"Tomorrow Will Be Better" () is a Taiwanese Mandopop charity record written by Lo Ta-Yu and sung by over 60 artists. It was inspired by "Do They Know It's Christmas?" by Band Aid, and "We Are The World" by USA for Africa. It was recorded on September 15, 1985 and released on October 25, 1985 in order to raise money for World Vision International to help with aid to Africa, especially for a famine in Ethiopia spanning from 1983 to 1985.
Original lyrics Lo Ta-Yu wrote and prepared the lyrics in advance before summoning more than 60 artists from Taiwan, Hong Kong, Singapore, and Malaysia to film a music video. They were much darker and felt much more hopeless than the final, published version. When Lo presented the lyrics, many of the artists quit on the spot as they were filled with criticisms of the society at the time. At the time, Taiwan was under martial law, so if the lyrics were not reworked, the artists may have faced various repercussions.
Lo was against self-censorship, even when many persuaded Lo to change the lyrics. He eventually reluctantly did, and as a result, six other artists and songwriters Chang Ta-chun, Hsu Nai-sheng, , Chiu Fu-sheng, Sylvia Chang, and Zhang Hongzhi came up to him to collaborate and rework the lyrics to be more positive for the song be approved for publishing.
Despite the long-term success of the song, in a later interview, Lo stated that he absolutely hated producing the song, as it was not filled with the direct bluntness and the sense of responsibility which had been present in the original lyrics.
Artists The song was originally sung in Mandarin Chinese and performed by the 60 artists. They were from the four main Chinese music industry markets of Hong Kong, Malaysia, Singapore and Taiwan.
ArtistMarketSong segmentTsai Chin (蔡琴)Taiwan1st verse line 1; 3rd and 6th chorusYu Tian (余天)Taiwan1st verse line 2; 3rd, 5th and 6th chorusSu Rui (蘇芮)Taiwan1st verse line 3; chorus; 3rd, 4th and 6th chorus; 6th and 7th harmonyMichelle Pan (潘越雲)Taiwan1st verse line 4; 3rd and 6th chorusJenny Tseng (甄妮)Hong Kong2nd verse line 1; 3rd and 6th chorusLi Jianfu (李建复)Taiwan2nd verse line 2/4; 3rd and 6th chorusMonique Lin (林慧萍)Taiwan2nd verse line 3; 3rd and 6th chorusJeanette Wang (王芷蕾)Taiwan2nd verse line 4; 3rd and 6th chorusTracy Huang (黃鶯鶯)Taiwan1st chorus line 1-2; 3rd and 6th chorusChris Hung (洪榮宏)Taiwan1st chorus line 3-4; 3rd and 6th chorusSarah Chen (陳淑樺)Taiwan3rd verse line 1; 3rd and 6th chorusWawa (金智娟/娃娃)Taiwan3rd verse line 2; 3rd and 6th chorusWang Mon Ling (王夢麟)Taiwan3rd verse line 3-4; 3rd and 6th chorusLee Pei-jing (李佩菁)Taiwan3rd verse line 4; 3rd and 6th chorusFei Yu-Ching (費玉清)Taiwan2nd, 3rd and 6th chorusChyi Yu (齊豫)Taiwan4th verse line 1; 3rd and 6th chorusJeng Yi (鄭怡)Taiwan4th verse line 2; 3rd and 6th chorusJody Chiang (江蕙)Taiwan4th verse line 3; 3rd and 6th chorusYang Lin (楊林) 4th verse line 4; 3rd and 6th chorusChyi Chin (齊秦)Taiwan3rd and 4th chorus; 5th and 7th harmonyEric Moo (巫啟賢)Malaysia3rd and 6th chorusBao Xiaosong (包小松)Taiwan3rd and 6th chorusBao Xiaobo (包小柏)Taiwan3rd and 6th chorusSunnie Wang (王日昇)Taiwan3rd and 6th chorusWen Zhang (文章)Indonesia/Taiwan3rd and 6th chorusNg Guan Seng (黃元成) from Straw (水草三重唱)Singapore3rd and 6th chorusBilly Koh (许环良) from Straw (水草三重唱)Singapore3rd and 6th chorusJohn Koh (许南盛) from Straw (水草三重唱)Singapore3rd and 6th chorusBao Weiming (包偉銘)Taiwan3rd and 6th chorus 江音傑 3rd and 6th chorusJonathan Lee (李宗盛)Taiwan3rd and 6th chorus 吳大衛 3rd and 6th chorus 林禹勝 3rd and 6th chorusShi Hsiao-rong (施孝榮)Taiwan3rd and 6th chorus岳雷Singapore3rd and 6th chorusHsu Nai-lin (徐乃麟)Taiwan3rd and 6th chorus徐瑋 3rd and 6th chorus姚乙Malaysia3rd and 6th chorus陳黎鐘 3rd and 7th chorus黃慧文 3rd and 6th chorus張海漢 3rd and 6th chorusAngus Tung (童安格)Taiwan3rd and 6th chorus楊烈 3rd and 6th chorus楊耀東 3rd and 6th chorus廖小維 3rd and 6th chorus羅吉鎮 3rd and 6th chorus鍾有道 3rd and 6th chorusSylvia Chang 張艾嘉 3rd and 6th chorusStella Chang (張清芳)Taiwan3rd and 6th chorus成鳳 3rd and 6th chorus李靜 (from 百合二重唱)Taiwan3rd and 6th chorus周月綺 (from 百合二重唱)Taiwan3rd and 6th chorusLi Bihua 李碧華Taiwan3rd and 6th chorus何春蘭 3rd and 6th chorus芊苓 3rd and 6th chorus林淑蓉 3rd and 6th chorusTai Zhoumei 邰肇玫Taiwan3rd and 6th chorus唐曉詩 3rd and 6th chorus麥瑋婷 3rd and 6th chorus許慧慧 3rd and 6th chorus賴佩霞 3rd and 6th chorusPauline Lan (藍心湄)Taiwan3rd and 6th chorus In 1985, various Hong Kong singers sang a re-written Cantonese version of the song in 1985 Jade Solid Gold Awards Presentation. In 2010, many Taiwanese singers made their own music video versions of the song.
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香港512關愛行動-張靚穎、孫楠、楊坤、羽泉等合唱《明天會更好》