Even after the Japanese colonial period ended, traces of Japanese culture lingered in postwar Taiwan. Indeed, by the Japanese colonial period, it had already become common to adapt Japanese melodies and set them to Taiwanese lyrics attuned to the social climate of the day. All the Ladies embroiders the lyrics of three Taiwanese cover songs from the 1950s–60s—“所有的小姐” (Sóo-ū －ê sió-tsiá) (“All the Ladies”), “快樂的工人” (Khuài-lo̍k ê Kang-lâng) (“Happy Workers”), and “孤女的願望” (Koo-lú ê Guān-bōng) (“An Orphan Girl’s Wish”)—each based on earlier Japanese tunes: “大学数え唄” (“College Counting Song”), “炭坑もぐら” (“Coal-Mine Mole”), and “花笠道中” (“While Traveling”). Deliberately left unfinished, the work draws out the tangled histories that underlie language and, through the lyrics, brings into relief the labor conditions and social hierarchy of the era.