Ke Da-wei has published five collections of his lyrical works between 2001 to 2011. Photos Provided to China Daily

Life experiences

In his recent song Echinus, released by Hong Kong pop star Eason Chan on Aug 4, Ke compares a man at the age of 35 to a sea urchin, which has sharp edges outside but is soft inside.

"My song lyrics are personal reflections on memorable moments in life," says Ke, 40. "Eason is of a similar age and we experienced similar struggles in our lives, sometimes we had to pretend to be strong and hide our vulnerability."

The song, Echinus, was recorded for Chan's upcoming new album, along with four other new songs penned by Ke.

It's not their first collaboration and Ke credits Chan with giving him freedom to let the lyrics do the talking.

"His trust in me enabled me to be creative and even though I had been writing lyrics for nearly 20 years, I still have fresh observations on life and can put my ideas into songs," Ke says.

He was also invited to write four songs for Beijing-based singer Zhou Bichang's new album, Not Typical, which was released in April.

"Some songs take longer periods of time while others come very quickly. But I love writing. The most important thing is that you keep writing and reacting to the emotions that you're having as a result of your life experiences."