Guest Post: 牛仔很忙 (Niuzai Hen Mang) by 周杰倫 (Zhou Jie Lun/Jay Chou)

March 23, 2009 at 1:35 pm (***** Damn near impossible, Chinese lyrics, Guest Posts, Taiwanese)

Another guest post by Anna, with apologies to her for taking so long to get this up. I’ll be using this post to learn the song myself, as I see it as the Mt. Everest of Chinese songs and am determined to conquer it someday. In line with that, I’ve added a new level of difficulty: “Damn near impossible.” Here’s Anna’s advice on how to master this song:

Jay Chou never smiles, but this song (and its music video) shows that he does have a sense of humor. At first I didn’t believe it was even possible to sing this song in karaoke, but then I heard a friend of a friend sing it, and thought: if he can do it, then I can learn it too; I’ll be the first foreigner to master this song, and much admiration will be my part. But by the time I did master it, it didn’t seem such an amazing feat anymore.

The key here is knowing the song by heart. There’s no time to read the characters as they appear on the screen, the speed is just too high, you have to know what’s coming before Jay sings it. The other key is to pronounce only half of most of the words, just slur everything together like Jay does, otherwise there’s just no way you can sing fast enough.

There’s one line of Taiwanese in it, I’ll romanize it in POJ. And there’s a Taiwanese accent: Jay pronounces 日記 riji with an L, producing something like lh-ji.

And here’s the video. Watch the instrumental part in the middle: I’ve worn exactly such a dress. Twice in my life. On fairs held in Taipei to promote Dutch education and Dutch flowers, respectively. On these occasions, I borrowed a dress from the Dutch representative office, and I suspect that’s where the costume designer of this video got them, too.

嗚啦啦啦火車笛
Wu la la la huoche di

隨著奔騰的馬蹄
Suizhe benteng de madi

小妹妹吹著口琴
Xiao meimei chui zhe kouqin

夕陽下美了剪影
Xiyang xia mei le jian ying

我用子彈寫日記
Wo yong zidan xie riji

介紹完了風景
Jieshao wan le fengjing

接下來換介紹我自己
Jie xia lai huan jieshao wo ziji

我雖然是個牛仔
Wo suiran shi ge niuzai

在酒吧只點牛奶
Zai jiuba zhi dian niunai

為什麼不喝啤酒
Weishenme bu he pijiu

因為啤酒傷身體
Yinwei pijiu shang shenti

很多人不長眼睛
Hen duo ren bu zhang yanjing

囂張都靠武器
Xiaozhang dou kao wuqi

赤手空拳就縮成螞蟻
Chi shou kong quan jiu suo cheng mayi

Chorus

不用麻煩了 不用麻煩了
Bu yong mafan le bu yong mafan le

不用麻煩不用麻煩了 不用麻煩了
Bu yong mafan bu yong mafan le bu yong mafan le

你們一起上
Nimen yiqi shang

我在趕時間
Wo zai gan shijian

每天決鬥觀眾都累了
Meitian juedou guanzhong dou lei le

英雄也累了
Yingxiong ye lei le

不用麻煩了 不用麻煩了
Bu yong mafan le bu yong mafan le

副歌不長你們有幾個
Fu ge bu chang nimen you ji ge

一起上好了
Yiqi shang hao le

正義呼喚我
Zhengyi huhuan wo

美女需要我
Meinü xuyao wo

牛仔很忙的
Niuzai hen mang de

(心愛ㄟ 妳走去叨位 我那ㄟ攏沒看到妳)
(Sim-ai-e, chau-khi to-ui, goa na-e long be khoann-kau li)

我啦啦啦騎毛驢
Wo la la la qi maolü

因為馬跨不上去
Yinwei ma kua bu shang qu

洗澡都洗泡泡浴
Xizao dou xi pao pao yu

因為可以玩玩具
Yinwei keyi wan wanju

我有顆善良的心
Wo you ke shanliang de xin

都只穿假牛皮
Dou zhi chuan jia niupi

喔跌倒時盡量不壓草皮
O diedao shi jinliang bu ta caopi

槍口它沒長眼睛
Qiangkou ta mei zhang yanjing

我曾經答應上帝
Wo cengjing daying shangdi

除非是萬不得已
Chufei shi wan bu de yi

我盡量射橡皮筋
Wo jinliang she xiangpi jin

老闆先來杯奶昔
Laoban xian lai bei naixi

要逃命前請你
Yao taoming qian qing ni

順便餵餵我那隻小毛驢
Shunbian weiwei wo na zhi xiao maolü

Repeat chorus 2x

Lyrics at KKBOX: http://www.kkbox.com.tw/funky/web_info/F6Pl13j7VVUKWOw00OEA008l.html#1

