is a song performed by Japanese singer

Naomi Chiaki is a Japanese singer and actress who worked from the late 1960s to the early 1990s. Chiaki made her debut as a singer in 1969, and released her breakthrough single "Yottsu no Onegai" in the following year. "Kassai", a song which has been common ...

. It was released as a single from the album of the same name on April 10, 1977 by

Nippon Columbia , often pronounced ''Korombia'', operating internationally as , is a Japanese record label founded in 1910 as Nipponophone Co., Ltd. It affiliated itself with the Columbia Graphophone Company of the United Kingdom and adopted the standard UK C ...

. While the song did not chart as high as other singles, it managed to spawn successful covers in various languages.

Background

The song was written by Japanese singer-songwriter

Miyuki Nakajima (born February 23, 1952, Sapporo, Hokkaidō, Japan) is a Japanese singer-songwriter and radio personality. She has released 44 studio albums, 48 Single (music), singles, 6 live albums and multiple compilations as of January 2020. Her sales have ...

, who at the time had written successful singles like " Jidai" and "

Wakareuta (translated into English as "The Parting Song" in the liner notes of Miyuki Nakajima's ''Ima no Kimochi'' album, released in 2004) is a song composed and performed by Japanese singer-songwriter Miyuki Nakajima, released as her fifth single in Se ...

", and provided music for artists such as

Naoko Ken Naoko Ken（研ナオコ, Ken Naoko, born July 7, 1953）is a Japanese singer and actress. She is well known for her comedy roles featuring idiosyncratic looks, and a string of successful torch songs that gained popularity in the late 1970s a ...

and

Junko Sakurada is a Japanese singer and actress. She was part of a music trio in 1973, which included Momoe Yamaguchi and Masako Mori. Sakurada then became successful in a solo music career, with 18 top ten singles in the 1970s. Her acting career ran from 1 ...

. The song revolves on the topic of loneliness, where a girl from the countryside moves to the city to earn a living, but loses her old self as she grows up. On the other hand, "Rouge" was the first written piece of the Japanese "new music" genre written for Chiaki, who afterwards released several singles of them, including "Yoru e Isogu Hito" written by

Kazuki Tomokawa Tenji Nozoki (及位典司; born February 16, 1950), best known by the stage name Kazuki Tomokawa (友川かずき), is a prolific Japanese musician, active in the Japanese music scene since the early 1970s. His music has been used in the films ...

, and "Amagumo" written by Eigo Kawashima.

Track listing

All tracks written by Miyuki Nakajima and Kawachi Chito. # "Rouge" () # "Kaette-oide" (; "Come Home")

Faye Wong version

Chinese singer

Faye Wong Faye Wong ( zh, 王菲; pinyin: ''Wáng Fēi''; born 8 August 1969) is a Chinese singer-songwriter and actress. Early in her career, she briefly used the stage name Shirley Wong (). Born in Beijing, she moved to British Hong Kong at the age o ...

recorded a

Cantonese Cantonese is the traditional prestige variety of Yue Chinese, a Sinitic language belonging to the Sino-Tibetan language family. It originated in the city of Guangzhou (formerly known as Canton) and its surrounding Pearl River Delta. While th ...

-language cover of the song titled "Vulnerable Woman" (), appearing on her 1992 album '' Coming Home''.

Background

Music arranged by Antonio "Tony" Arevalo Jr. It was featured as an interlude song for the Hong Kong television series ''

The Greed of Man ''The Greed of Man'' is a Hong Kong television series first broadcast on TVB Jade in 1992.Dianying.com.Dianying.com" ''The Greed of Man.'' Retrieved on 2009-08-11. The story, spanning three decades from the 1970s to the 1990s in Hong Kong and T ...

''. Wong also recorded a

Mandarin Mandarin or The Mandarin may refer to: Language * Mandarin Chinese, branch of Chinese originally spoken in northern parts of the country ** Standard Chinese or Modern Standard Mandarin, the official language of China ** Taiwanese Mandarin, Stand ...

version titled "Róng Yì Shòu Shāng de Nǚ Rén", which appeared on her 1994 compilation album ''Faye Best''. The cover tells the story of a woman begging her man not to leave.

Reception

"Vulnerable Woman" achieved success in Hong Kong after its appearance in ''The Greed of Man'', and reportedly led to further covers of the song in various languages. The song won several awards, including Song of the Year at the 1992 Ultimate Song Chart Awards Presentation held by

Commercial Radio Hong Kong Commercial Radio Hong Kong (CRHK, , also known as Hong Kong Commercial Broadcasting Company Limited, is one of the two commercial radio broadcasting companies in Hong Kong, alongside Metro Radio Hong Kong. CRHK offers a variety of radio prog ...

Accolades

* 1992 Ultimate Song Chart Awards Presentation (Commercial Radio Hong Kong) – Song of the Year * 1992 Ultimate Song Chart Awards Presentation (Commercial Radio Hong Kong) – National Professional Bronze Award *

1992 Jade Solid Gold Best Ten Music Awards Presentation The 1992 Jade Solid Gold Best Ten Music Awards Presentation () was held in January 1993. It is part of the Jade Solid Gold Best Ten Music Awards Presentation series held in Hong Kong Hong Kong)., Legally Hong Kong, China in international ...

