巷子 xiang4 zi - alley 公寓 gong1 yu4 - apartment building 不期而遇 bu4 qi1 er2 yu4 - meet by chance
我找了份工作 离你宿舍很近
当我开始学会做蛋饼 才发现你 不吃早餐
喔 你又擦肩而过
你耳机听什么 能不能告诉我
擦肩而过 ca1 jian1 er2 guo4 - brief encounter
躺在你学校的操场看星空
教室里的灯还亮着你没走
记得 我写给你的情书
都什么年代了
到现在我还在写着
操场 cao1 chang3 - playground 星空 xing1 kong1 - starry sky 情书 qing2 shu1 - love letter 都什么年代了 - What decade are you living in? That’s so out-of-date 到现在 - up until now
总有一天总有一年会发现
有人默默的陪在你的身边
也许 我不该在你的世界
当你收到情书
也代表我已经走远
总有 zong3 you3 - inevitably there will be 默默 mo4 mo4 - in silence, not speaking 不该 bu4 gai1 - should not, to owe nothing 代表 dai4 biao3 - to represent
学校旁 的广场 我在这等钟声响
等你下课一起走好吗
弹着琴 唱你爱的歌 暗恋一点都不痛苦（一点都不痛苦）
痛苦的是你 根本没看我
暗恋 an4 lian4 - to be secretly in love with
我唱这么走心 却走不进你心里（这么走心 进你心里）
在人来人往 找寻着你 守护着你 不求结局
喔 你又擦肩而过（喔 而过）
我唱告白气球 终于你回了头
走心 zou3 xin1 - to have deep feelings for sb; to lose one’s heart to sb 找寻 zhao3 xun2 - to look for, to seek 守护 shou3 hu4 - to guard, to protect 结局 jie2 ju2 - conclusion, ending 告白 gao4 bai2 - to announce publicly, to confess
I’m completely sold on the OST track list for 遇龙 (Miss my Dragon) The show has yet to win me over but it’s like the songs have been composed for my tastes Props to my talented girl 执素兮 Zhi Su Xi for composing this particular song years back!
I love the traditional Chinese instruments overlay, not to mention Henry Huo Zun’s otherworldly vocals – it really is a great remake which gives the song a more ethereal vibe without compromising the good elements of the original. The lyrics are also beautifully poetic with Buddhist references (highlighted in red in the first verse), which could not be more apt for a story about four reincarnations.
Lyrics translation (by me):
若千年的光阴轮回里
As if a thousand years of reincarnation
是否只为寻觅着你
Is only for the sake of searching for you
恍若所有月明
As if all the moon’s luminescence
圆缺或是阴晴 都只为了你
Wax and wane or rain and shine are only for you
尘缘似一场花雨
Worldly bonds are like soft rain
眉目缱绻中枯寂
Our eyes deeply locked then becoming dull
指间的瞬息
Ephemerally my fingertips
拾得你一颗泪滴
Collect a drop of your tears
若忘川的涟漪 随我心
As if the gentle ripples on the River of Forgetfulness (Lethe) follow my heart
是否只为不忘记你
And are only for not forgetting you
恍若所有思绪
As if all my thoughts and emotions
怜惜或是悲戚 都只为了你
Pity or sorrow are only for you
尘缘似一场烟影
Worldly bonds are like a cloud of smoke
眉目缱绻中飘零
Our eyes deeply locked then wandering
心之所寄
Just as I express my heart
劫数应声而起
Calamity befalls us
**前生今生来生
In my past, present and future lives
与你相遇 在每一个梦里
I’ll meet you in every dream
拂袖唤漫天流萤
Waving a sleeve to summon a sky full of fireflies
掌心微光谁眼中倒映
The faint glow in our palms reflecting in our eyes
回眸不舍离去
Looking back and leaving reluctantly
此情为你 在心上停栖
This love lingers on my heart for you
下一世 再与你永不分离
Next life, I’ll never be separated from you again
若忘川的涟漪 随我心
As if the gentle ripples on the River of Forgetfulness (Lethe) follow my heart
是否只为不忘记你
And are only for not forgetting you
恍若所有思绪
As if all my thoughts and emotions
怜惜或是悲戚 都只为了你
Pity or sorrow are only for you
尘缘似一场流萤
Worldly bonds are like a stream of fireflies
眉目缱绻中宁静
Our eye deeply locked then becoming peaceful
照谁前行
Illuminating our paths
灿若彻夜繁星
Sparkling like a star-studded sky through the night
Give You All My Love (讓我一次愛個夠) by Harlem Yu (庾澄慶). 1989.
Harlem Yu (庾澄慶) was born in 1961 and is a Taiwanese singer, songwriter, television host, and actor. He is perhaps best known for writing the theme song for the 2001 television series Meteor Garden.
Give You All My Love is part of an album by the same name. Having sold over 400,000 copies, the album is one of Harlem Yu’s most successful. Additionally, well-known Cantopop singer Jacky Cheung (張學友) later did a remake of this song in Cantonese, further spreading reach of the song and earning it a spot on the 1989 Top Ten Chinese Gold Songs list put together by Radio Television Hong Kong.
Exclusive Memory (獨家記憶) by Jordan Chan (陳小春). 2008.
Jordan Chan (陳小春) is a Hong Kong actor and singer. He was born in Guangdong province and moved to Hong Kong with his father at the age of 13. In 1985, he participated in a dance training programme hosted by TVB, and thus began his career in the entertainment industry. Since then, Jordan Chan has starred in many films and TV shows, and has released many albums as well.
Exclusive Memory was composed by Terry Chan, and its lyrics written by Yee Kar Yeung (易家揚). For Jordan Chan, the song evoked memories of his late mother who had just passed away a few years prior. He decided to make this song the title track of his 2008 album, and though the music video depicts a love story, the song nonetheless captures the importance of cherishing every moment spent with loved ones.
