小情歌 (Xiao Qing Ge) by 蘇打綠 (Sodagreen)
In my opinion, 蘇打綠 (Sodagreen) is one of Taiwan’s best musical products. Their music is a far cry from the pop that dominates the airwaves and MTV, both in lyrics and instrumentation. They also have a secret weapon: lead singer 吳青峰 (Wu Qing Feng), whose voice is both smooth and unusual (and who, incidentally, was a classmate of a friend of mine – yet another reminder of what a small place Taiwan really is). If you are in a position to easily get your hands on Chinese music, I highly recommend last year’s album 無與倫比的美麗. You can find information on it here. My next CD purchase will probably be their new live album, out last month, which also contains a couple of new studio tracks.
This song is from Sodagreen’s 2006 album, 小宇宙, but it seems like it’s experiencing a bit of a revival recently. It’s actually a bit of a difficult song for me personally (a few of the lines are tongue twisters), but I’ll be proud if I can ever sing it well. One special note, though. Although 吳青峰 is indeed male, many of his songs, like this one, are far out of the range of most male singers. That’s why I’m putting this into both the male and female categories.
Oh! And be sure to check out Sodagreen’s official site (below). It’s got an awesome concept.
這是一首簡單的小情歌
zhe shi yi shou jian dan de xiao qing ge
唱著人們心腸的曲折
chang zhe ren men xin chang de qu zhe
我想我很快樂
wo xiang wo hen kuai le
當有你的溫熱
dang you ni de wen re
腳邊的空氣轉了
jiao bian de kong qi zhuan le
這是一首簡單的小情歌
zhe shi yi shou jian dan de xiao qing ge
唱著我們心頭的白鴿
chang zhe wo men xin tou de bai ge
我想我很適合
wo xiang wo hen shi he
當一個歌頌者
dang yi ge ge song zhe
青春在風中飄著
qing chun zai feng zhong piao zhe
你知道
ni zhi dao
就算大雨讓整座城市顛倒
jiu suan da yu rang zheng zuo cheng shi dian dao
我會給你懷抱
wo hui gei ni huai bao
受不了
shou bu liao
看見你背影來到
kan jian ni bei ying lai dao
寫下我
xie xia wo
度秒如年難捱的離騷
du miao ru nian nan ai de li sao
就算整個世界被寂寞綁票
jiu suan zheng ge shi jie bei ji mo bang piao
我也不會奔跑
wo ye bu hui ben pao
逃不了
tao bu liao
最後誰也都蒼老
zui hou shei ye dou cang lao
寫下我
xie xia wo
時間和琴聲交錯的城堡
shi jian he qin sheng jiao cuo de cheng bao
這是一首簡單的小情歌
zhe shi yi shou jian dan de xiao qing ge
唱著我們心頭的白鴿
chang zhe wo men xin tou de bai ge
我想我很適合
wo xiang wo hen shi he
當一個歌頌者
dang yi ge ge song zhe
青春在風中飄著
qing chun zai feng zhong piao zhe
你知道
ni zhi dao
就算大雨讓整座城市顛倒
jiu suan da yu rang zheng zuo cheng shi dian dao
我會給你懷抱
wo hui gei ni huai bao
受不了
shou bu liao
看見你背影來到
kan jian ni bei ying lai dao
寫下我
xie xia wo
度秒如年難捱的離騷
du miao ru nian nan ai de li sao
就算整個世界被寂寞綁票
jiu suan zheng ge shi jie bei ji mo bang piao
我也不會奔跑
wo ye bu hui ben pao
逃不了
tao bu liao
最後誰也都蒼老
zui hou shei ye dou cang lao
寫下我
xie xia wo
時間和琴聲交錯的城堡
shi jian he qin sheng jiao cuo de cheng bao
你知道
ni zhi dao
就算大雨讓整座城市顛倒
jiu suan da yu rang zheng zuo cheng shi dian dao
我會給你懷抱
wo hui gei ni huai bao
受不了
shou bu liao
看見你背影來到
kan jian ni bei ying lai dao
寫下我
xie xia wo
度秒如年難捱的離騷
du miao ru nian nan ai de li sao
就算整個世界被寂寞綁票
jiu suan zheng ge shi jie bei ji mo bang piao
我也不會奔跑
wo ye bu hui ben pao
逃不了
tao bu liao
最後誰也都蒼老
zui hou shei ye dou cang lao
寫下我
xie xia wo
時間和琴聲交錯的城堡
shi jian he qin sheng jiao cuo de cheng bao
Lyrics at KKBOX: http://www.kkbox.com.tw/funky/web_info/NPEo.IY-g7sZZc500JsU008l.html
Sodagreen’s Official Site: http://www.sodagreen.com.tw/main/index.html
Veronique said,
June 27, 2008 at 10:37 pm
Nice song, I like it very much. Really appreciate the lyrics & the MV. Awesome. Btw, r u Taiwanese?
ktvxiaojie said,
June 27, 2008 at 11:30 pm
I like it a lot, too. My favorite line is:
就算大雨讓整座城市顛倒
jiu suan da yu rang zheng zuo cheng shi dian dao
我會給你懷抱
wo hui gei ni huai bao
And no, not Taiwanese – but I’m an American living in Taiwan, hence all the Taiwan references in my posts.
Veronique said,
June 28, 2008 at 10:21 am
Oh, so u r ABC (American Born Chinese)? wow, unusual to see an American so into Chinese music.
Veronique said,
June 28, 2008 at 10:25 am
Hi, ur favourite line is also mine as well. Meaningful isn’t it? The voice of the lead singer is really unique from other male singers, dun u think so?
ktvxiaojie said,
June 28, 2008 at 12:03 pm
Ha – no, I’m white as can be. But living in Taiwan, I don’t hear a lot of the latest American music, and I use Chinese music to help me improve my Chinese, especially reading.
I think all of 蘇打綠’s songs are rather great, especially because of 吳青峰’s vocal range, but also because the music is always composed so uniquely, at least compared to the backing music of a lot of the famous pop stars in Taiwan. In 蘇打綠’s songs, the music is just as important as the singing!
Sirhin said,
July 14, 2008 at 2:46 am
I was searching for lyrics to this song in traditional Chinese and I FINALLY found it with this!
Thanks SOOOO much!
Also, I think it’s really cool that you’re “white as can be” but are listening to Chinese music.
I also think it’s VERY cool that you know so much Chinese. I’m ABC (sort of) and I’ll be studying abroad this Fall in China so I’m brushing up on my Chinese by listening to Chinese songs, writing down the lyrics and trying to see what I understand. (It’s REALLY hard to find Asian songs here!) It’s not Taiwan – but it’s close (distance-wise)! I personally haven’t been listening to American songs for over a year now. I have been focusing on music from Taiwan, Japan, and Korea.
Anyway, 加油!!