Many people may have only known about "Ten Years" and not know about the song "Tomorrow's Today". Or even if they have heard it occasionally, they may have just considered it as a Cantonese version of "Ten Years", quickly passing by without paying attention. In fact, "Tomorrow's Today" was released on July 24, 2002, while "Ten Years" was released on April 1, 2003. It can be said that "Ten Years" is the prelude to "Tomorrow's Today".
Actually, I only started listening to "Tomorrow's Today" seriously in the past two years. Specifically, it was because I suddenly became obsessed with the lyrics written by Lin Xi, just like how I love the poems of Li Shangyin and the lyrics of Li Qingzhao.
There are many legends about this song online.
One legend is that Lin Xi, who wrote this song, was going through a period of anxiety disorder at the time and wrote mostly negative and dark songs. And this song is one of them.
Some people also say that this song was sung by Eason for his old love, Yang Qianhua, at the time. Everyone knows that it was a deeply memorable love, but in the end, they had to separate due to some unavoidable reasons. Their separation was quiet, without the need to prove anything to anyone, silently missing each other.
Of course, the most widely spread and touching legend is about a concert. It is said that Eason Chan did something very sentimental. He pre-sold tickets for his concert a year in advance, limited to couples only. One ticket could get two seats, but the couple's ticket was divided into male and female tickets. The couple would each keep their own ticket, and a year later, the two tickets would be combined to be valid. The tickets sold out quickly, perhaps this was a way for the couple to prove their love. "We will be together for a lifetime." "One year, what's that?" In the second year, many seats in the specially designated couple seats by Eason Chan were empty. Facing those empty seats, he sang a song: "Tomorrow's Today".
Various legends cannot be verified one by one, but these legends precisely illustrate the position of this song in the hearts of fans.
"Tomorrow's today, haven't seen you for a year
Who would be willing to change
Leaving you for sixty years
I hope I can recognize your children
And hear you say goodbye before parting"
Tomorrow's today, even if we haven't seen each other for a year, I haven't been willing to change even a bit. Only in this way can I keep thinking of you in that relationship. Lin Xi's use of the word "willing" is very appropriate. Although the departure of the female lead broke his heart and left him in despair, he still deeply loves the female lead, and deeply misses this relationship. Only by not changing can he continue to immerse himself in his emotional world. Even if reason tells him it's wrong, he needs to move on from this relationship and seek a new life. But how can he be "willing"?
In this subtle way, the author tells the audience that the male lead will love the female lead for the rest of his life, until the moment he closes his eyes. Even if he knows that he may never see this person again in his remaining years.
"In the moment of life, being able to meet you
Actually used up all my luck
Until today, I realized
I have breathed the same air"
These last few lines are the essence of the whole song in my opinion.
Time and space are vast and endless, a hundred years of life is just a drop in the ocean. Therefore, the years of one's life seem like just a moment. It is so lucky to meet someone you like in the vast sea of people. You see, among billions of people, the person you like happens to like you back, what are the chances of that? So, the male lead using up all his luck to meet the female lead is not an exaggeration. He will not fall in love with anyone else for the rest of his life. Of course, this is also the male lead's own choice, he chose not to move on from this relationship, hence the phrase "used up all my luck".
I believe the last line "Until today, I realized I have breathed the same air" must have puzzled many fans, appearing abrupt and unclear. In fact, it is at this point that Lin Xi points out the theme. When two people are in love, they may often see each other, keep in touch all the time, and when they are together, they don't feel that seeing each other is so precious and rare, they don't feel that those sweet words are worth remembering for a lifetime. Today is just a repetition of yesterday, and tomorrow will be the same as today. Will tomorrow's today be any different from today? Everything during the time of being in love is as natural as breathing, it is taken for granted, ordinary and not cherished. We never feel that the time spent together is so precious. It is only when everything comes to a halt on the day of the breakup. The sleepless male lead lies on the bed, suddenly realizing that he may never see that person again in his remaining years. At this moment, he realizes that those things we once took for granted, we only realize their preciousness when we lose them. It's like we never paid attention to the air until the moment we suffocate.
Throughout the whole song, both the lyrics and the melody try to maintain restraint. The male lead doesn't cry out or shout, he doesn't exhaust himself. He just quietly mourns in a corner, lost in his thoughts, unable to eat or sleep. Maybe everyone congratulates him on losing weight recently, it seems like his fitness is effective. He can only smile and say, "I lost weight recently, not because of illness or alcohol, it's not a sad autumn."
He doesn't want to salvage anything, he knows he can't; he doesn't want to seek new love, he knows he won't love again. He uses all his energy to avoid disturbing the female lead's life. His greatest effort in his remaining years is precisely to not forget, to keep everything unchanged, to remember every smile and even recognize her children sixty years later.
All those seemingly ordinary and taken-for-granted details in the past will be savored and chewed on countless times in his remaining years, until the moment of his passing. He hopes that at that time, he will have the chance to hear her say "goodbye" again.
There is a saying, "I love you, but it has nothing to do with you." So "Tomorrow's Today" is saying, "I miss you, but it has nothing to do with you." In fact, this is just self-deception. When someone misses someone, who wouldn't hope for a response from the other person? It's just that they know there won't be a response, so they have to deceive themselves.
Among all the versions online, my favorite is the 2007 concert version. In the middle of singing, Eason suddenly shouted loudly, "Listen carefully." I don't know if this is the concert that was rumored online, and I don't know if this shout contains his countless reluctance and concern for his old love. But I believe if you have had an experience like this: for whatever reason, one day you suddenly realize that the person you used to see every day, the person you were used to seeing, you may never see them as often as before, would you also have the urge to shout to the people around you, "Treasure it!"
Perhaps, the stranger you casually meet on the street is the person others dream of meeting.