The theme song for the Beijing Paralympic Games "Flying with the Dream", which was sung at Saturday's opening ceremony, shows passion, romance and the love for life.
Compared with the simple lyrics and rhythm of the Olympic theme song, "Flying with the Dream" is more romantic and passionate, according to Zhang Jigang, artistic director of the Paralympic opening ceremony.
"Taking a beam of clear light / Into the heart of everyone / And flying with the dream", "Taking a beam of sunlight / To warm the heart of everyone / And flying with the dream"...The spectators were moved by the song, performed by Chinese mainland singer Han Hong and Hong Kong pop star Andy Lau.
Zhang said the song is echoing "One World, One Dream" and in accordance with the Beijing Paralympic emblem, the red, blue and green logo which represents "Heaven, Earth and Human".
"It means all the people, including the disabled persons, fly together with the same dream," he said.
The song's lyrics were written by Qian Zi, and the music was composed by Wang Wei and Fang Ming, who was appointed as the music director of the Paralympic opening ceremony.
Andy Lau, 47, veteran singer and actor in Hong Kong, has been associated with the Paralympic Games for a decade. He has donated 100,000 Hong Kong dollars annually to help disabled athletes in Hong Kong since 1992 and presented a specially-designed "gold medal" for each Hong Kong Paralympic medlist after the Paralympics.
Lau, who was appointed as the promotional ambassador for the Beijing Paralympic Games, composed a song "Everyone is No. 1" for the Games. In the music video he played the role of an accident victim who must cope with the reality of losing a limb and finally became a successful para-sprinter after persistent training. He led the chorus to sing it at the pre-ceremony performance on Saturday.
Han Hong is a Chinese singer and songwriter of ethnic Tibetan origin. Her signature works are Tibetan Plateau and Heaven's Road. Like her mother, also a singer, Han Hong is able to shift quite easily from piercing high pitches to soft low tones.
The lyrics go "Opening the roof window in the night / Looking at the starry sky far away / Stars, please wait for me / I want to kiss your bright eyes / I want to fly with you / Fly with you / Fly past the moon / Taking a beam of clear light / Into the heart of everyone / And flying with the dream / Flying with the dream / Flying to the heaven of love / And flying with the dream / Pulling aside the canopy in the morning / Looking up at the sky / White clouds, please wait for me / I want to kiss your white body / I want to fly with you / Fly with you / Flying through the rays of the sun / Taking a beam of sunlight / To warm the heart of everyone / And flying with the dream / Flying with the dream / Flying to the heaven of love."
(Xinhua News Agency September 6, 2008)