In the time when Wong Jum-sum grew up, Cantonese pop music was but one of many kinds of music broadcast on radio. In a society where over 80% of the population spoke Cantonese, that came as a major surprise. Wong has a simple explanation for this. Cantonese pop grew out of traditional Cantonese music, but it could not build on the popularity of the latter in the face of severe competition. Compared to Western or Mandarin pop, it lagged behind in the areas of composition, lyrics, singing, accompaniment, recording, distribution, and marketing. Its competitors had a head start in talents, organization, and technology that took Cantonese pop more than a decade to come close.
Not everyone agrees with Wong’s diagnosis. Other scholars argue Canto pop, even in such early days, had a unique vibrancy that came from a healthy disregard of the boundaries among different traditions and genres, be they local or foreign. Early Canto pop laid a solid foundation for modern Canto pop, which went on to dominate not only Hong Kong but most Chinese communities around the world.
The story of Cantonese pop awaits careful re-writing.
作曲：Don Raye, Peter Fadden
作詞：胡文森
主唱：鄭君綿、李寶瑩、鄧寄塵
鄭：人人都要捱
為人莫貪倚賴
日後成功失敗
全憑是否去捱
李：時時為仔女捱
時時拖去街
鄧：成世噯姑乖
兒共女攞債
將來永無白捱
鄭：窮人命中要捱
財雄亦擔心大
李：日日慌失敗
無時不憂懷
鄧：營謀重兼安排
求財技精夾乖
鄭：貧富亦一般
貧賤無分界
一同奮鬥力捱
鄭：窮人命中要捱
財雄亦擔心大
李：日日慌失敗
無時不憂懷
鄧：營謀重兼安排
求財技精夾乖
鄭：貧富亦一般
貧賤無分界
一同奮鬥力捱
鄧：人人若肯去捱
名成在精夾乖
合：勤勉顯功夫
成就似飛快
他年快樂無涯
他年快樂無涯
他年快樂無涯
