Some Chinese songs

bodawei
December 08, 2010, 12:02 AM posted in General Discussion

 

At the start of class yesterday a student sang a song (lyrics below).  [Baidu 我爱你《东成西就》 for an mp3 or the lyrics.]  Anyone like to attempt a translation?  Some of it is a bit of a challenge.  

The rest of the class thought it was very funny.  Apparently it comes from a 'Hong Kong' film, the humour is very popular on the mainland.    

(I can't imagine a 3rd year Economics student in the West singing a song before class, funny or not.)  

I think I will get someone to sing before every class now - there are plenty of people offering.. 

 

我爱你《东成西就》插曲  -

我只能用这一句    
包含我真诚意    
用心唱吟的诗求求你    
请姑娘你听一听
听完我这一句 
希望你会不嫌弃! 
其实我  
这一句 
这一句
这一句
这一句
词儿是只有三个字全部只有三个
,,!! 
我爱你 iloveyouloveyou...... 
我爱你!我爱你!我爱你你你 
我爱你你你!  
我们来我们来我们叫一声 
我们来我们不要皱着眉 
我们来我们来我们叫一声和你 
!叫一声!  
让我来对你对你对你对你 
欢乐叫声欢乐叫一声   
我爱你 iloveyouloveyou......
我爱你!我爱你!我爱你你你
我爱你你你!
我爱你
我是我是我是我是 
的确的确的确的确 
最爱你爱你爱你  
love    

 

Here's another, a second student sang an encore (easier)  

我愿意 (a Wang Fei song)  

思念是一种很玄的东西   
如影~随形  
无声又无息出没在心底  
转眼~吞没我在寂默里 
我无力抗拒特别是夜里喔  ~
想你到无法呼吸  
恨不能立即朝你狂奔去   
大声的告诉你    ~
愿意为你我愿意为你 
我愿意为你忘记我姓名   
就算多一秒停留在你怀里   
失去世界也不可惜    
我愿意为你我愿意为你   
我愿意为你被放逐天际   
只要你真心拿爱与我回应    
什么都愿意   
什么都愿意为你    
(music and repeat)

Note: this post started its life titled 'Chinese humour'

 

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light487
December 03, 2010, 04:57 AM

I can't read any of that at work (no Chinese character support here) but I LOOOOOVE Wang Fei! :) She is my favourite female mando-pop singer.. favourite male is Jay Chou of course (of course!!) :p What's the name of the Wang Fei song (in pinyin) ?

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bodawei

我愿意 wǒ yuànyì (I am willing ...)

The meaning in context is along the lines of 'I would do anything [for you] ..'

It's a pretty soppy love song. :)

You will find Wang Fei singing it on Baidu.

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light487

Yes.. hehehe.. This is one of my favourite Wang Fei songs :) She has one of the most beautiful voices (and 漂亮 of course too :) ) in mando-pop.. it's almost a crime to call her music mando-pop though as that makes it sound "common" and it is far from common. :)

Live performance of this song:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l0Qo7EUP8aQ

It's a little easier to understand than the studio recording I have. :)

I listen to this song once or twice every day.. lol! :)

I would suggest looking for the 2002 Concert at "Nippon Budokan" for more of her live.. though I'm sure there are others. :)

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light487

lol.. I didn't answer your question.. did I.. hrmm.. but yes.. I get very passionate about my Wang Fei :p lol

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bodawei
December 04, 2010, 03:16 AM

I'll make a start on the first song: 

我爱你 (I love you) 

我只能用这一句  (I only need one sentence...)   
包含我真诚意  (Including [the words] 'I truly...') 
用心唱吟的诗求求你  (With my whole heart I use this song [poem] to plead with you.. 'please, please...')  
请姑娘你听一听 (Please lady, listen to me...) 
听完我这一句 (After you listen to this one sentence...)   
希望你会不嫌弃!  (I hope you like it!) 
其实我 (actually, I... )
这一句  (this sentence, this sentence, this sentence, this sentence)

[wait for it, anytime now, it's coming soon..., wait for it...wait for it...]  

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light487
December 04, 2010, 03:36 AM

hrmm.. I would, especially in this context, have translated 姑娘 as "girl".

I can see the humour in:

这一句 
这一句
这一句
这一句

being repeated.. :)

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bodawei

'姑娘'

It is hard to translate definitively without context (she might in fact be an older woman) - and I dislike the habit of calling women 'girls' (personal prejudice). This is English, so where age is uncertain you are probably safer with lady - could be a young lady, an older lady or a middle-age lady.

