Translated Song of the Day

[jkhsu]

I've been thinking about creating this thread for a while now. There might have been some attempts before but I don't think there was any structure or rules to it. So here's what I am thinking:

PURPOSE: The purpose of the Translated Song of the Day thread is for Chinese learners to practice their transcription and translation skills on a song of their choice. Afterwards, forum members can help correct the translation. This will not only (1) help Chinese learners improve their transcription (seeing a word and writing it in pinyin), translation and understanding of Chinese but also (2) introduce a variety of songs to other forum members.

RULES:

1. If possible, you should try to transcribe the song yourself. It's perfectly fine and preferable to use a video with subtitles otherwise, the task would be way too hard for most people. If you don't have the time to transcribe the song, you can find the Chinese lyrics online and use that as your starting point.

2. You can use any dictionary tool including MDBG and Google Translate to help you. However, please try not to look at other translations before attempting it yourself. Give it your best shot. If you are confident, post what you have before looking at other translations on the net.

3. Please post a link to the video for others to listen.

4. Please post a list of vocab words as well to help others (and you). It's up to you to consider which words are vocab words. In general, the more you include, the better. However, please don't include the entire lyrics as vocab though.

5. If you don't plan on translating a song and just want to provide a link or want to discuss a song, you can post in the Chinese Song of the Day thread instead. Please only post your own translations to this thread.

FAQ:

1. How is this different from the Song of the Day thread? - The song of the day thread is for forum members to introduce / discuss songs. This thread is for learners to improve their transcription and translation.

2. Can I post non-Mandarin songs? - Yes, absolutely. There are many great Canto-pop songs as well. Additionally, if you want to post an English song that you have translated into Chinese, more power to you.

3. What if I am not a learner, can I still post a translation? - Yes, anyone can post a song translation as long as it is your own.

So that's it. Let's hope I'm not the only one posting in this thread!

I guess I will start with the first one. When I first started listening to Chinese songs, I was introduced to this song 枫 (Maple Leaf) by 周杰伦 (Jay Chou). When I first heard it, I didn't like it that much but it grew on me later. The cool thing about this song is (I think) the fairly creative video concept. In the video, there is actually another song which is a continuation of this song sung by another person. If anyone can tell me what that song is, you get a thumbs up. I'll post a translation of that one later on.

This is the first time I have tried to translate this song actually and I've realized I've bitten off more than I can chew. I like Jay Chou's lyrics but they're more on the advanced side when it comes to Chinese songs. I have to admit that for this song, I couldn't finish the transcription and had to refer to an already transcribed text. Also, the video I posted from Youtube has a translation which I did not look at until after I gave it a try. There are some questions about the translation that I hope forum members can help me out with.

http://www.tudou.com...iew/jis5bX8nEJU

周杰伦 (Jay Chou)

枫 (Maple Leaf)

VERSE A

乌云在我们心里搁下一块阴影

Dark clouds in our hearts have carved out a lasting shadow

我聆听沉寂已久的心情

I respectfully listen to my mood which has been silenced for a while

清晰透明

It is clear and transparent / without any doubts

就像美丽的风景 总在回忆里才看的清

Just like a beautiful scene that I can always see clearly in my memories

VERSE B

被伤透的心能不能够继续爱我

I wonder if you can still love me after your heart has been hurt / broken

我用力牵起没温度的双手

I use strength to lift your cold hands

过往温柔 已经被时间上锁

Our warm / tender relationship has already been locked by time

只剩挥散不去的难过

Leaving only painful memories that can't be scattered away

CHORUS A

缓缓飘落的枫叶像思念

My longing is like a maple leaf slowly falling to the ground.

我点燃烛火温暖岁末的秋天

I light a candle to warm the autumn at the end of this year

极光掠夺天边

[i don't get this one at all]

北风掠过想你的容颜

The northern wind sweeps scross the person who is thinking of you

我把爱烧成了落叶

I burned love, leaving it like a dead leaves

却换不回熟悉的那张脸

So that it won't come back as a face that I recognize

CHORUS B

缓缓飘落的枫叶像思念

My longing is like a maple leaf slowly falling to the ground.

为何挽回要赶在冬天来之前

Why return back to the time before winter

[How does this mean "Why must I try to recover all before winter arrives?"]

