Some Chinese songs

精彩!...that's great hongliang. Thankyou. Yes, that makes a lot of sense and explains and fits in with the preceding line a lot better. It was only a quick chat I had and I asked about that line in isolation [ big no-no hey? hehe....it's all about the full context..the general theme of a breakup was not enough]. This concept reminds me of the song "I've never been to me" by Charlene:

http://video.sina.com.cn/v/b/3850575-1215302384.html

IMHO, the 醉 in the song is better interpreted as 迷醉 or 心醉 than 酒醉. So to me the lines

你曾在迷失的旅途中盲目追

以后为自己醉

is better translated as

You once gave yourself to a blind pursuit on a lost journey

Let your future be of your own passions

The concept of 醉 central to Chinese literature, and the use of 酒 to present scenes of deep passions is common in stories, poems and songs. However having said that, I think the songwriter was probably more concerned with rhyming 追, 贵, 扉, 黑, 美 etc than trying to find words with exactly the right meaning.

Growing up with the music of the pop band Duran Duran, I know a bit about hacking lyrics to fit music! :-)

"I am too old maybe to be fooled into thinking that 'getting drunk' is a good time"

。。我也是。 I think that's at least part of the reason why I struggled with it in the first place and shied away from the "for yourself" bit . I guess a middle ground could be:

if you're going to go out and get drunk, don't do it on account of him

Ha, that is a nice insight, thanks. 'From now on get 'drunk' for yourself'.. I certainly get your drift. I am too old maybe to be fooled into thinking that 'getting drunk' is a good time, but it is certainly conceivable for what I imagine is this age group. :)

自己 .. doing something yourself, or by yourself, to yourself, for yourself (indulging yourself). The dictionary has 鞋我自己去买吧 which could have this same sense of indulging yourself.

So interesting that you picked up on the line:

以后为自己醉

as that was also a line that I wasn't satisfied with my translation or the website translation and was the one line I asked a native speaker friend about earlier this evening. In retrospect, having heard her explanation, I feel I should have got it as it's close to the literal but then just required a little bit of contextual translation. Literally I would have it as:

afterwards for yourself drunk.

What my friend told me is that after the breakup she would have been upset and getting drunk to drown her sorrows..on account of the ex. But the line is encouraging her in future to go out and get drunk for herself [no longer on account of him]...more having a good time type getting drunk...out having fun for herself. I think you get my drift anyway. Makes sense to me.

Another variable might be the quality/skill of the writer of lyrics; we are not all Lennon & McCartney or Bob Dylan. I mention this because I had a go at the 王非 song above and a native speaker opined that it is kind of 'awful' Chinese. Some of that will come down to taste (and hey 王非 sells), but no doubt some lyrics are better than others. I guess my contention is that some lyrics may be difficult to translate because they don't make much sense in Chinese.

I used to think an Italian friend was difficult to understand (in English), and mentioned this (discretely) to another Italian friend, and he said 'oh no! we can't understand him in Italian'.

bodawei,

thanks mate. As always you are too kind, but actually I had a lot to learn from the website translation, but a lot more to learn by trying to translate it myself first and afterwards seeing where I got off on the wrong tangent. As with other translations I find that there are some passages where you can be quite confident you're understanding it correctly as they're quite 干脆 and you're happy enough with your translation, some lines where you feel you understand it well but are not so sure of the best way to put it in English and upon seeing someones else's translation you see theirs was a much better way to put it, and some lines where you're really not sure what's going on. Added to this is the fact that songs are written differently [in English at least and I'm pretty sure this holds for Chinese and other languages as well] in that much can be left open to interpretation and thus will have different meanings for different people [all the better for more to relate to...seeing a connection with their own experiences]...but knowing where this kind of device is occurring [or that is, causing ambiguity in interpretation]....that is whether this is what is going on or whether it's just a lack of understanding in the 2nd language can be hard to determine. Gotta go, but that line I particularly want to discuss because I have an insight for you.

Baba

You did a good job if the web-site translation shows very little improvement, 对吧? Although you would be forgiven for thinking that yours is better in parts - did they use a machine? :)

I thought this line was interesting:

以后为自己醉

Baba: afterwards you were drunk

Website: From now on be enraptured for yourself

Perhaps it means 'from now on, be happy/content with yourself'?