Yeah, the 这一句 is pretty funny in a way. If you're in the mood. :) We wait for half the song before he gets the 'sentence' out. I think this is 'Hong Kong' silly.

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bodawei
December 04, 2010, 12:15 PM

Second half of the first song: 

这一句 (this sentence)  
词儿是只有三个字全部只有三个 (this sentence, it's just 3 characters…) 
,,!!  Yi er san  … Oooh! 
我爱你 iloveyouloveyou...... 
我爱你!我爱你!我爱你你你 (I love you, you, you) 
我爱你你你! (I love you, you, you) [BTW - this is the sentence]...

我们来我们来我们叫一声   (let's go, open your mouth/say something) 

我们来我们不要皱着眉  (come on come on don't be worried)

Note: [皱着眉 = looks worried, with lines of worry, & brow furrowed) 皱 mei = [eyebrows] screwed up; 眉 zhou = [brow] furrowed]  

我们来我们来我们叫一声和你  (let's go, open your mouth'say something)  
!叫一声!  (Ow!  open your mouth/ say something)
让我来对你对你对你对你  (let me look at you/ say something to you)
欢乐叫声欢乐叫一声  (I’m very happy to sing this) 
我爱你 iloveyouloveyou......
我爱你!我爱你!我爱你你你
我爱你你你!
我爱你
我是我是我是我是 
的确的确的确的确 (really, really , really!) [Note: 的确 dique] 

最爱你爱你爱你 (I really love you)   
love   

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bodawei
December 05, 2010, 01:50 PM

The Wang Fei song:

My translation of the second song:

我愿意wǒ yuànyì(I’d do anything [for you])

思念是一种很玄的东西sīniàn shì yī zhòng hěn xuán de dōngxī(I long for you [intensely]) [Note: 思念 sīniàn (longing for you); 玄 xuán (profound)] 如影随形rúyǐng suíxíng (俗语:this follows me like a shadow follows my body = we are inseparable) 无声又无息出没在心底 wúshēng yòu wúxī chūmò [= 出来] zài xīndǐ (soundlessy, breathlessly it comes from the bottom of my heart) 转眼吞没我在寂默里 zhuǎnyǎn tūnmò wǒ zài jìmò lǐ (in an instant this loneliness swallows me /eats me up) 我无力抗拒特别是夜里喔 wǒ wúlì kàngjù tèbié shè yè lǐ wā (I am weak, I have no power to stop it, especially at night, waaah!) 想你到无法呼吸 xiǎng nǐ dào wúfǎhūxī (I miss you so much I cannot breathe) 恨不能立即朝你狂奔去 hěn bùnéng lìjí cháo nǐ kuáng bēn qù (I hate that I can’t run crazily to look at you) 大声的告诉你dà shēng de gàosù nǐ(I’m telling you, earnestly) 愿意为你我愿意为你yuànyì wèi nǐ yuànyì wèi nǐ(I’d like to do something for you) 我愿意为你忘记我姓名 wǒ yuànyì wèi nǐ wàngjì wǒ xìngmíng(I’d even forget myself) 就算多一秒停留在你怀里 jiù suàn duō yī miáo tíngliú zài nǐ huái lǐ (even for just a second to embrace you) [Note: 多一秒 – give me one second] 失去世界也不可惜 shī qù shìjiè yé bù kěxī (even if I lost the world, it’s no matter) 我愿意为你我愿意为你 我愿意为你被放逐天际 bèi fàngzhú tiānjì (go somewhere/anywhere, wherever, I will follow you, to the end of the earth) [天际 = horizon] 只要你真心拿爱与我回应 zhǐyào nǐ zhēn xīn ná ài yǔ wǒ huíyìng (only you, true heart, give me your love in reply) [回应= answer, so ‘hope you give me your my love’] 什么都愿意 Anything, [I’ll do] anything!! 什么都愿意为你 Anything for you..

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light487
December 06, 2010, 01:15 AM

Oooh oooh.. can you translate the Wang Fei song "liu nian" for me? I forget the tones off hand.. and I can't type Chinese here at work :)

Pllleeease? :)

 

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bodawei

Find us the Chinese and I'm sure you'll have someone giving it a go. :)

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light487
December 06, 2010, 01:32 PM

王非 - 流年 ("Fleeting Time" is the translation I get from that.. but I could be wrong.. probably am)


爱上一个天使的缺点
用一种魔鬼的语言
上帝在云端只眨了一眨眼
最后眉一皱头一点

爱上一个认真的消遣
用一朵花开的时间
你在我旁边只打了个照面
五月的晴天闪了电

有生之年狭路相逢
终不能幸免
手心忽然长出纠缠的曲线
懂事之前情动以后
长不过一天
留不住算不出流年
(哪一年让一生改变)

遇见一场烟火的表演
用一场轮回的时间
紫微星流过来不及说再见
已经远离我一光年

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bodawei

The first thing I notice is some similarities of expression - does the great Wang Fei write her own stuff? Or maybe it is the same songwriter? Or have I already over-analyzed this?