(

TVB Television Broadcasts Limited (TVB; zh, t=電視廣播有限公司) is a television broadcasting company based in Hong Kong. The company operates five free-to-air terrestrial television channels in Hong Kong, with TVB Jade as its main Canton ...

) – Top Ten Songs * 1992 Jade Solid Gold Best Ten Music Awards Presentation (TVB) – Best Lyricist (Yuen-Leung Poon) * 1992 RTHK Top 10 Gold Songs Awards (

RTHK Radio Television Hong Kong (RTHK) is the public broadcasting service of Hong Kong. GOW, the predecessor to RTHK, was established in 1928 as the first broadcasting service in Hong Kong. As a government department under the Commerce and Econom ...

) – Top 10 Songs

Như Quỳnh version

Vietnamese singer Như Quỳnh recorded a Vietnamese-language cover as her debut single "Người tình mùa đông" (English: "Winter lovers"), appearing on her 1995 debut album ''Chuyện hoa sim''.

Background

Lyrics were written by songwriter Anh Bằng, who founded Asia Entertainment in 1980, and would proceed to compose music for her signature song "Chuyện hoa sim". The lyrics talk about unrequited love that is generously compared to the coldness of winter. Như Quỳnh first performed "Người tình mùa đông" at the concert ''Asia 6: Giáng sinh đặc biệt'' (English: "Asia 6: Christmas special") in 1994, in favor of "Chuyện hoa sim" (which would be performed at the next rendition of the show). The song's performance would later be released on video in 1995. In September 2014, Như Quỳnh performed an alternate cover titled "Còn mãi mùa đông" (English: "Winter forever") on the 114th edition of the Thúy Nga production

Paris by Night ''Paris by Night'' (commonly abbreviated as ''PBN'') is a direct-to-video series featuring Vietnamese-language musical variety shows produced by Thúy Nga Productions. Hosted mainly by Nguyễn Ngọc Ngạn and Nguyễn Cao Kỳ Duyên, the ...

, with Vietnamese lyrics written by Thái Thịnh.

Reception

"Người tình mùa đông" has been considered the song that brought Như Quỳnh to success for overseas Vietnamese music, along with her signature song "Chuyện hoa sim". A 2018 live performance of the song, where Như Quỳnh wore the same outfit from her first performance with Asia Entertainment, received a positive response, including surprise that the singer managed to retain her vocal ability after over twenty years. Her debut performance of the song was uploaded to YouTube on December 5, 2015, and has since attained over thirteen million views, becoming her most popular song under Asia Entertainment.

Other cover versions

* Nakajima covered the song herself on her 1979 cover album '' Okaerinasai''. * Naoko Ken covered the song on her 1984 cover album ''Again''. * Singaporean band

Tokyo Square Tokyo Square is a Singaporean band formed by lead singer Linda Elizabeth Dana and guitarist Peter Han in 1984. After receiving regular gigs at a theater disco lounge, the band was then joined by Dana's half brother, singer Max Surin with four ...

covered the song in English as "That is Love". * Jessica Jay covered the song in English as "Broken Hearted Woman". *

Yonca Evcimik Fatma Yonca Evcimik (born 16 September 1963) is a Turkish pop singer and actress. Biography Evcimik studied dance and ballet at the Academy of Music at Mimar Sinan University. In an interview, she revealed that she worked as a sales agent f ...

covered this song in Turkish as "8:15 Vapuru" (8:15 Ferry). * Aye Chan May covered the song in Burmese as "Broken as A Piece". * Don Sonrabiab covered the song in Thai as "Jeb Gwa Thoe" (More sad than you). Later, this song was covered by Pornpimon Tummasarn and was renamed as "Kueab Ja Sai" (Almost too late). * A version called "ຊຽວ ຕະມອງ": the

Khmu language Khmu is the language of the Khmu people of the northern Laos region. It is also spoken in adjacent areas of Vietnam, Thailand and China. Khmu lends its name to the Khmuic branch of the Austroasiatic language family, the latter of which also ...

performed by a

Laos Laos, officially the Lao People's Democratic Republic (LPDR), is the only landlocked country in Southeast Asia. It is bordered by Myanmar and China to the northwest, Vietnam to the east, Cambodia to the southeast, and Thailand to the west and ...

female singer is also influenced by Techno music, but the female singer inserts a rap part to the song.

References

External links

"Rouge" on JASRAC (Japanese Society for Rights of Authors, Composers and Publishers)
(Search for "ルージュ" in 作品タイトル and "中島　みゆき" in 権利者名)
''Asia 6: Giáng Sinh Đặc Biệt'' (1994) on YouTube
{{Authority control Songs in Japanese Songs written by Miyuki Nakajima 1977 singles Nippon Columbia singles Miyuki Nakajima songs Cantonese-language songs Faye Wong songs 1994 singles