Chinese fans enamoured with UK songwriter

A Chinese-language song written by Manchester-based singer-songwriter Kevin McGeary has proven popular with Chinese internet users. “Hope It Might Be So” is a hopeful incantation about belief in an afterlife.

Originally from Tyrone in Northern Ireland, McGeary started writing Chinese songs in 2008, and in August the song reached six-figure viewing numbers on Douyin, Bilibili and other popular platforms.

Kevin McGeary

Dr. Lehyla Heward, a professor of Chinese literature, described the song as “tear-jerking in all the right ways.” Jennie Li, an assistant professor at the Education University of Hong Kong, who is also a professional opera singer, described McGeary’s Chinese song-writing skills as “amazing.”

Comedian and singer McGeary, who performs in English as The Kev, has released two albums of Chinese songs, and teaches Mandarin in the U.K. His Chinese-language songwriting has been the subject of features in China Daily, on Guangdong Television and in other international media.

His Chinese albums “Museum of Failure” and “We Need to Talk About The Kev,” as well as his English albums “TMItastic,” “Abusive X” and “We Need to Talk About The Kev” are available on all major platforms.