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light487
December 06, 2010, 01:36 PM

Here is the KTV of the song to make it easier.. or harder.. or at least get the feel of the song:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eZSaoWz8D24

Oh.. and I own this song, as well as plenty of others.. so I do support the artists I enjoy.. :)

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bodawei

Can't get Youtube but never mind - I'm sure it is all over the Chinese Internet.

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light487

Well I know she doesn't write her own songs.. not sure if these two songs share the same artist.. but generally speaking, in the music industry, if a song is written "for" someone it is tailored to suit the singers style etc.. I've seen her sing many covers as well, she does an absolutely awesome rendition of The Cranberries song.. I think it's called "Dreams" or something like that.. in any case.. it sounds better than the original.. lol.. Irish accent included!! :)

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bodawei

A friend tells me that her husband writes her songs -

I have also had a talk to a native speaker and now perhaps know more about 王非 lyrics than I need to know. :) I spent some time with him discussing (translating is perhaps too strong a word, but that is what we tried to do) 流年. I have come to the conclusion that it is not only fundamentally un-translatable (because it does not even make much sense in Chinese), but it is meant to be this way! This is the 王非 trademark! Hey, just lie back and let the words flow over you - don't intellectualise! For someone who grew up listening to the Beatles, this 王非 experience is about as far from Lennon/McCartney as one could get. (I'll put the results of the translation in a separate post).

Perhaps if you are a fan I have not told you anything new..

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light487

Hrmm.. I am not that fanatical.. but ever since I saw her in "Tianxia Wushuang" ("Chinese Odyssey (2002)" movie), which is a comedy based on the famous "Journey to the West", I have fallen in love with her voice.. She mixes her opera-style with rock/pop and it is really good stuff. :)

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bodawei

Perhaps I should have admitted it, I am also a fan. I like the sound, I just had not made any effort before this to understand the lyrics.

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bodawei
December 08, 2010, 01:02 AM

王非 - 流年 (Transient love) 

The unofficial translation.  

A ‘free translation’, taking lots of licence.  The title of the song has connotations of the flow of time, or fleeting time, as well as the speed with which [an intense experience] can slip away from you. 


爱上一个天使的缺点  (Woe is me I fell in love with an angel) 
用一种魔鬼的语言  (What is that kind of evil sound?)  [I really don’t know how to translate this line]
上帝在云端只眨了一眨眼  (God sits on a cloud, just blinking his eyes in amazement) 
最后眉一皱头一点  (But finally just screwing up his face) 

[Note:  It seems that the王非 cosmos accommodates a Western fairy-tale version of God as a kindly white-haired old man sitting somewhere in the sky observing goings on below]. 

爱上一个认真的消遣  (Falling in love is a deadly serious matter) 
用一朵花开的时间  (In the time taken for one flower to bloom) 
你在我旁边只打了个照面  (You sit beside me and I just say ‘hello’) 
五月的晴天闪了电  (It’s like a sunny day in May when suddenly …lightning strikes!) 

有生之年狭路相逢  (At some point in my life, on a narrow path unfit for walking, but … surprise!  we met) 
终不能幸免  (In the end, you can’t stop this kind of thing happening) 
手心忽然长出纠缠的曲线  (Suddenly I notice that the lines in my palm have become a maze)  [Note:  This is a reference to the Chinese superstition of palm-reading to tell your fortune.]   
懂事之前情动以后  (I had fallen in love with you before I understood anything at all) 
长不过一天  (This cannot last more than a single day) 
留不住算不出流年  (Time cannot stay still, but I don’t understand how time passes like this) 
(哪一年让一生改变)  (which year changed my life) 

遇见一场烟火的表演  (when we met it was like a great show of fireworks) 
用一场轮回的时间  (this was a life, complete) 
紫微星流过来不及说再见  (but like a fading star, there is not enough time to say goodbye)  
已经远离我一光年  (already, you are a light year away… ) 

Ooh.  Aaah.   :)