Chen's songs, which deliberately portrayed low-life characters like prostitutes, traveling players and fishmongers, were rich in terms of folk character, but they only won popularity in the ranks of people interested in local culture, and anti-establishment intellectuals. They failed to spark off a following in the ranks of the lower-class people featured in the songs. They came nowhere near the success of his recent song "Wandering Down to Tanshui."
陳明章刻畫這塊土地上戲子、妓女、魚販等卑微人物故事的作品，雖然充滿了豐富的民間特質，但是造成的流行卻是回繞在「關心本土文化」、乃至反體制的知識份子間，並未得到歌中描述的中下階層的共鳴，更不用說像今天他創作的「流浪到淡水」人人傳唱的盛況。