Who sung the Mandarin version of Sk8er Boi?

February 13, 2005 3:42 PM

While I was in Taiwan this past month, I was sure that I heard a Mandarin version of Avril Lavigne's "Sk8er Boi" on the radio/sound-system while browsing through a store... does anyone know what the song/artist is? Or, on a similar note, other Mandarin songs/artists that either cover or steal their melodies from American/English songs?
posted by numble to media & arts (3 comments total)

Not Mandarin, but Faye Wong did a Cantonese Cranberries cover for the soundtrack to 'Chungking Express.' All I can think of :/
posted by maledictory at 12:17 AM on February 14, 2005

Faye Wong (Wong Fei in China) also did some Cocteau Twins covers. They're pretty good. No idea whether she translated the lyrics into Cantonese though ;-)
posted by Pericles at 5:23 AM on February 14, 2005

Not sure about Sk8er Boi, but I actually collect foreign language versions of English-Language Pop hits. It seems the practice was a lot more prevalent in past years. I have had troubles locating them on recent trips abroad.

But, I have some great versions of many songs in various languages. The best is the MOR/syrupy stuff like Billy Joel in Cantonese or just outright kitsch--my favorites --like the Hungarian singer who does disco versions of the Doors and other classic rock tunes. Think (serious) Moog Cookbook. I am told in the early days of Rock Music there were some specific bands, specifically in Germany who specialized in this.
posted by Duck_Lips at 10:26 AM on February 22, 2005