Jay Chou’s Record Company, JVR Music: http://www.jvrmusic.com/

Permalink Leave a Comment

不完整的旋律 (Bu Wan Zheng de Xuan Lü) by 王力宏 (Wang Leehom)

September 18, 2008 at 12:42 am (** Medium, Chinese lyrics, Male Singers, Uncategorized) (, )

The distractions that have taken me away from posting and going to KTV this summer nearly caused a regrettable situation, at least for a girl with a blog called KTV小姐. Due to my focus on other areas of my life besides music, I nearly missed the opportunity to see Wang Leehom when he comes to town this weekend. Imagine my sorrow if I hadn’t heard about it until after the concert series was over. For shame. Sadly, by the time I learned of the concert, all the good mid-priced tickets were long gone. Fortunately, I was able to talk friends into splurging on the higher-priced seats up front, which is where we’ll be singing along this Saturday at Taipei’s 小巨蛋. If you’re in town and you’d like to attend the concert, there’s still a handful of tickets up for grabs for both Friday and Saturday night, although getting good seats AND sitting next to your friends is almost an impossibility at this point. (Friends in Shanghai and Singapore, he’ll be coming your way later in 2008.)

Expect some photos from the show – at least the ones I can manage before the camera police come after me. Hmm. Since he’s on the Sony BMG label and everything in the Leehom universe (as you can see from his videos) is sponsored by Sony, do you think if I flash my Sony camera and Sony Ericsson phone that they’ll let me off?

Anyway, since it wouldn’t be logical to post a song by anyone else this week (although I had a few others in mind), here’s another song I love from Wang Leehom’s latest album. The video leaves a lot to be desired, but the song itself is very singable aside from some challenging vocabulary for beginners. Overall, it’s a sweet song with meaningful lyrics.

Special note on videos:
First of all, I do want to give props to Wang Leehom for doing the YouTube thing the smart way. His website links to a YouTube channel containing videos from his public appearances, interviews, and travels. In addition, he has an official YouTube channel, featuring 50 of his official videos. If you want to get to know Wang Leehom’s music before investing in an album or ten, this is a great place to do it. The videos are even titled in pinyin, some with English titles as well. The only thing that would make this better is if the channel contained the KTV versions.

An unfortunate consequence of this, however, seems to be that the more recent KTV videos uploaded by fans are not embeddable anymore. Some videos on this blog will no longer play automatically, and may require visiting the video’s YouTube page to actually be able to watch. The URL can be found by clicking the menu button on the embedded video (the arrow pointing up in the bottom right corner of the video).

Happy singing!

心裡有個旋律 不完整的歌曲
xin li you ge xuan lü bu wan zheng de ge qu

你是否聽的出來 我拖了一拍
ni shi fou ting de chu lai wo tuo le yi pai

最近世界有點奇怪 好像缺了一塊
zui jin shi jie you dian qi guai hao xiang que le yi kuai

心裡那個旋律 未完成的情緒
xin li na ge xuan lü wei wan cheng de qing xu

如果你在傾聽 是否打動了你
ru guo ni zai qing ting shi fou da dong le ni

說實在我也不確定
shuo shi zai wo ye bu que ding

怎樣比較好聽
zen yang bi jiao hao ting

Chorus

不完整的旋律 沒什麼結局
bu wan zheng de xuan lü mei shen me jie ju

卻是我真實的聲音
que shi wo zhen shi de sheng yin

不完整的旋律 勇敢的唱給你聽
bu wan zheng de xuan lü yong gan de chang gei ni ting

填滿你我不完整的感情
tian man ni wo bu wan zheng de gan qing

想寫一個旋律 沒修飾的痕跡
xiang xie yi ge xuan lü  mei xiu shi de hen ji

一聽就立刻明白我找到了愛
yi ting jiu li ke ming bai wo zhao dao le ai

即使別人覺得奇怪
ji shi bie ren jue de qi guai

不需要再更改
bu xu yao zai geng gai

Repeat chorus 2x

Lyrics at KKBOX: http://www.kkbox.com.tw/funky/web_info/0QdEKoJ6m0tsiha00MG7008l.html

