During the recent COVID-19 epidemic in Shenzhen, Angelo Castagneto, an Ecuadorian musician, with Chinese partners composed a song named “Spring Knows All” to pay tribute to frontline workers.
面對近期深圳嚴峻的疫情，厄瓜多爾音樂人李東成（Angelo Castagneto）攜手幾位中國音樂人創作了一首名為《春天的回答》的歌曲，向抗疫一線的工作者們致敬。
The Shenzhen Daily recorded the process of the production and interviewed the main participants.
英文《深圳日報》新媒體部的記者們詳細記錄了這一創作過程，也第一時間採訪了幾位主創人員。
The lyrics were written by Wang Fang, the secretary general of the Green Pine Care Foundation in Shenzhen, and is sung by Liu Xiao, a young singer graduating from Shenzhen University.
歌曲的詞作者是王芳，她是深圳松禾成長關愛基金會秘書長；歌曲由畢業於深圳大學的青年歌手劉瀟演唱。
The creation of the song is by chance. Wang said she met a friend who had been away from home for over one week. His residential compound was locked down and he chose to stay at work. 「He said that he must stay in the frontline. His words kept ringing in my mind, I couldn’t fall asleep that night and the line 『spring knows all』 suddenly occurred to me.」
這首歌的創作緣起是偶然的。王芳說，她前不久和一個離家一周多的朋友見面。「當時他所住的小區被管控的時候，他選擇留在工作崗位，說自己不能回家，必須留在前線。他的話一直在我腦海中迴響，那天晚上我無法入睡，我突然想到了『春天的回答』這句話。」
Castagneto met Wang last year in the Shenzhen Concert Hall during the 「Multiethnic Children’s Choirs in Concert」 that was supported by the Green Pine Care Foundation. The Ecuadorian recalled that when he received the lyrics, he was at his home studio. 「I didn’t think about anything. I went directly to the piano. I started to play and found the melody. I think the first feeling is most important. The process was very fast based on my experience creating songs for over 30 years.」
李東成與王芳是在去年深圳音樂廳舉行的「遠古與大地多民族童聲合唱音樂會」期間認識的。這場音樂會由松禾成長關愛基金會支持舉辦。李東成回憶說，當他收到王芳的歌詞時，他正在家中的錄音室里。「我本能地走到鋼琴前，開始彈奏，尋找旋律。我認為第一感覺是最重要的。整個創作過程進行得非常快，我創作歌曲30多年的經驗對此也有幫助。」
「I tried to understand the lyrics quickly; it gives people encouragement to face the problems we have, not only the epidemic in China, also the problems that affect us as humans outside this country,」 he said.
「我試圖快速理解歌詞，這首歌給人們帶來勇氣，讓我們能夠去面對眼前的困難，包括中國國內的疫情，但也包括那些發生在國外的，給全人類都帶來影響的問題。」李冬成告訴記者。
Castagneto thinks that emotion is extremely significant when creating music. 「I asked Wang Fang what she wanted to express. I understand the emotions that the song wants to convey are compassion and kindness, like the first hug. That’s why I started to create a song just with the piano because it’s my favorite instrument.」
李東成認為，在創作音樂時，情感是極其重要的。「我問王芳老師想表達什麼，了解到歌曲想要傳遞同情和善良，就像第一次擁抱。這是為什麼我用鋼琴創作這首歌，因為它是我最喜歡的樂器。」
Wang speaks highly of Castagneto’s composition. 「When I finished the lyrics, the first composer I thought of was him. What surprised me was that in less than five minutes, he sent me a demo, in which he hummed a simple tune. It sounds gentle but with determination. Instantly, I felt a connection with him.」 She said that Castagneto came up with something new every day, and finished writing the melodies quickly. 「After listening to the full song, I felt the same emotional power that touched me while I was writing the lyrics.」
王芳十分認可李東成的創作。「當我寫完歌詞時，我第一個想到的作曲人就是他。令我驚訝的是，在不到五分鐘的時間裏，他就給我發了一個小樣，輕聲哼唱著簡單的曲子，聽起來很溫和但有力量。在一瞬間，我感到和他心靈相通。」
王芳說道，李東成每天都有新的想法，很快就完成了旋律的創作。「聽完全曲後，我感受到了與寫歌詞時觸動我的那種情感相同的精神。」
The lyrics, which has Shenzhen elements such as Bougainvillea and mangroves, came out in Chinese first and an English version was later translated by Shenzhen Daily. Talking about the expression in the two languages, Castagneto commented, 「The lyrics in English have the same meaning as in the Chinese, and the Chinese version is so beautifully written that when you translate it into English, it also has the same power.」
歌詞含有簕杜鵑和紅樹林等深圳元素，中文版本面世後，由英文《深圳日報》翻譯成英文版本。談到這兩種語言的表達，Castagneto說：「英文歌詞與中文完美對應，中文版寫得很好，翻譯也保留了原詞的情感力量。」
He said that the lyrics express the uncertainty and the questions to which people may not need a real answer directly. 「Just listen to the birds, nature and the spring, you will find the answer. I hope the words can really touch everybody’s heart.」
他表示，歌詞表達了一種不確定性和疑問，但或許人們不需要明確的答案。只要去聆聽鳥鳴，大自然和春天，你就會找到答案。「我希望歌詞能真正觸動每個人的心。」
「Just as spring will always come after winter, Shenzhen will soon embrace a spring with full blossoms,」 Wang said.
「就像春天總會在冬天后到來一樣，深圳一定會迎來春花爛漫的勝利。」王芳說。
Usually, Castagneto spends about one month creating a song, but not this time. 「I’m so moved, how a group of strangers can come together in such a short time to create a song that is so beautiful and supportive,」 he said emotionally.
李東成一般花一個月左右的時間創作一首歌曲，但這次例外。「我很感動，一群陌生人，怎麼能在這麼短的時間裏走到一起，創作一首如此美妙和給予別人力量的歌。」他動情地說。
Shenzhen Daily fully participated and recorded the production of the song, and made an MV for it. As the first media institution that reported this story, Shenzhen Daily also made a bilingual video which was promoted by Shenzhen Musician Association and Shenzhen Federation of Literature and Arts Circles. This music cooperation also attracted other media outlets such as web portal sina.com to cover.
作為首家報道此故事的媒體，英文《深圳日報》全程參與並記錄這首歌曲的創作過程，並精心製作了音樂MV，這支充滿城市溫暖氣息的抗疫題材的中英雙語短視頻得到深圳市文聯、深圳市音樂家協會、福田區公共文化體育發展中心等接力轉發傳播，也吸引了新浪網等媒體的關注轉發。
