"How Are You" (Chinese: 你过得好吗; pinyin: Nǐ guò dé hǎo ma) is a song by Chinese singer-songwriter Joker Xue. It was released on July 31, 2007 as part of his second album How Are You? by Shang Teng Entertainment and has since been acquired by Xue's own label Chaoshi Music.
Within one month of release, the album sold more than 150,000 copies.
Contents
Background
"How Are You" was written and composed by Xue, arranged by Ying Tu, and produced by Liu Dajiang. Xue shared that the song was about "commemorating past love" and "wanting to know how they are doing after the breakup." The song demonstrated growth in Xue's perspective on love, from not wanting a lover to leave in "Serious Snow", to finally having the courage to let go.
"How Are You" premiered on CityFM and Music Radio ahead of the album release.
Music video
The music video for "How Are You" was directed by Jacky Lee, written by Xue, and starred Xue and Zhang Xiaojue as a pair of star-crossed lovers.
Xue revealed he had imagined the scenes in the music video as he was writing the song. The story opened with the man buying his girlfriend a gift to surprise her but was killed in a car accident on his way to her. His spirit lingered, reluctant to leave until he was sure she would be okay without him and able to have a better life, and eventually left with peace of mind. It was a challenge for the director, who was surprised Xue chose to kill the character he himself was portraying, to shoot the car accident without upsetting Xue's fans and decided to shoot the scene from multiple times from different angles.
During filming, Xue did not use a stunt double for the car accident scenes and because there were no special protective measures on the set, he sustained some abrasions and bruising.
Credits and personnel
Joker Xue – lyrics, composition, vocals
Ying Tu – arrangement
Liu Dajiang – producer
Jacky Lee – director