A Contrastive Study between Chinese and Western Band Names

白云飛

【摘要】作為詞語的組成部分，名稱是代號，還具有一定含義。名稱反映出了人類社會生活的方方面面。中國和西方國家，尤其是和英美兩國的流行樂隊名稱在許多方面都體現了類似的命名元素和方式，但是仍然有一些截然不同的方面。本文旨在就中西流行樂隊名稱的命名元素進行對比，找出其相似點和不同點，并且試著探究這些差別產生的原因。

【關鍵詞】中國樂隊 英美樂隊 流行文化

【Abstract】As a component of lexicon， names are meaningful symbols， which reflect all aspects of human life. The elements of naming Chinese and western bands are nearly the same， but some other elements and forms of them differ from each other greatly. This paper aims to do a contrastive study on the band names of China and mainly two western countries： America and Britain to find out the similarities and differences. An exploration of the factors that give rise to the disparities is also made.

【Key words】Chinese bands; American and British bands; popular culture

1. Introduction

A name symbolizes what it represents. Band names all over the world reflect the cultural influences on the naming system. Literature images， religious influence， music genres， the spirit of bands and so on exist in the naming system of music bands. There is a famous band“水木清華” whose members graduated from Tsinghua University. “水木” is an alternative name for Tsinghua University. The band name can be traced back to Jin Dynasty when a poet named Xie Hun wrote a poem A tour to the Western Pool in which “水木清華”referred to pleasant places. This music band is quite famous for its sentimental lyrics and touching melodies of the campus time and romance.

Chinese， British and American bands represent modern culture， thoughts and tendency. Through analyzing all the Chinese Bands names provided by the leading Chinese language search engine BAIDU， and the entire American and British Bands names offered by the leading American search engine Google， the names of Chinese and Western music bands share some common features， but they have differences which reveal the cultural differences carved in Chinese and Western peoples life.

2. Similarities between Chinese Band Names and Western Band Names

2.1 Daily Life Factors

Words related to animals， food and beverage， and the articles used in the daily life are widely adopted as band names， since they are very easy to be kept in mind.

2.1.1 Animals

Chinese band names： 黑豹樂隊，黑鴨子，山鷹組合.

American and British band names： Eagles， Stray Cats.

2.1.2 Food and Beverage

Chinese band names： 棒棒糖，棉花糖，牛奶咖啡，泡泡糖樂隊，蘇打綠.

American and British band names： Peaches & Herb， Blackberry Smoke， The Smashing Pumpkins.

2.1.3 The Articles for Daily Use

Chinese band names： 新褲子，新香水樂隊.

American and British band names： Flippers.

2.2 Blackness

As a poetic term in the Western world， darkness can also mean the presence of shadows， evil， or depression. Rock and roll musicians tend to be very cynical and always desperate towards life and the world but brave enough to face black and death， so blackness appears as a popular element in rock music.

2.2.1 Blackness in Chinese Band Names

廢墟樂隊，病醫生樂隊，病蛹樂隊，陰影樂隊.

2.2.2 Blackness in American and British Band Names

Dead Sexy Inc， Grave maker， My Bloody Valentine， Kill Hannah.

2.3 The Spirit and Belief of bands

2.3.1 The Spirit and Belief of Bands in Chinese Band Names

“南拳媽媽” is a music group. The name is literally translated to “south fist mother，” which is a phrase in Chinese to explain having strength while being gentle as a mother. That means their music can be very powerful and influential， but on the other hand， very warm and moving.

Beyond was a rock band. The guitarist William Tang wanted to describe the band with a feeling that surpasses or go beyond， hence the name “Beyond” was adopted.

“信” is a five-man rock band. “信” means “belief”. The spirit of the band is to have faith in love and life.

F.I.R. is a pop rock band. The band name consists of the initials of the three members. It is also a backronym for “Fairyland in Reality”， one of their albums.

2.3.2 The Spirit and Belief of Bands in American and British Band Names

The Rolling Stones is an English rock band. The band was named after Muddy Waters who wrote “Rollin Stone” to show their respect towards Muddy Waters and their expectation towards themselves.

2.4 Gender Hint

Pop music is usually understood to be commercially recorded music， often oriented towards a youth market. For commercial benefits， an attractive band name reflecting the members gender can appeal to young people to notice and buy the album. For example， “The Pussycat Dolls” is an American pop/R&B girl group and dance ensemble. The name of the band helps create a vivid image of some lovely and lively girls in peoples mind. “Spice Girls” also reminds people of sexy women.

2.4.1 Masculine

Masculine in Chinese bands names： 動感男孩， 浪花兄弟， 可米小子.

Masculine in American and British bands names： Men Of Standard， The Neville Brothers， Pet Shop Boys， H.I.M.， The Beach Boys.

2.4.2 Feminine

Feminine in Chinese band names： 阿里山桃花村姐妹，冰淇淋少女組，城市少女.

