The Song
The song 岛屿天光 Island's Sunrise was written on March 23, 2014 by Taiwan's indi band "FireEx" "to write a song for the movement that would lift the spirits of participants by way of 'gentle power'"(10). Within 48 hours, the lead singer Da-chung Yang completed the song and utilized Facebook to promote the song. By evening on March 27, the song had been recorded by the occupants of the movement. As the movement progressed, the students created different music videos of the song, including a documented version (as linked on the home page) which sought to capture actual footage of the movement. As the music videos went viral, international viewers could now sympathize with and respond to the Taiwan Student Movement in their own countries, raising awareness and support for what may just become a pivotal moment in both Taiwan's music and political history.
"Since then, 'Island’s Sunrise' became more then just a song; it connected the original [Taipei National University of the Arts] art students and other professional talents that sympathized with the movement, thus resulting in a new collective: 'Island’s Sunrise' Art Crew"(10).
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From the Art Crew themselves:
This project is dedicated to all the participants of the Sunflower Student Movement; also to the previous generations who, despite their frustration and exhaustion, never gave up fighting for a better society. This is to Taiwan. We hope for a peaceful, stable country with less disparity between the rich and the poor and less monopolization by big corporations. We shall fight for freedom and for an authentic democracy. This project is dedicated to all those determined souls. Let us protect this island until the sun appears before the horizon.
-iNDIEVOX
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Wai-Chung Ho's article on Music and Cultural Politics in Taiwan states "One of the most crucial factors that bind people into a ‘nation’ is ‘the possession in common of a rich legacy of memories’ ... in the form of a shared heritage which through its reproduction recreates and reinforces a sense of historical continuity and community." As such, 岛屿天光 Island's Sunrise seeks to capture the memories of the movement in helping to bind the Taiwanese people into a 'nation' and a culture independent of Mainland China and transcending the local ethnic cultures of the island. The song began as a way of motivating the participants during the movement but has now been reproduced all around Taiwan in various YouTube videos, flashmobs, and schools, hence reinforcing the sense of shared heritage, community, and history, which in turn, drive and sustain the movement even further.
"Since then, 'Island’s Sunrise' became more then just a song; it connected the original [Taipei National University of the Arts] art students and other professional talents that sympathized with the movement, thus resulting in a new collective: 'Island’s Sunrise' Art Crew"(10).
=========================
From the Art Crew themselves:
This project is dedicated to all the participants of the Sunflower Student Movement; also to the previous generations who, despite their frustration and exhaustion, never gave up fighting for a better society. This is to Taiwan. We hope for a peaceful, stable country with less disparity between the rich and the poor and less monopolization by big corporations. We shall fight for freedom and for an authentic democracy. This project is dedicated to all those determined souls. Let us protect this island until the sun appears before the horizon.
-iNDIEVOX
=========================
Wai-Chung Ho's article on Music and Cultural Politics in Taiwan states "One of the most crucial factors that bind people into a ‘nation’ is ‘the possession in common of a rich legacy of memories’ ... in the form of a shared heritage which through its reproduction recreates and reinforces a sense of historical continuity and community." As such, 岛屿天光 Island's Sunrise seeks to capture the memories of the movement in helping to bind the Taiwanese people into a 'nation' and a culture independent of Mainland China and transcending the local ethnic cultures of the island. The song began as a way of motivating the participants during the movement but has now been reproduced all around Taiwan in various YouTube videos, flashmobs, and schools, hence reinforcing the sense of shared heritage, community, and history, which in turn, drive and sustain the movement even further.