Wang Leehom’s Official Site: http://www.wangleehom.com/

Permalink Leave a Comment

Guest Post: 月亮代表我的心 (Yueliang Daibiao Wo de Xin) by 鄧麗君 (Deng Lijun/Teresa Teng)

September 15, 2008 at 11:45 am (* Easy, Chinese lyrics, Cover songs, Female Singers, Guest Posts) (, , )

One would think that, with a typhoon that just kept me home for two straight days, I would have found the motivation to introduce a new song this weekend.  Unfortunately, it wasn’t meant to be. However, here comes Anna to the rescue. Anna is a friend and fellow KTV connoisseur who I met in Taiwan something like 2 years ago (maybe less?). Sadly, she returned home to Holland this summer, bringing an end to our extensive KTV sessions and late chats over beer while fighting off mosquitoes at the bars behind the Red Theater. Thought it’s not the same (and I’m sure there won’t be any Taiwan Beer to be found in Leiden), hopefully she can find some comfort in the loss of convenient KTV via the magic of YouTube. With that in mind, here’s a song Anna would like to share…
This is one of the very first Chinese songs I ever learned, and it’s also an absolute classic. So classic that John Pasden of Sinoplice built an entire page for this one song. Every other singer makes their own cover version at some point in their career (I like David Tao’s, he does something new with it, makes it his own song), every Chinese can sing it, and if a foreigner knows one Chinese song, it’s usually this one.

The lyrics are not too difficult, although when I first learned it I thought that ‘輕輕的一個吻 qingqing de yige wen’, meaning ‘a soft kiss’, said ‘星星有一個問 xingxing you yige wen’, bad grammar Chinese that’s supposed to mean ‘ the stars have a question’. It’s not too difficult to sing either. For extra authenticity, pronounce 的 as ‘di’. Deng Lijun herself does.

This song is from before there were music videos, but there are still plenty to find, like this one:

[Holly's note: Here is the cover version I often see at KTV]

你問我愛你有多深
Ni wen wo ai ni you duo shen

我愛你有幾分
Wo ai ni you ji fen

我的情也真
Wo de qing ye zhen

我的愛也真
Wo de ai ye zhen

月亮代表我的心
Yueliang daibiao wo de xin

你問我愛你有多深
Ni wen wo ai ni you duo shen

我愛你有幾分
Wo ai ni you ji fen

我的情不移
Wo de qing bu yi

我的愛不變
Wo de ai bu bian

月亮代表我的心
Yueliang daibiao wo de xin

Chorus

輕輕的一個吻
Qing qing de yi ge wen

已經打動我的心
Yijing dadong wo de xin

深深的一段情
Shen shen de yi duan qing

叫我思念到如今
Jiao wo si nian dao ru jin

你問我愛你有多深
Ni wen wo ai ni you duo shen

我愛你有幾分
Wo ai ni you ji fen

你去想一想
Ni qu xiang yi xiang

你去看一看
Ni qu kan yi kan

月亮代表我的心
Yueliang daibiao wo de xin

Repeat chorus

你去想一想
Ni qu xiang yi xiang

你去看一看
Ni qu kan yi kan

月亮代表我的心
Yueliang daibiao wo de xin

Wikipedia article on Teresa Teng here (the section on her early death is interesting): http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Teresa_Teng

Lyrics at KKBOX: http://www.kkbox.com.tw/funky/web_info/9X.mlILpeGCUu0ij0058008X.html

Permalink 3 Comments

早安,晨之美 (Zao An, Chen Zhi Mei) by 盧廣仲 (Lu Guang Zhong/Crowd Lu)

August 10, 2008 at 9:26 am (** Medium, Chinese lyrics, Male Singers) (, , )

Crowd Lu (love this name) is a newcomer to the Taiwanese music scene, this being the popular single from his debut album, 100種生活 (Yi Bai Zhong Sheng Huo). I hope he won’t end up a one-hit wonder, as his songs are not only cute and pleasant to listen to, but also a refreshing contrast to all the pop ballads that dominate the Taiwanese music industry. Maybe that’s why I’m suddenly hearing his music flowing out of the shops all over town, rather than songs from Jay Chou’s 牛仔很忙 album, and why I keep hearing teenagers humming this song on the street. Everyone is aching for something new and different.

Incidentally, he has a concert coming up in 2 weeks. Tickets available via 年代 (Nian Dai) at http://www.ticket.com.tw/dm.asp?P1=0000008769

About this song… although it really only has one verse, one refrain, and the chorus is so easy a two-year-old could learn it, the speed of the repeated verse will be difficult for beginners.