Both 'drunk' and 'enraptured' seem a little strong, but perhaps we are missing something culturally. I often have to 'tone-down' students' expressions; they like to go for the dramatic.

having had a shot at it the other day, I've just found a proper translation here:

http://fall.gathering-rain.net/lyrics/ljrjrqg_01en.php

...I'll be interested to see what I can learn from that now.

Oh I've just noticed you've done a translation - thanks mate. Good work.

I had a native speaker help me on a couple of songs and I can assure you that grammar goes out the door. Seriously - I found songs extremely difficult to translate. But it is fun if you have the opportunity to discuss it with someone who has inside knowledge.

I had a funny feeling about that, but did not take the time to check. Thanks for putting us straight on that. Well - there is another song to translate. :)

I wached that video - I am (almost) lost for words. :) I thought it might be fun to document the different kinds of food offered to heal the broken heart, but bit stuck for time at present. When viewed from an Australian perspective it really is kind of funny - ooooh no, he left you! Come and lets eat some chicken feet.

this line I was particularly unclear where it was coming from:

"他的好你就放在心扉

every good thing he did you placed at your hearts door "

..I presume this is referring to before the breakup and is saying that everything good about him went straight into her heart [had an effect on her...endeared him to her I guess]...but if it was after the breakup I guess it could be a metaphor for sweeping his goodness out of her heart. I favour the former but I'm not too sure [ the door and the direction of flow I'm not clear on ]

My attempted translation:

别再为他流泪 - 梁静茹

"don't cry for him anymore"....Fish Leung

你走了太久一定很累

you've been gone too long...you must be very tired

他错了不该你来面对

he was in the wrong, you shouldn't have to face him

离开他就好 就算了 心情很干脆

leaving him was good, even though it was done in a very blunt manner

他其实没有那么绝对

he's actually not so sure

远一点你就看出真伪

once you have a little distance you'll be able to see if it's true or false

离开他不等于你的世界会崩溃

leaving him doesn't mean your world will collapse

转个弯你还能飞

round the corner you still can fly

就别再为他流泪

just don't cry anymore for him

别再让他操控你的伤悲

don't again let him control your hurt

就算有一点愚昧一点点后悔

even if a little ignorant, a little regretful

也不要太狼狈

nor should you cut too much of a sorry figure

他不值得你的泪

he's not worth your tears

把那遗憾留在大雨的街

leave that pity out on the street in the heavy rain

你曾在迷失的旅途中盲目追

once you were lost and blindly pursued

以后为自己醉

afterwards you were drunk

每段感情都非常珍贵

every feeling is extremely precious

他的好你就放在心扉

every good thing he did you placed at your hearts door

记得有个人曾让你那样的心醉

remember there was once a person who charmed you that way

你笑了照亮夜幕的黑

your laughter lit up the dark night

什么梦都不比你的美

no dream can be like your beauty

多少年以后想起他还有些体会

you'll still know him to a degree when you recall him in years to come

那些你已无所谓

but those things you can already be indifferent to

就别再为他流泪

just don't cry for him anymore

[the rest of the lines look repeated from above except the last one]:

别再让他操控你的伤悲

就算有一点愚昧一点点后悔

也不要太狼狈

他不值得你的泪

把那遗憾留在大雨的街

你曾在迷失的旅途中盲目追

以后为自己醉

就别再为他流泪

别再让他操控你的伤悲

就算有一点愚昧一点点后悔

也不要太狼狈

他不值得你的泪

把那遗憾留在大雨的街

你曾在迷失的旅途中盲目追

以后管他是谁

later who will take care of him [but I get more the sense of ...later someone else will take care of him [ so don't worry about that] ]

As usual comments/ corrections most appreciated.

sorry mate, I initially made the same mistake. The first half is actually another song. I'm not sure why that site put the lyrics to 2 songs on the same page like that. It's only the second half which is Fish Leung's "别再为他流泪。。don't cry for him anymore"

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.

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. :)

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..

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!! :)

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

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?

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

'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.

I'm guessing so. It looks like it's from an old cheesy Chinese film. :) I think the movie's called 《射雕英雄传之东成西就》. It's definitely corny enough to be from Hong Kong. Ah..wikipedia says the movie is called "The Eagle Shooting Heroes" in English.

Hilarious!!! Thanks for the link.

It is pretty funny .. one of my students did it live and I took a video of him. Thanks for this; I can't see it at the moment - I assume it's from the film?

I think this song is definitely funnier if you watch it. :) And all sung to the music from William Tell Overture. Wow.

http://v.youku.com/v_show/id_XMTk1NDgxMjIw.html

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

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. :)

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.