at heightening the excitement of listeners, especially in a packed CLC hall.
3. repeated refrains. Almost like writing lines afterschool-sort of repetition, except you *want* to repeat lines such as “MY REDEEMER LIVES” and “You are Holy” ad nauseam.

So yes! Here’s one I prepared earlier. I enjoyed lilting and singing. If I were a Pentecostal I’d include some blabbering tongues, hehe. Cheryl also provided backup vocals!

 Thats Our Jesus [3:58m]: Play Now | Play in Popup

(n.b.: All ye facebook users, click on into the actual site to access the podPress file.)

I like holidays/study breaks.

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That’s Our Jesus – WILLIAM CHONG

He came to save the world
He came to take us by the hand
He came to help us understand
He came to tell us all He was the Son of Man

He told us right from wrong
He told us about His land above
He told us who and how to love
He told us to spread the Word of God all around the world

When you love somebody
till your hands start to bleed, that’s our Jesus
When you take the fall
and then rise up again, that’s our Jesus
Didn’t matter that we despised Him
Didn’t matter that we rejected His love
He did it anyways

You’ll have enemies to face
Be persecuted for your faith
But you don’t have to be worried
Just remember that in our Saviour
We are all reborn again!

This one’s a birthday present too! A bit of a Matchbox 20 throwback, you know, when they were pumping out awesome tracks and before Rob Thomas opted for his rent-a-band.

It’s an uncommon first name but one that tends itself very well to a chorus – melodically pleasing to sing! The 2nd of a series of reducing optimism (see Head over Heels for the Backstreet Boy end of happiness).

 Under the Awning [4:14m]: Play Now | Play in Popup | Downloads 1

Under the Awning – WILLIAM CHONG
Lyrics

It’s three in the morning
She’s crouched in the corner again
The world passes on and
no one is making amends
Her daily endeavours, they seem lifeless at best
And all that she longs for is gone
Under the awning who needs to pretend?

Her mind is a mooring of tears, sorrow and pain
Her makeup is blurred, cuts etched in her hand
And in this way she can hide from the rain
But looking outside she sees a rainbow

Chase all the grey skies away
Rainbow, colour this dark world I’ve found
Give us a smile
Your frown is upside down
Bring out those blue skies again

It’s ten in the morning
The crowd is dressed in black
She sees bearers walk on with such
weight on their shoulders
He gave his warning the counsellors tried
His father a grown man he cries

The note that the boy left
yea it’s a tough one to read
And it could’ve been her
but then she pleaded for a rainbow

And they’re moving on
Cos we’re moving on

Holidays! This is what I’ve been waiting to finish for awhile. Tell me how it sounds! This one’s called “Head Over Heels”, you can probably tell it’s one of my most overtly soppy songs, written in an optimistic era. Don’t lose that!

 Head Over Heels [4:30m]: Play Now | Play in Popup

Head over Heels – WILLIAM CHONG
Lyrics:

I sit on the edge of my seat
Wrapped round the winding streets
I’ll take in the sights
And just like the silver screen
You say how cliched this could be
Well maybe this is just one hell of a dream
I know it’s a long road, but I also know we can make it if we try

I stepped onto the roof, it was a starry starry night
How did you paint the sky so bright? (Can’t you see it?)
While I was thinking what should I say
A shooting star sailed right by me
I wondered what I could wish on a comet in full flight
It could be a rough ride, but then I think we can make it

I think I found the silver lining hiding from me
I could be imagining cos I’m starting to see
There’s a feeling inside of me that’s close to insanity
Either way, I may be head over heels for you

We soared hand-in-hand on the winds
The night sky I remember the sight of the stars
And the moon was quite night that night
You said it was beautiful
And I think I believe you cos the moon in that case
is exactly the same as you
I know I could stumble, but you could make it right all right all right

Thanks to Dennis and Henry for feedback re: song, and you can hear the elusive voice of Ethan Waters as he says many profound things in the course of the song! (oohs and waahs)

Please give some feedback, will do more soon, have a great day!

Hello! Trying this out, the full version of “Birthday Wish”. I uploaded a 10-second clip on my site’s previous incarnation, but yeah. That went away, and now a full uncut version is in its place! I tend to work this song on Easters, it seems – wrote it a few Easters ago, performed it for the first time some birthdays ago, and remixed it during the most recent Easter weekend (2007).

If you’re keen on more music, I’m working on it – in the meantime I’ve got http://williamchong.com/music-collection/ up.

Anyways, have a listen and comments and constructive crit would be much appreciated!

 Birthday Wish [4:07m]: Play Now | Play in Popup

Birthday Wish – WILLIAM CHONG
Lyrics

You were selfless when you had Your will be done
Graceful when they didn’t know what they were doing
and perfect at “Father into Your hands You commit Your spirit”
I wish I could be as selfless as You
I wish I could be as graceful as You
I wish I could be as perfect as You
For a start I’ll praise You and wish You

Happy birthday dear Jesus
Born to take our sins away
Happy birthday to You Lord

You were helpless when you entered the world
Punished for our iniquities
Yet you loved us so much
You raised Your hands on top of a hill to give up Your spirit
Oh I will try really hard to be as loving as You
It’s the least I can do to show how grateful I am
And thank You for giving me the greatest birthday gift
to spend forever with You and wish You

Happy birthday dear Jesus
born to take our sins away
Happy birthday to You Lord

I’ve just been on the phone with my dry grandma (???).  She lives in Vancouver, is effectively my dad’s dry mum, and since we were kids has always sent us birthday cards without fail.

She has a really rich, cultured Mandarin that I’ve never heard from any other Taiwanese person.  Oh and she uses lots of big Chinese words.  In any case, we had a good long chat about how to approach my dad as his child, and also as a fellow adult.  My dry grandma raised concerns about whether my dad would remarry, and I found unexpectedly that all the way in Vancouver, someone’s praying for our family.

In other news, I’m on holiday!  Well, midsemester break: which effectively means assignments to be working on, revarnishing that deck this weekend, work, and lots of other things I’d like to get done these holidays.

One thing I’ve already achieved can be seen here!  I’ve finally gotten round to making a proper mix of one of my songs.  I chose “Birthday Wish” since it’s Good Friday today, and apart from amateurish vocals I think it turned out okay!  A slice from one of my compositions last year has also been put up.

So yes, I’m hoping to build up the music section of this site.  Stay tuned!