嘿!吃早餐阿!快點啦!
hei! chi zao can a! kuai dian la!

有好多好多早餐在這裡
you hao duo hao duo zao can zai zhe li

在我們最熟悉的早餐店裡
zao wo men zui shu xi de zao can dian li

不管你睡的多晚起的多晚
bu guan ni shui de duo wan  qi de duo wan

晨之美永遠在這裡歡迎光臨你
chen zhi mei yong yuan zai zhe li huan ying guang lin ni

Chorus

對啊,對啊。對啊,對啊。
dui a, dui a。 dui a, dui a。

對啊,對啊。對啊,對啊。
dui a, dui a。 dui a, dui a。

對啊,對啊。對啊,對啊。
dui a, dui a。 dui a, dui a。

對啊,對啊。對啊。
dui a, dui a。 dui a。

Repeat verse and chorus 2x

we share the morning~

we share the milk tea~

我一直在這裡陪你一起
wo yi zhi zai zhe li pei ni yi qi

對啊,對啊。對啊,對啊。
dui a, dui a。dui a, dui a。

對啊,對啊。對啊,對啊。
dui a, dui a。dui a, dui a。

Crowd Lu’s bog: http://www.wretch.cc/blog/sus7

Lyrics at KKBOX: http://www.kkbox.com.tw/funky/web_info/sqjfSM.FbY4lubf00PuR008l.html

Permalink 4 Comments

我們的歌 (Wo Men de Ge) by 王力宏 (Wang Leehom)

August 3, 2008 at 11:32 am (*** Difficult, Chinese lyrics) (, )

A busy summer of work and creative projects has left this blog idling for weeks on end. I haven’t even been to KTV in weeks… some KTV小姐 I am! Apologies offered in the form of this lovely song by Wang Leehom. It’s from the same album as 改變自己 (Gai Bian Zi Ji), and is a regular part of my morning walks due to its cheerful melody (and the fact that I still haven’t mastered the tricky fast parts – 16th notes galore!).

I also like the line 能不能不要切歌 (neng bu neng bu yao qie ge), as it always brings to mind an image of the big red 切歌 button one has to push to cut a song early at KTV. In short, this song is pure poetry, and would be a sweet addition to a mix CD for someone special. Enjoy, and please pardon the video quality – it’s the only KTV version I could find.

***Regarding the lyrics, the words are what I would categorize as moderately difficult. However, those aforementioned tricky parts make this song rather difficult to sing, unless you skip the tongue-twisters altogether. They’re not nearly as killer as the chorus to 牛仔很忙 (future post), but are still a bit hard for a non-native speaker to get out without practice.

己經聽了一百遍
yi jing ting le yi bai bian

怎麼聽都不會倦
zen me ting dou bu hui juan

從白天唱到黑夜
cong bai tian chang dao hei ye

你一直在身邊
ni yi zhi zai shen bian

如果世界太危險
ru guo shi jie tai wei xian

只有音樂最安全
zhi you yin yue zui an quan

帶著我進夢裡面
dai zhe wo jin meng li mian

讓歌詞都實現
rang ge ci dou shi xian

無論是開心還是難過
wu lun shi kai xin hai shi nan guo

我的愛一直不變
wo de ai yi zhi bu bian

不必擔心時間流逝帶走一切
bu bi dan xin shi jian liu shi dai zou yi qie

無論是Hip-Hop 還是搖滾
wu lun shi Hip-Hop hai shi yao gun

我的愛一直不變
wo de ai yi zhi bu bian

所有美好回憶紀錄在裡面
suo you mei hao hui yi ji lu zai li mian

這種 Forever love 那麼深
zhe zhong “Forever Love” na me shen

我們的歌 那麼真
“Wo Men de Ge” na me zhen

無國界跨時代
wu guo jie kua shi dai

再也不會叫我 Kiss Goodbye
zai ye bu hui jiao wo Kiss Goodbye

要每一句能夠動人心弦Yeah~
yao mei yi ju neng gou dong ren xin xian Yeah~

Chorus

情人總分分合合
qing ren zong fen fen he he

可是我們卻越愛越深
ke shi wo men que yue ai yue shen

認識你 讓我的幸福如此悅耳
ren shi ni rang wo de xing fu ru ci yue er

能不能不要切歌
neng bu neng bu yao qie ge

繼續唱我們的歌
ji xu chang wo men de ge

讓感動一輩子都記得
rang gan dong yi bei zi dou ji de

Repeat verse

Repeat chorus 2x

Lyrics at KKBOX: http://www.kkbox.com.tw/funky/web_info/0QdEKoJ6m0tsiha00MG7008l.html