爱你穿越时间

My love for you is not bounded by time

两行来自秋末的眼泪

[This one totally confused me. How does this mean "Two streams of tears that were shed for the autumn's

end"?]

让爱渗透了地面

Let love permeate the ground

我要的只是你在我身边

All I want is you to be by my side

REPEAT VERSE B

在山腰间飘逸的红雨

Red rain is gracefully falling half up up the mountain

[How does this mean "The lush mountainside forest"?]

随着北风凋零

Is following the northern winds, withering away

我轻轻摇曳风铃

I lightly push the wind chime

想唤醒被遗弃的爱情

Hoping to awake the lost love

雪花已铺满了地

Snow flakes have already filled the ground

深怕窗外枫叶已结成冰

I'm deeply afraiid that the maple leaf outside the window has already frozen up.

REPEAT CHORUS A AND CHORUS B

END

[creamyhorror]

就像美丽的风景 总在回忆里才看的清

Just like a beautiful scene that I can always see clearly in my memories

Just wanted to point out that the 才 makes this line closer to "that I can see clearly only in my memories."

极光掠夺天边

[i don't get this one at all]

Maybe "The aurora sweeps fiercely across the horizon"?

我把爱烧成了落叶

I burned love, leaving it like a dead leaves

却换不回熟悉的那张脸

So that it won't come back as a face that I recognize

This should be something like "I burned my love into fallen leaves / But it could not bring back that face so familiar". The act of burning his love is an offering in exchange for regaining the ('face' of the) person he loves.

为何挽回要赶在冬天来之前

Why return back to the time before winter

[How does this mean "Why must I try to recover all before winter arrives?"

挽回 is sort of a phrase here, so it something like "recovering"/"recovery".

[为何挽回] [要] [赶在冬天来之前] ? = [Why recovery] [must] [be rushed before winter arrives] ?

两行来自秋末的眼泪

[This one totally confused me. How does this mean "Two streams of tears that were shed for the autumn's

end"?]

A matter of forced interpretation, I guess. The tears are "coming from autumn's end", so something is shedding them. It could refer to a person, or to the falling leaves, or just about anything.

在山腰间飘逸的红雨

Red rain is gracefully falling half up up the mountain

[How does this mean "The lush mountainside forest"?]

Interpretation of "red rain" as the falling autumn leaves in a midmountain forest. But like you I'd rather keep it metaphorical.

Nice work.

[maverickwoman]

Great idea- I love it!

[jkhsu]

@creamyhorror - Thank you for the corrections. You pointed out some key points that I didn't get. I actually completely missed the "red rain" = falling autumn leaves part. So yes, I agree, metaphorically, it's nice to keep it as "red rain" but if you hadn't pointed that out to me I would have just thought it was rain.

@maverickwoman - Feel free to post an interpreted song of your choice too. The board is full of helpful people.

Also, does anyone want to take a guess at the song / video that is a continuation of Jay Chou's 枫？

[cheritao]

This is one of my favourite songs,maybe I can tell you the meaning of it.为何挽回要赶在冬天来之前

Why return back to the time before winter

[How does this mean "Why must I try to recover all before winter arrives?"

Because the maple leaf will fall their leaves in winter,and his miss is like the maple leaf.The leaf fall means a kind of end,and he doesn't want to break up. He is just thinking by himself here,"为何挽回要赶在冬天来之前" is not a question.

两行来自秋末的眼泪

[This one totally confused me. How does this mean "Two streams of tears that were shed for the autumn's"

秋末的眼泪has two meanings ,"the tears" and "the sadness of break up".

极光掠夺天边

[i don't get this one at all]

极光stands for beauty,their love,their memories...

Can only sense, can not explain in words

[jkhsu]

@cheritao - Thank you for the additional corrections on the interpretation. It makes a lot more sense now. The lyrcs to this song is a masterpiece. I never even realized how deep and poetic they are. It also means I have a lot more Chinese studying to do to get to this level of comprehension.

[creamyhorror]

The lyrics to this song aren't bad, but Jay's best lyrics are written by Fang Wen Shan. Now there's a man who has the Chinese musical world in awe. From the modern in-the-moment love song 七里香 to the more poetic, "guzhuang" 发如雪 and the classically styled 菊花台, his style pretty much blows me away in comparison with other lyricists. It's his images and allusions that do it ("繁华如三千东流水 / 我只取一瓢爱了解 / 只恋你化身的蝶").

