Thing 000778 - Return To Innocence

Presentation

In 1988, Difang and Igay Duana, in Chinese Ying-nan and Hsiu-chu Kuo, a folk music duet from Taiwan who specialized in traditional Amis chants were part of a cultural exchange program in Paris when their performance of the song called Palang or alternatively Weeding and Paddyfield Song No.1, Elders’ Drinking Song or Jubilant Drinking Song were recorded by the Maison des Cultures du Monde. Their performances were recorded without their knowledge by the Maison des Cultures du Monde, part of the French Ministère de L’éducation Nationale and put onto an anonymous compilation of Polyphonies vocales des aborigénes de Taïwan. The French government then sold the recording to EMI. The Ami, or Amis or Pangcah, is one of the local peoples of Taiwan. The territory of the Amis include the long, narrow valley between the Central Mountains and the Coastal Mountains, the Pacific coastal plain eastern to the Coastal Mountains, and the Hengchun Peninsula. Palang is a song almost every Ami can sing. They speak an Austronesian language and are members of one of the twelve officially recognized peoples of Taiwanese aborigines. The Ami language, like other Taiwan aboriginal languages, is a spoken language only. As there is no written equivalent, aboriginal tribes used to teach their youth tribal history and customs by singing folk songs. Many younger people no longer speak the language, or sing the songs, of their ancestors. Amis try to save their tribe’s vanishing culture.

In 1994, the pop group Enigma made the song Return to Innocence from their second album called Cross of Changes. In the song, the main vocals are provided by Angel X or Andreas Harde. The song includes Ami chants sampled from Duana’s Palang. The producer of Enigma, Michael Cretu had obtained the CD Polyphonies vocales des aborigénes de Taïwan and proceeded to sample it. In 1996, the song was further popularized as it was used in a television advertisement to promote the 1996 Summer Olympics which was held in Atlanta, USA.

In 1996 friends of Difang and Igay Duana, who heard their voices in the song while traveling, congratulated them for their international success. Shorly after the Taiwanese press identified Duana on Return to Innocence. Duana were given a contract with Magic Stone, a subsidiary of indie label Rock Records. Magic Stone Records collaborated with Dan Lacksman of Deep Forest to mix a chart-topping ethnic electronica CD, Circle of Life, released under the artist name Difang but which contains music from both Difang and Igay. This was followed with Across the Yellow Earth in 2001, but Difang died soon after its release. While the couple were pleased with Enigma’s editing, they asked EMI to acknowledge the contribution of both the Amis’ song and the Duanas’ performance. EMI ignored them. Magic Stone’s lawyer then contacted a law firm named Dewey Ballantine in the United States to negotiate a legal suit. Michael Cretu of Enigma has stated that:

I had been led to believe that the recording was in the public domain, and did not intentionally violate the Kuos’ copyright.

The suit against EMI was settled out of court in July 1999 for an undisclosed amount of money and all further releases of the song were credited (including royalties) to the Kuos. The couple won a small settlement which they used to set up a scholarship fund for Amis children.

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