Tomorrow Will Be Better
"Tomorrow Will Be Better" is a Taiwanese Mandopop charity record written by Lo Ta-Yu and sung by over 60 artists. It was inspired by "Do [They Know It's Christmas?]" by Band Aid, and "We Are The World" by USA for Africa. It was recorded on September 15, 1985 and released on October 25, 1985 in order to raise money for World Vision International to help with aid to Africa, especially for a famine in Ethiopia spanning from 1983 to 1985.
Original lyrics
Lo Ta-Yu wrote and prepared the lyrics in advance before summoning more than 60 artists from Taiwan, Hong Kong, Singapore, and Malaysia to film a music video. They were much darker and felt much more hopeless than the final, published version. When Lo presented the lyrics, many of the artists quit on the spot as they were filled with criticisms of the society at the time. At the time, Taiwan was under martial law, so if the lyrics were not reworked, the artists may have faced various repercussions.Lo was against self-censorship, even when many persuaded Lo to change the lyrics. He eventually reluctantly did, and as a result, six other artists and songwriters Chang Ta-chun, Hsu Nai-sheng,, Chiu Fu-sheng, Sylvia Chang, and Zhang Hongzhi came up to him to collaborate and rework the lyrics to be more positive for the song be approved for publishing.
Despite the long-term success of the song, in a later interview, Lo stated that he absolutely hated producing the song, as it was not filled with the direct bluntness and the sense of responsibility which had been present in the original lyrics.
Artists
The song was originally sung in Mandarin Chinese and performed by the 60 artists. They were from the four main Chinese music industry markets of Hong Kong, Malaysia, Singapore and Taiwan.| Artist | Market | Song segment |
| Tsai Chin | Taiwan | 1st verse line 1; 3rd and 6th chorus |
| Yu Tian | Taiwan | 1st verse line 2; 3rd, 5th and 6th chorus |
| Su Rui | Taiwan | 1st verse line 3; chorus; 3rd, 4th and 6th chorus; 6th and 7th harmony |
| Michelle Pan | Taiwan | 1st verse line 4; 3rd and 6th chorus |
| Jenny Tseng | Hong Kong | 2nd verse line 1; 3rd and 6th chorus |
| Li Jianfu | Taiwan | 2nd verse line 2/4; 3rd and 6th chorus |
| Monique Lin | Taiwan | 2nd verse line 3; 3rd and 6th chorus |
| Jeanette Wang | Taiwan | 2nd verse line 4; 3rd and 6th chorus |
| Tracy Huang | Taiwan | 1st chorus line 1-2; 3rd and 6th chorus |
| Chris Hung | Taiwan | 1st chorus line 3-4; 3rd and 6th chorus |
| Sarah Chen | Taiwan | 3rd verse line 1; 3rd and 6th chorus |
| Wawa | Taiwan | 3rd verse line 2; 3rd and 6th chorus |
| Wang Mon Ling | Taiwan | 3rd verse line 3-4; 3rd and 6th chorus |
| Lee Pei-jing | Taiwan | 3rd verse line 4; 3rd and 6th chorus |
| Fei Yu-Ching | Taiwan | 2nd, 3rd and 6th chorus |
| Chyi Yu | Taiwan | 4th verse line 1; 3rd and 6th chorus |
| Jeng Yi | Taiwan | 4th verse line 2; 3rd and 6th chorus |
| Jody Chiang | Taiwan | 4th verse line 3; 3rd and 6th chorus |
| Yang Lin | 4th verse line 4; 3rd and 6th chorus | |
| Chyi Chin | Taiwan | 3rd and 4th chorus; 5th and 7th harmony |
| Eric Moo | Malaysia | 3rd and 6th chorus |
| Bao Xiaosong | Taiwan | 3rd and 6th chorus |
| Bao Xiaobo | Taiwan | 3rd and 6th chorus |
| Sunnie Wang | Taiwan | 3rd and 6th chorus |
| Wen Zhang | Indonesia/Taiwan | 3rd and 6th chorus |
| Ng Guan Seng from Straw | Singapore | 3rd and 6th chorus |
| Billy Koh from Straw | Singapore | 3rd and 6th chorus |
| John Koh from Straw | Singapore | 3rd and 6th chorus |
| Bao Weiming | Taiwan | 3rd and 6th chorus |
| 江音傑 | 3rd and 6th chorus | |
| Jonathan Lee | Taiwan | 3rd and 6th chorus |
| 吳大衛 | 3rd and 6th chorus | |
| 林禹勝 | 3rd and 6th chorus | |
| Shi Hsiao-rong | Taiwan | 3rd and 6th chorus |
| 岳雷 | Singapore | 3rd and 6th chorus |
| Hsu Nai-lin | Taiwan | 3rd and 6th chorus |
| 徐瑋 | 3rd and 6th chorus | |
| 姚乙 | Malaysia | 3rd and 6th chorus |
| 陳黎鐘 | 3rd and 7th chorus | |
| 黃慧文 | 3rd and 6th chorus | |
| 張海漢 | 3rd and 6th chorus | |
| Angus Tung | Taiwan | 3rd and 6th chorus |
| 楊烈 | 3rd and 6th chorus | |
| 楊耀東 | 3rd and 6th chorus | |
| 廖小維 | 3rd and 6th chorus | |
| 羅吉鎮 | 3rd and 6th chorus | |
| 鍾有道 | 3rd and 6th chorus | |
| Sylvia Chang 張艾嘉 | 3rd and 6th chorus | |
| Stella Chang | Taiwan | 3rd and 6th chorus |
| 成鳳 | 3rd and 6th chorus | |
| 李靜 | Taiwan | 3rd and 6th chorus |
| 周月綺 | Taiwan | 3rd and 6th chorus |
| Li Bihua 李碧華 | Taiwan | 3rd and 6th chorus |
| 何春蘭 | 3rd and 6th chorus | |
| 芊苓 | 3rd and 6th chorus | |
| 林淑蓉 | 3rd and 6th chorus | |
| Tai Zhoumei 邰肇玫 | Taiwan | 3rd and 6th chorus |
| 唐曉詩 | 3rd and 6th chorus | |
| 麥瑋婷 | 3rd and 6th chorus | |
| 許慧慧 | 3rd and 6th chorus | |
| 賴佩霞 | 3rd and 6th chorus | |
| Pauline Lan | Taiwan | 3rd and 6th chorus |
In 1985, various Hong Kong singers sang a re-written Cantonese version of the song in 1985 [Jade Solid Gold Best Ten Music Awards Presentation|1985 Jade Solid Gold Awards Presentation]. In 2010, many Taiwanese singers made their own music video versions of the song.