[jkhsu]

I read that 发如雪 won the best lyrics at the Chinese Pepsi Music Chart Awards (China's equivalent to America's Grammies) for that year. Vincent Fang's lyrics are definitely a significant part of Jay's success. I'll probably do a translation of that song at some point (if no one else does it).

[jkhsu]

As promised, here's the video sequel to Jay Chou's Maple Leaf (枫). It's by Will Liu (刘畊宏) a friend of Jay Chou's (in real life) and also the other guy in the video. This song is called Rainbow Heaven (彩虹天堂) and it starts off where the girl realizes that she completely forgot Jay was her boyfriend before. Eventually, she decides to leave both of them because of her memory problem. It's a pretty sad story.

I saw the Jay Chou World Tour concert in Shanghai back in 2007 and Will Liu also showed up to perform this song. It was pretty cool. I've included a link to both songs together as well. For the sections I need help with translation I've added [need help]. I am sure there are other sections I didn't translate right. If you have time to correct, please feel free to do so.

彩虹天堂 - Rainbow Heaven

Youtube

Youku

http://v.youku.com/v_show/id_XMzQ3Nzk0Mjg=.html

枫 彩虹天堂 完整版 - Maple Leaf and Rainbow Heaven Combined

http://v.youku.com/v_show/id_XMTcyMDc0NzM2.html

彩虹天堂

Rainbow Heaven

刘畊宏

Will Liu

12 月 23 日　阴天

December, 23 Cloudy Day

VOICE OVER

有许多的人 想靠着时间 忘记过去

A lot of people wish to rely on time to forget the past

而我的回忆 我想留 却都留不住

In contrast, my memories... I want to retain but am unable to retain any of it

VERSE A

我不知不觉又徘徊在从前

I unconsciously linger in the past again

秋风悄悄的呼唤听来尽是孤单

Autumn winds quietly call out a sound of complete loneliness

落叶的期盼片片左右为难

The expectation of fallen leaves spread out left and right with awkwardness [need help - what does this mean?]

心走寂寞攀跟着飘进黑暗

The heart walks, with a lonely feeling, following and floating into darkness [need help - better way to say this?]

VERSE B

我不闻不问也许好过一点

If I am not concerned maybe I will feel better

被遗憾关在房间挣扎只是拖延

Shut in a room with regret, my struggles are merely a delay (to help me feel better)

无望的空谈一声声的轻叹

Gentle sounds of hopeless chit-chat

回忆扯不断怎麽摆脱纠缠

If I can't pull away from my memories, how can I break from this tangle? [need help - what does this mean?]

CHORUS A

找不到方向往彩虹天堂

I can't find the direction, I go toward the rainbow heaven

有你说的爱在用幸福触摸忧伤

The love you said is using happiness to touch grief

两个人相守直到白发苍苍

Two people want to live together until their hair turns white

自由的飞翔在灿烂的星光

flying with freedom in the glittering starlight

CHORUS B

找不到方向往彩虹天堂

I can't find the direction, I go toward the rainbow heaven

有你说的爱在用幸福触摸忧伤

The love you said is using happiness to touch grief [need help - what does this mean? better way to say this?]

两个人相守直到白发苍苍

Two people want to live together until their hair turns white

自由的飞翔在灿烂的星光

flying with freedom in the glittering starlight

有你在我身旁

Having you at my side

REPEAT VERSE B

REPEAT CHORUS A & B

CONTENTS OF LETTER + REPEAT CHORUS B

我无法找回过去丧失的记忆，

I am unable to retrieve the lost memories

也无法留住现在每好的幸福，

I am also unable to stay in the current happiness

未来的一切相信仅剩下伤害，

All of my future beliefs are subject to hurt [need help - what does this mean?]

我不知道该怎么面对过去和现在，

I don't know how I can face the past and the present

所以选择一个人的未来。

Therefore, I am choosing to a future alone

[jkhsu]

Alright, here's a really retro translated song of the day from me.

It's 追 (Chase) from the late 张国荣 (Leslie Cheung), a Cantonese song from 1995.

