"WILD CHILDREN Leave" genre: Chinese
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	Like Gordon Lightfoot, Steve Reich, and a chorus of Buddhist monks all thrown together in a gentle blender.
	CD: Beijing Band 2001   Label: www.beijingband.com Credits: Produced by Matthew Corbin Clark
	Story Behind the Song I felt a strong sense of musical camaraderie with Wild Children when we first met in 1995. At the time, I was on the road in western China giving seminars on digital audio products to local dealers. After wrapping up in the city of Lanzhou, our host took us for a meal at a restaurant specializing exclusively in mutton dishes and decorated in meticulously aligned goat skulls. Joining us at the meal was the leader of Wild Children, Zhang Quan, who had just returned home to Lanzhou to research local folk music. He was living in the hills outside the city with his collaborator, Xiao Suo, in a shack without water or electricity. By day they labored with farmers for food and musical inspiration, and at night they worked by candlelight on their guitar and vocal arrangements. Zhang Quan was no stranger to this kind of Spartan living: coming from a family he describes as "part farmer, part worker, and part hobo," he left home at age 14 to go on walkabout for 13 years. By the age of 27, Zhang Quan saw most of his country and developed a passion for Chinese folk music. After our nothing-but-mutton dinner, Quan and Suo pulled out their guitars and played us some of their material. I was totally blown away by what I heard: an infective mixture of romantic folk, minimalism, and Chinese tradition -- like Gordon Lightfoot, Steve Reich, and a chorus of Buddhist monks all thrown together in a very gentle blender. Unfortunately, I had to leave Lanzhou the next day. But I never forgot about Quan and Suo, and I added them to the list of reasons for eventually getting myself back into China with my studio in tow. When I finally did get to Beijing in 1999, a friend took me to see a band playing at a tiny bar across from Worker's Stadium. As we walked in the door, it dawned on me that I had stumbled across the two guys I had spent four years thinking about producing. That night Quan and Suo played a tremendous set of new material, all fiercely original and eminently recordable. For their second set, they invited me to sit in with them on percussion, and the rest of the evening spiraled off into a raucous jam session. In 2003, Wild Children have purchased their own little venue called River Bar on South Sanlitun Street, where the jam sessions continue and the band performs its own music every week. Lyrics WILD CHILDREN / Leave We’ve arrived at such a good era. People on the street busy rushing to the future. They’re inebriated, laughing and singing, and still complaining. They’ve been dreaming of a good life for many years now. We’ve arrived at such a good age. Even more people soaked in mud without hope. They borrow money to live in their own homes. They dream about living the good lives others are living. People and cars in all directions moving, The red flag fluttering. They stride along the avenues. Neon lights glowing, A scene of prosperity. A girl’s rouge intoxicating, A fine wine’s bouquet effervescing. So I just put on my worn-out clothes and stand next to you. So I just hold out my hand and get you to look at my poor appearance. And you say I shouldn’t destroy the nice scenery here. So I just turn my head and leave such a good place.

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