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the well-kept secret of chinese songs

I made this astute discovery a while ago - that you can get away with much mushiness in chinese songs that just doesn't appeal in english lyrics.

It's true that I never understand the lyrics of chinese songs from hearing them the first time. Reason 1: I guess all the han yu pin yin stuff gets difficult to differentiate when you change the sounds to suit the songs. If you get it. Reason 2: My chinese is... kinda sub-standard. :)


Example of such a chinese song, 一千年以后 by JJ Lin. The chorus, roughly stolen from some chinese forum website and made nicer, is here:

Because a thousand years later, I will be long gone from this world
Unable to hold your hand tight; to kiss your forehead softly
Don't wait until a thousand years later, the world will have forgotten me
And at that time, in a red desert at twilight, who else can take away my thousand years of loneliness?


And in 美人魚, there's this particular line
我愿意化作雕像
等你出现

I'm willing to become a statue to wait for you to appear.

So there you are, much mushiness. ^-^ Either tragic or sickening, whichever way your inclinations lie.



Love,

Alaris

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