Chris Tong Music

Heart Songs

This playlist includes some of the songs I've written over the years, from 1975 to the present. I never released any of the songs when I wrote them. So it has only been recently — from 2020 to the present — that I've begun arranging and releasing recordings of these songs.

This page starts with a YouTube Playlist Player that enables you to play all my songs, one after the other.

Below that is an album I released in 2021, Heart Songs, which contains 7 of my songs.

The other 8 songs are listed further down the page.

SONGS BY CHRIS TONG:
YOUTUBE PLAYLIST (15 SONGS, 1:03:02)
press the 3 horizontal bars to view or scroll down song index

Links | Tracks | About This Album

Heart Songs ALBUM RELEASED APRIL 3, 2021 7 tracks — 28 minutes, 54 seconds LINKS TRACKS FROM HEART SONGS
		1. Space Girl 2 — The love story of Earth Boy and Space Girl, with exhilarating, orbital hookups, commitment issues, and intense emotions. A complete re-conceptualization of Frances Forever's 2020 indie hit, Space Girl, this 2021 version is a veritable roller coaster of story and music.

		2. Mary's Song — Written in 1975. A fairy tale set to music. Softly. . . sing softly. . . of castles beyond the sea. There's no time to cry — time keeps flowing by. . . sail across it with me.

		3. She — Two people who live on opposite sides of the world fall in love through computer screens. They are not able to get on a plane and meet. Still. . . "love will find a way". I started writing the lyrics in 1980, but only finished them in 2020, where they reflect the times (the pandemic, limits on travel, etc.)

		4. No Cares (Swinging in the Rain) — In 1986, I was watching Gene Kelly in "Singin' in the Rain". I said to myself, I want to write a song that is just as happy, that will lift the spirit of all who listen! The result was this song.

		5. All I Need Is Your Love — This 1979 song (especially the verse) was musically influenced by the Righteous Brothers' You've Lost That Loving Feeling, but is more upbeat.

		6. Heart Song — This is a 1980 song about second chances, healing the heart, and living in the present.

		7. Island — This 1978 song is about love in the midst of impermanence. Island is probably the song I've written that was most influenced by the Beatles.

ABOUT THIS ALBUM From one perspective, Heart Songs has been 46 years in the making! I wrote Mary's Song in 1975 — 46 years ago (when I was 18). Island came along in 1978, All I Need Is Your Love in 1979, Heart Song in 1980, and No Cares in 1986. But from another perspective, the album is entirely new. . . I began writing She in 1980, but completed it (writing most of the lyrics) in 2020. Frances Forever's indie hit, Space Girl, came out in March, 2020 and went viral at the end of 2020, inspiring my early 2021 version, Space Girl 2. And I sang all the songs and wrote all the musical arrangements over the course of late 2020 and early 2021, using 2021 recording, mixing, and production technology. The album is such a mixture of old and new that I prefer to think of the end result as timeless — and hope my listeners will feel the same. I call the album "Heart Songs" because all the songs are powerful expressions of the heart, or deep heart lessons learned. "Girl, we're flying so high, and my heart goes 'Wow'" (Space Girl 2); "And for all my sweet life, my heart belongs to her" (She); "But that was all long ago. These days I let my heart show." (No Cares); "All I want is happiness for us. And all I need is your love." (All I Need Is Your Love); "Life is heart to heart, with hand in hand, in heart song." (Heart Song); "Every day, a love is born to break a heart or make a start for two." (Island); and "There's no time to cry — time keeps flowing by. . . Sail beyond time with me" (Mary's Song). Love — in all its depth and multi-dimensionality — is the test and the epitome of human existence, and so I'm delighted to share with everyone this album full of heart songs straight from my heart to yours. MORE SONGS BY CHRIS TONG In addition to the seven songs I included on the 2021 album, Heart Songs, the Heart Songs playlist includes eight more songs I've released:
		Ode To Clayton — I wrote Ode to Clayton in 1976 (when I was 19). This song is for the guys I worked with and hung out with at the time — particularly George Lees, who is "Clayton", the song's hero. This is a cowboy song, with a humorous twist at the end — a musical Western that doesn't take itself overly seriously.

		Hearts So Wise — Hearts So Wise is a 1986 song about the healing power of friendship, and about living a deeper, wiser life, that doesn't run away from aging, mortality, or feeling. I wrote it when I was 29, a natural time to be reflecting on aging and mortality!

		Claudia — Claudia is one of my earliest songs, written when I was 19 (in 1976). It's about a guy who falls in love with a girl. . . He's certain she's "the right girl"; but, it turns out, she can't return his love — and he pays the price. Despite the sad story, the music is exhilarating (something like a Beethoven sonata and a Viennese waltz, transformed into a rocker), so this song is one of my favorites.

		The Man With a Thousand Dreams — I wrote The Man With a Thousand Dreams when I was 23 (in 1980). It's a mysterious song that just came to me unexpectedly. It's unlike any other song I have written. If you took away the drum track, it might even sound like the theme from a 1940's movie (like, say, Laura), or one of Frank Sinatra's more dramatic songs (like, say, Long Ago and Far Away).

		Didn't Say — Didn't Say is a 1986 song about a man who falls in love with a mysterious woman. They clearly enjoy each other's company, but does she love him? He wants a fuller relationship, but her enigmatic non-response ("la la la la la") is the focus of this romantic comedy.

		Carousel — I wrote Carousel in March of 1981 (when I was 23), for my girlfriend, who was a receptionist and a dreamer — which led to the opening words of the song. May the lively rhythms of the verses move your body, and the joy of the chorus move your heart.

		Dancer — Dancer is a love story I wrote in 1979 about a long-distance relationship. The man flies across the country to be with his woman friend every summer. "Life as a dance" is the song's theme. "Dance with me" (the main line in the chorus) is his invitation to her to be together always. This is a piano song, whose moods follow the changing styles of the piano, from jazzy/jaunty/bluesy verses, to light disco and Beethoven (!) in the chorus.

		The Crayon Rainbow In My Heart — Written in the style of a Broadway musical song when I was 23, The Crayon Rainbow In My Heart celebrates how children move one's heart to joy so easily.