Exciting news! Hua Chenyu’s album 异类 is on US Spotify. It may have already been available for a couple months, but I just noticed it now. Hopefully this is a good sign and more of his music will be available globally soon.
This is a simple yet lovely song by Super Girl and Sisters Who Make Waves alum Bibi Zhou (who is also one of my favorite singers). This song came out in 2018 and became one of her biggest hits, thus earning its spot in my iconic/popular Mandopop songs series. I’ll admit, I didn’t really notice this song at first just because nothing about it stood out to me. But it grew on me over time. The lyrics are also relatively simple and repetitive, so it’s easy to sing along. Sadly, this song isn’t on US Spotify. The lyric video below has an impressive 19 million views though!
浮现 fúxiàn - to appear before one’s eyes / to come into view / to float into appearance / to come back (of images from the past) / to emerge / it emerges / it occurs (to me that..) 远离 yuǎnlí - to be far from / to keep away from 边缘 biānyuán - edge / fringe / verge / brink / periphery / marginal / borderline 是非 shìfēi - right and wrong / quarrel 无怨无悔 wúyuànwúhuǐ - no complaints / to have no regrets
执着 zhízhuó - to be strongly attached to / to be dedicated / to cling to 徘徊 páihuái - to dither / to hesitate / to pace back and forth / to hover around / to linger
As you may or may not know, my new musical obsession is Yoga Lin. This is probably his biggest hit. Oddly, the English title is Fairy Tale, even though 说谎 doesn’t mean fairy tale. I guess I see the connection between lies and a fairy tale though. I personally find this song a bit more difficult to understand than the previous few songs that I’ve shared (I think due to more complex sentence structure). I would describe this song as a pretty typical Mandopop ballad hit, but I found that I really enjoy it even though it doesn’t really stand out in a definitive way. I think it’s because the lyrics hint at a complex and interesting story behind the song.
林宥嘉 (Yoga Lin) - 说谎
是有过几个不错对象 说起来并不寂寞孤单 可能我浪荡 让人家不安 才会结果都阵亡
浪荡 làngdàng - to loiter / to hang around / dissolute / licentious 阵亡 zhènwáng - to die in battle
我没有什么阴影魔障 你千万不要放在心上 我又不脆弱 何况那算什么伤 反正爱情不就都这样
阴影 yīnyǐng - shadow 魔障 mózhàng - Buddhist demon of temptation / obstacle set up by a demon / twists & turns / trials 放在心上 fàngzàixīnshàng - to care about / to take seriously / to take to heart
This month I am embarking on an ambitious challenge which I am calling Album a Day August. Basically, my goal is to listen to a new album each day of the month. I tried to pick a relatively diverse array of artists, specifically artists whose music I haven’t had a lot of exposure to. Which means no 张惠妹 or 戴佩妮 or 薛之谦 because I’ve listened to at least several of these artists’ albums before (in the case of 张惠妹, I’ve listened to almost all of her albums). For some of these artists, I’ve heard a couple of their songs here and there, but for others, I’m going in completely blind!
So I guess you can listen along if you’d like? All the albums are available on US Spotify (and I’ve linked them above). I’m not going to be posting daily or anything, but I might do some sort of writeup in September about my favorite albums or artists. Let’s see if I can actually accomplish this challenge!
About 1/3 mark spontaneous update: Umm how come no one ever told me how good this album is??? I guess I’ve completely been overlooking 林宥嘉 all this time. I’ve already saved most of the songs.
I didn’t really plan on doing any mid-way updates, but I just had to share this because I was so pleasantly surprised. Also, the 张杰 album I put literally got taken off US Spotify in the past 10 days, so that sucks :(
Now I gotta go check out the rest of 林宥嘉’s albums.
Jess Lee is nicknamed 铁肺女王 (iron lung queen), and this song perfectly demonstrates why. She hasn’t been in the industry as long as Tanya Chua and Stefanie Sun (the last two artists I’ve featured in this series), but I’ve found some real gems on her 4 albums. This song is her most popular and not too difficult in terms of vocabulary content. Probably the most difficult part of the song is that there are some long pauses between words that can make the lines hard to parse. The song is quite sad lyrically, but it stands out most as being dramatic and powerful. It’s not like your typical sad love song in that way. And the title is very fitting, because I really feel the torment and suffering from Jess Lee’s performance.
和好 héhǎo - to become reconciled / on good terms with each other
得不到 也不要乞讨 怎么做 不需要别人 转告 在陷得太深的海底 我也只剩下我自己 能依靠
乞讨 qǐtǎo - to beg / to go begging 转告 zhuǎngào - to pass on / to communicate / to transmit 陷 xiàn - pitfall / trap / to get stuck / to sink / to cave in / to frame (false charge) / to capture (a city in battle) / to fall (to the enemy) / defect 海底 hǎidǐ - seabed / seafloor / bottom of the ocean
This month I am embarking on an ambitious challenge which I am calling Album a Day August. Basically, my goal is to listen to a new album each day of the month. I tried to pick a relatively diverse array of artists, specifically artists whose music I haven’t had a lot of exposure to. Which means no 张惠妹 or 戴佩妮 or 薛之谦 because I’ve listened to at least several of these artists’ albums before (in the case of 张惠妹, I’ve listened to almost all of her albums). For some of these artists, I’ve heard a couple of their songs here and there, but for others, I’m going in completely blind!
So I guess you can listen along if you’d like? All the albums are available on US Spotify (and I’ve linked them above). I’m not going to be posting daily or anything, but I might do some sort of writeup in September about my favorite albums or artists. Let’s see if I can actually accomplish this challenge!
