Canto-pop: too silly for words?

''IT'S still everywhere on the street, It's tonight the air is floating, The leather jacket riding astride the motorbike, Thinking of your hands; There's never been a drink that tastes like liquor . . .'' HUH?!? If that was your reaction, then join the club. From Hongkong to Taiwan, Canto-pop lovers have been marvelling at the . . . um . . . ingenuity of these words from Aaron Kwok Fu-shing's Why Did I Let You Go? written by songwriter Poon Yuen-leung.

Marvelling, and wondering too.

Respected Hongkong lyricist James Wong was recently moved to comment on the lyrics from Andy Lau Tak-wah's Love is Stupid. ''I must surely be very stupid,'' the veteran of song, film and advertising said. ''I certainly can't understand what it's about.'' Undeterred by criticism, our stars pop up on videos, on stage and over the airwaves, giving the teen audience gems like this chorus from Alex To Tak-wai's Because I Love You: ''Because I love you, I can lift up the thunderstorm, this vow of love will be everlasting.'' And then there's just the plain silly. He may be a hunk, but why does Lau warble: ''ET tells me, Batman tells me, Brother Mark tells me, Being in love makes your nose bleed . . .'' in City Hunter? And when George Lam Chi-cheong takes to the stage, emoting wildly and looking as if his favourite cat has just died, who can guess he is about to mouth lines like: ''Love is like a mosquito in the dark (mosquito, mosquito), Stinging my heart in the night, Don't make my heart itch, I can't sleep tight . . .'' ? Then there is: ''I say Dela, Sondela, Baby Sondela, when I'm with you'' from Shirley Kwan in Dela. Yes, but why she would want to say something like that only her lyricist knows.

And why would Calvin Choi Yat-chi of Grasshopper want to write lyrics like: ''You are ice (very troublesome), Why can't I be your liquor? Go? Go where? Why? No one knows what tomorrow will be like, I want to know what tomorrow will be like, I want to see tomorrow, I want to see myself'' ? Yes, Why? indeed.

There are 272 lyricists on the Composers and Authors Society of Hongkong register - but of these, less than 50 are known to be writing regularly. With the release of almost 2,000 songs a year, it is no wonder these few lyricists appear to have written themselves into a corner.

How else would one explain how the once-top Canto-popper Alan Tam Wing-lun suddenly found himself bopping to lyrics like: ''Forget your words, forget our dreams, Leaving what I sang to myself with the kara and OK, Don't care if I'm happy or sad, Kara forever OK, Half-dead with sadness, Kara will be OK . . .'' Perhaps some of the blame can be laid at the door of greed, with some singers and songwriters taking up the lyricist's pen in the hope of grabbing extra royalties.