“Days Without Cigarettes” — A Song, a Silence, and the Freedom to Sing
Today I’m performing a Chinese song titled “Days Without Cigarettes” (沒有煙抽的日子). On the surface, it is a quiet, poetic song about longing, emotional deprivation, and endurance. But behind its gentle imagery lies a history shaped by one of the most sensitive and suppressed moments in modern Chinese history—and a powerful reminder of why artistic freedom matters. The song was performed and composed by 張雨生 (Chang Yu-sheng), with lyrics written by 王丹 (Wang Dan). Wang Dan was one of the most prominent student leaders during the 1989 Tiananmen Square pro-democracy movement. The lyrics originated as a poem he wrote during that period, capturing the emotional state of a generation living under uncertainty, fear, and loss. Chang Yu-sheng later set the poem to music, transforming it into a song that carried both personal sorrow and collective memory. In the spring of 1989, large-scale student demonstrations began in Beijing’s Tiananmen Square, calling for freedom of speech, polit...