A couple of weeks ago my wife and I attended a friend’s wedding and during their reception they had a non-stop playlist going on – made up of Christian songs we were familiar with (Hillsong stuff), but all of which was sung in Mandarin! Crazy! And the surprising thing was this, the recordings, vocals, and bands performances were just as professional/high quality as Hillsong’s! So throughout the banquet, we were bopping along to music we were familiar with, but less familiar with the lyrics being sung (neither of us can speak Mandarin).
At the end of the night when we were saying our congratulations & goodbyes, we asked the newlyweds, what was the playlist they were spinning all night long? Was it Hillsong branching into the largest growth market? But the answer was no, the group is called ‘Joshua Band’, a Taiwanese Christian group who performs covers of popular English Christian songs, but all of which are re-written in Mandarin (we were told that they have permission from the English artists to do so).
So the last few weeks I’ve had Joshua Band on in the background all the time! The Spotify playlist is utterly huge! I’ve had it on during breakfast, when I’m cooking, even when I’m working from home! It makes for an awesome background playlist when you’re doing other things. It’s like Mandopop meets Hillsong!
If you’re interested to check out brilliantly recorded, melodic, and I’m sure lyrically meaningful tracks.……..Check out Joshua Band! Just ask your smart speaker to “Play Joshua Band on Spotify!” Enjoy!
Perhaps even recommend the playlist to your Mando speaking friends? As I’m sure the songs will be more meaningful if you can actually understand the lyrics? Haaha.
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