Feminine in American and British bands names： The Pussycat Dolls， Girls Aloud， Spice Girls.

2.5 Abbreviation of Band Members

A simple name of band which is usually the abbreviation of band members names can be very easy to remember and is also quite helpful for audience to remember the names of band members when there are often two or more than two names to remember in a band.

2.5.1 Abbreviation of bands members in Chinese Band Names

“羽泉” stands for two members of the band： “陳羽凡” and “胡海泉”. “蜜雪薇琪” represents the two members English names： Vickie and Michelle.

2.5.2 Abbreviation of bands members in American and British Band Names

The famous rock band Guns N Roses is short for two of the members names： L.A. Guns and Hollywood Rose.

2.6 Imported Culture in Band Names

2.6.1 Imported Culture in Chinese Band Names

“波激小絲” is a Chinese pop music band which embodies the influence of foreign culture. “波激小絲” is the transliteration of an attractive and fabulous American actress， author and model Brooke Shields.

“麥田守望者” is also a Chinese band named after J. D. Salinger controversial novel The Catcher in the Rye. The theme of the novel is the teenage confusion， angst， alienation， language and rebellion， which roots deeply in the band music.

“黃色潛水艇樂隊” was named in the memory of the great hit “Yellow Submarine” of the well-known English band The Beatles.

2.6.2 Imported Culture in American and British Band Names

Chinese factors also can be found in American and British bands， such as Kung- Fu， tea， silk and so on. For example， Chinese Theatre， Chinese Stars are American bands.

2.7 Professions in Band names

2.7.1 Professions in Chinese Band names

義工合唱，廣州工人合唱團，教練樂團，農夫.

2.7.2 Professions in American and British Band Names

Feeder， The Police，The Baby Sitters.

3. Differences between Chinese Band Names and Western Band Names

Music has the magic power to break the regional boundaries and to touch every persons heart. However， bands such as “太極樂隊” “唐朝樂隊” “彝人制造” and “阿里山桃花村姐妹” could only be found in Chinese music industry， and “The Carpenters” belongs to American and British music culture. Chinese and western bands are influenced by different cultures for geographical and other factors. A band name， as the symbol of the band， marks the music genre， spirit， and sometimes its nationality.

3.1 Geographic Factors

3.1.1 Geographic Factors in Chinese Band Names

“彝人制造” is a four-man band whose members are from the minority “Yi（彝）”. “額爾古納樂隊” was named after the mother river in Mongolia.

3.1.2 Geographic Factors in American and British Band Names

“Linkin Park” is a very popular rock band in America， and it was named after Lincoln Park in Santa Monica city to memorize it. Other examples are： “Philadelphia Flyers”， “Texas” and “London Posse”.

3.2 Religious Factor

There are many bands named after the stories， characters， places and spirit in Holy Bible， take the following band names for example： Hammer of The Gods， Seven Day Jesus Seven Day Jesus， Sin 34， Heaven 17.

Religion takes an important role in western countries. However， in China， Confucianism is the cornerstone of traditional Chinese culture， which has dominated a feudal society that in essence has lasted 2000 years and for that reason it influences over the history， social structure and the people of China.

3.3 The Forms of Band Names

Most of Chinese band names are nouns. It is a convention to give a name as a noun. For example， the most excellent four literature works of China： the Dream of Red Maison， the Romance of Three Kingdoms， Heroes of the Marshes， Pilgrimage to the West are nouns. Verbs and even sentences are rare and only adopted for certain purposes in Chinese literature works naming. For example， Lu Xuns famous work 《吶喊》 is named as a verb which expresses vividly the power of the novel.

However， in English literature， poem names are commonly seen in the form of verbs and sentences. I taste a liquor never brewed and A bird came down the walk by Emily Dickinson. In American literature， Ernest Hemingway also named his two novels The Sun Also Rises and For Whom the Bell Tolls in the form of sentences. Therefore， it is common to name a band as a very short and simple sentence or a verb， thus it is easy to say and remember. For example “Shout Out Louds” “Dead Or Alive” “Love Is All”， leaving a very active and passionate impression.

3.4 Openness

Sex in band names is rare in China， however， examples can be found as “Sex Pistols” and “The Flaming Lips” in American and British music industry. To some extent， openness is another key feature of America and Britain.

Conclusion

This contrastive study reveals that there are similarities and differences between band names of China and western countries. Similarities of band names suggest that human beings have many elements in common such as the life style， the music genre， and the belief and benefit of making music. However， the elements with culture-uniqueness are mirrors of cultural diversities. Band names represent our daily life， but also reflect themselves as cultural symbols of music， art， culture， belief， and so on.

References：

[1]Deng Weifeng.Names，a Window to See through Culture：A Comparative Study on Chinese and English Personal Names[D].Shi Jiazhuang：Hebei Normal University，2002.

[2]Everett，Walter.Understanding Rock：Essays in Musical Analysis[M].New York：Oxford University Press.1997.