So this morning I was looking for cover versions of Lady Gaga’s Poker Face (part of the WLBOTT creative process… let’s not get into it too much), and one of the top Spotify suggestions was by Wing (Wing Han Tsang / 曾咏韓 / Zēng Yǒnghán).
Through many twists and turns, I learned that that Wing is a pretty amazing person. She is a a 63 year old singer, born in Hong Kong and later immigrated to New Zealand. Wing is a nurse, and having taken up singing as a hobby after emigrating to New Zealand, she gained an audience by entertaining patients at nursing homes and hospitals in and around Auckland.
From her web site: When Wing sings, you cannot miss her sincerity and the pure joy she has for singing. With her unique voice and determined spirit, she has achieved what many singers can only dream of doing….
From a New Zealand morning talk show:
This lady makes people happy, and it’s her generous gift that I admire.
After filtering out the trolls, its clear to see that she brightens people’s lives.
Wing selection on Spotify….
Life and Art
The challenges artists face reminded me of a Harry Chapin song from 1973:
Mr. Tanner by Harry Chapin Mr. Tanner was a cleaner from a town in the Midwest And of all the cleaning shops around he'd made his the best But he also was a baritone who sang while hanging clothes He practiced scales while pressing tails and sang at local shows His friends and neighbors praised the voice That poured out from his throat They said that he should use his gift instead of cleaning coats But music was his life, it was not his livelihood And it made him feel so happy and it made him feel so good And he sang from his heart and he sang from his soul He did not know how well he sang, it just made him whole His friends kept working on him to try music out full time A big debut and rave reviews, a great career to climb Finally they got to him, he would take the fling A concert agent in New York agreed to have him sing And there were plane tickets, phone calls, money spent to rent the hall It took most of his savings but he gladly used them all But music was his life, it was not his livelihood And it made him feel so happy and it made him feel so good And he sang from his heart and he sang from his soul He did not know how well he sang, it just made him whole The evening came, he took the stage, his face set in a smile And in the half filled hall the critics sat watching on the aisle But the concert was a blur to him, spatters of applause He did not know how well he sang, he only heard the flaws But the critics were concise, it only took four lines But no one could accuse them of being over kind Mr. Martin Tanner, baritone of Dayton, Ohio Made his town hall debut last night Be came well prepared, but unfortunately his presentation Was not up to contemporary professional standards His voice lacks the range of tonal color Necessary to make it consistently interesting Full time consideration of another endeavor might be in order He came home to Dayton and was questioned by his friends Then he smiled and just said nothing and he never sang again Excepting very late at night when the shop was dark and closed He sang softly to himself as he sorted through the clothes Music was his life, it was not his livelihood And it made him feel so happy, it made him feel so good And he sang from his heart and he sang from his soul And he did not know how well he sang, it just made him whole