I first heard this song when a friend of mine played it on the piano several years ago. It was mesmerizing. When I heard the actual song, it brought back memories of Hong Kong for some reason. It's now one of my favorite Cantonese songs.

This song won the best original film song during the 14th Hong Kong Film Awards. The movie that this song is featured in is called 金枝玉葉 (He's a Woman, She's a Man). I've included links to the film clip, music video and a version that 张学友 (Jacky Cheung) sang, which I think is really nice.

When I did a search for this song on the forums, I found skylee's link so I used the lyrics from there (added chorus and verse breaks). I kept it in traditional Chinese.

Enjoy and feel free to correct my translations.

Song Clip from the Movie:

YouTube:

YouKu: Link (high quality)

Music Video

YouTube:

YouKu: Link (high quality)

张学友 (Jacky Cheung) singing 追

YouTube: Link

YouKu: Link

追 (Chase)

曲:李迪文　詞:林夕　唱：張國榮 (Leslie Cheung)

VERSE A

這一生也在進取　這分鐘卻掛念誰

Forging ahead in my life. At this minute who am I missing / thinking of

我會說是唯獨你不可失去

I would say that it is you whom I can't lose

好風光　似幻似虛　誰明人生樂趣

A beautiful scene is like an illusion, who understands life's happiness?

我會說　為情為愛　仍然是對

I can say for affection and love, it is still right

CHORUS A

誰比你重要　成功了敗了也完全無重要

Who is more important than you, whether I am successful or not, it doesn't

matter.

誰比你重要　狂風與暴雨都因你燃燒

Who is more important than you, fierce winds and rains all burn because of you

一追再追

Chase and chase again

只想追趕生命裏一分一秒　

Only to chase the minutes and seconds (moments) in the life

原來多麼可笑　你是真正目標

It's actually funny (ironic) that you were the real target (of the chase)

一追再追　追蹤一些生活最基本需要　

Chase and chase again, chasing life's basic needs

原來早不缺少 HA......

Actually, I was never short of it (life's basic needs)

有了你　即使平凡卻最重要

Having you is the most important, even if we live just a common life

VERSE B

好光陰縱沒太多　一分鐘那又如何

Good (happy) times are few (not that much), (but I would prefer to spend it with you)

even if it's just a minute

會與你共同渡過　都不枉過

Spending time together with you was never in vain

瘋戀多　錯誤更多　如能重新做過

When you are crazy in love, you'll make a lot of mistakes. If I can do it all over again

我會說　願能為你　提前做錯

I will say, for you (to be with you), I will make my those mistakes early (to be with you

again)

REPEAT CHORUS A

一追再追 (in the background)

Chase and chase again

CHORUS B + END

只想追趕生命裏一分一秒　

Only to chase the minutes and seconds (moments) in the life

原來多麼可笑　你是真正目標

It's actually funny (ironic) that you were the real target (of the chase)

一追再追　追蹤一些生活最基本需要　

Chase and chase again, chasing life's basic needs

原來早不缺少 HA......

Actually, I was never short of it (life's basic needs)

只得你　會叫我彷彿人羣裏最重要

To have you, makes me feel I got the most important person among a crowd of people

有了你　即使沉睡了也在笑

Having you, even if I am asleep, I will be smiling

[jkhsu]

Here's the song of the day from me for this week.

It's "我用所有报答爱" (Only for Love) by 张靓颖 (Jane Zhang) from the movie 夜宴 (The Banquet or Legend of the Black Scorpion). The music was composed by 谭盾 (Tan Dun) and the piano part was played by 郎朗 (Lang Lang).

While this isn't one of those songs I would sing myself, the music is really amazing especially with the full orchestra; it's more typical of what you'd find in musicals. The music video is pretty visually stunning as well.

