This week's song is a challenge for even highly educated Chinese speakers to understand. Composer Dou Wei is known for writing his music first before layering on the lyrics later, often by working through a dictionary in search of characters which suggest a particular mood. You can get help understanding the song by clicking through to our word-by-word annotation and translation, or checking out these two Chinese attempts at explication.

While "The Sound of Rain" may be a challenge to understand, it's also a great song that shatters the myth China is somehow lacking in bold and innovative artists. The lyrics hover between sad and uplifting in a delicate dance with the music, and the song may even offer some weak absolution at the end.

And for those of you who use KTV Wednesday to keep up-to-date on your Chinese music gossip, it's worth mentioning that Dou Wei is the ex-husband of Wang Fei. He has a mixed reputation, with some Chinese women considering him a cad for his various romances following his public split with her. We won't take sides: both have gone on to very successful and quite different musical careers.