Here are some links to the MV:

Sina Link

YouTube Link

YouTube Link #2 (a really nice user made one with good quality)

我用所有报答爱 (Only for Love)

张靓颖 (Jane Zhang)

只为一支歌

Just for a single song

血染红寂寞

Loneliness is colored red by blood (awakened)

只为一场梦

Just for a single dream

摔碎了山河

Mountains and rivers (the whole world) are broken apart

只为一颗心

Just for a single heart (love)

爱到分离才相遇

Love only came when we were apart

只为一滴泪

Just for a single drop of tear

模糊了恩仇

Revenge becomes fuzzy

我用所有报答爱

I use everything to represent my love

你却不(不)回来

You are nevertheless not coming back

岁月 从此一刀两段

As time passes, from now on we are cut into two pieces (we're apart)

永不见风雨

Never will I see wind and rain

风雨 风雨

Wind and rain

REPEAT

In case I've butchered this translation too much, below is an English one that is widely available online:

the breathless whisper of a single verse

and loneliness blossoms within my heart

the shimmer of a single dream

and my world is undone

the memory of a single tenderness

and the sting of love reignites my wounds

in the moment when a single tear falls

all hatred becomes a distant blur

i can love you with all that i am

but even this cannot return you to me

from now on i will live as a shadow

forever in the past

[jkhsu]

After missing to post a translated song in my own challenge last week, here's my post for this week: It's 安静了 from S.H.E. I've heard this song before and thought it was just a remake of Jay Chou's 安静. However, I just heard it again today and realized they're two different songs.

Did some reading about this song and it turns out that Jay wrote the music to this song and also "helped" write the lyrics with Selina of S.H.E. Jay Chou's 安静 is one of my favorite songs, especially the acustic piano version that he played at his concert but this one from S.H.E. is really good. If you haven't heard it before, check it out.

As usual, feel free to correct my mistakes and/or comment.

安静了MV from YouKu

安静了MV from YouTube

安静了

作曲：周杰伦 (Jay Chou) 作词：任家萱 (Selina from S.H.E.)

VOICEOVER

离开我好吗？

Break up with me ok?

我已经觉得不行了

I already feel it's not possible (our relationship)

你先说分手好不好？

You first say "breakup up" ok?

VERSE A

只剩下钢琴陪我站在这里

Only the piano is left to accompany me here

梦想中 属于我们的婚礼

In our dreams, it belongs to our wedding

却成了 单人结婚进行曲

But it's actually become a single person's wedding march

在这场爱情角力的拔河里

In this round of love's tug of war

爱我还是爱你

Love me or love yourself?

你选择了自己

You choose yourself

撒娇的 可爱的 黏人的 爱哭的

Temperamental (in a cute sort of way), adorable, needy, sensitive (loves to cry)

照片里 曾经的 都是你喜欢的

You like what's in the pictures (of us) that we took before

如今我还在原地

Today, I am still at where we originally were

你却走回你的记忆

Yet, you have returned to your memories

CHORUS

你说我爱你太多

You say I love you too much

就快要把你淹没

Almost about to drown you

你害怕幸福短暂一秒就崩落

You are afraid that happiness will collapse in a second

分开是一种解脱

Breaking up is a kind of relief

让你好好的想过

It will let you think about it clearly

我想要的那片天空

The piece of sky that I want (what I really want)

你是不是能够给我

Are you able to provide me?

你说我给你太多

You say I give you too much

却不能给我什么

Yet, you are unable to give me anything

分不清激情 承诺 永恒或迷惑

You can't distinguish / tell apart passion, promise, eternity or confusion

爱情是一道伤口

Love is like a wound

我们各自苦痛

We are each hurting

沉默是我最后温柔

Silently, it is I who is at last tender (giving in)

是因为我太爱你

It's because I love you too much

VERSE B

只剩下钢琴陪我站在这里

Only the piano is left here to accompany me

梦想中 属于我们的婚礼

In our dreams, it belongs to our wedding

安静了 在我枕边的梦里

It's quiet now, in my dreams next to the pillow

我知道相爱原本就不容易

I know that loving each other was never easy

爱不是一加一努力就有结局

Love is not like one plus one, where hard work equals results

撒娇的 可爱的 黏人的 爱哭的

Temperamental (in a cute sort of way), adorable, needy, sensitive (loves to cry)

照片里 曾经的 都是爱着你的

The pictures we took show my love for you

脸颊的泪还温热

The tear on my cheek is still warm

却没有人握我的手

Yet, no one is holding my hand

REPEAT CHORUS

[MandarinFan]

Please make a pinyin lyrics for this song.

Here's the link:

It has subtitles within the video to help. Thanks