Wang Leehom’s Official Site: http://wangleehom.com/

Permalink Leave a Comment

越愛越難過 (Yue Ai Yue Nan Guo) by 吳克群 (Wu Ke Qun/Kenji)

June 19, 2008 at 2:46 pm (** Medium, Chinese lyrics) (, , )

I have to be honest in saying that I’ve never entirely taken 吳克群 very seriously. Perhaps it’s because he’s got a lot of songs and videos I’d classify as silly (see future post on 大舌頭), or it might just because he is so boyishly cute, despite the fact that we are exactly the same grand age of 28. However, his latest album, 為你寫詩, has really earned my respect (at least the ballads, which tend to be how I judge an artist). While the video for this song is seriously lacking (why’s he so dirty and wet?), I like the melody, not to mention the fact that the lyrics are easy for someone with at least low intermediate reading skills.

說 說你為什麼 為什麼要走
shuo   shuo ni wei shen me   wei shen me yao zou

說你為何要分手
shuo ni wei he yao fen shou

別拖 求你別軟弱 求你說出口
bie tuo   qiu ni bie ruan ruo   qiu ni shuo chu kou

分手的理由
fen shou de li you

但你卻 拖 拖 拖 拖到什麼時候
dan ni que  tuo  tuo  tuo   tuo dao shen me shi hou

如果要走卻又為何停留
ru guo yao zou que you wei he ting liu

請你別 拖 拖 拖 大聲的說出口
qing ni bie tuo  tuo  tuo  da sheng de shuo chu kou

請你要痛就痛給我個快活
qing ni yao tong jiu tong gei wo ge kuai huo

Chorus

如果說你要走 我不會留
ru guo shuo ni yao zou  wo bu hui liu

我不去管以後
wo bu qu guan yi hou

然後我們說清楚 一句話就夠
ran hou wo men shuo qing chu  yi ju hua jiu gou

如果說你要走 我不會留
ru guo shuo ni yao zou  wo bu hui liu

我不去管以後
wo bu qu guan yi hou

多麼痛 多麼的難過
duo me tong   duo me de nan guo

別越愛越難過
bie yue ai yue nan guo

Do Do Re Re Mi Mi Re Do     Do Do Re Mi Do

說 說你為什麼 為什麼要走
shuo   shuo ni wei shen me   wei shen me yao zou

說你為何要分手
shuo ni wei he yao fen shou

別拖 求你別軟弱 求你說出口
bie tuo   qiu ni bie ruan ruo   qiu ni shuo chu kou

分手的理由
fen shou de li you

但你還 拖 拖 拖 拖到什麼時候
dan ni hai  tuo  tuo  tuo   tuo dao shen me shi hou

如果要走卻又為何停留
ru guo yao zou que you wei he ting liu

請你別 拖 拖 拖 大聲的說出口
qing ni bie tuo  tuo  tuo  da sheng de shuo chu kou

請你要痛就痛給我個快活
qing ni yao tong jiu tong gei wo ge kuai huo

(Repeat chorus)

然後連話都不說 繼續沉默
ran hou lian huo dou bu shuo   ji xu chen mo

連朋友都沒的作 為了什麼
lian peng you dou mei de zuo  wei le shen me

然後跟別人說你其實還是愛我
ran hou gen bie ren shuo ni qi shi hai shi ai wo


就算了吧 壞人我來作
jiu suan le ba  huai ren wo lai zuo

(Repeat chorus)

Do Do Re Re Mi Mi Re Do Do Do Re Mi Do

Lyrics at KKBOX: http://www.kkbox.com.tw/funky/web_info/37kcXSEmN6uQSvn00P2×008l.html

Kenji’s Blog: http://blog.sina.com.cn/kenjiwu

Permalink Leave a Comment

改變自己 (Gai Bian Zi Ji) by 王力宏 (Wang Leehom)

April 5, 2008 at 12:11 am (** Medium, Chinese lyrics, Japanese, Male Singers, Taiwanese) (, )

This post has been sitting half-finished for nearly two months, since I returned from my vacation to the UK. Considering I’m about to take another 3-week vacation to visit family in the US, it’s probably time to get this song up. Things ought to be back to normal in May!

Wang Leehom is, with Jay Chou, one of the first singers I began to listen to when I arrived in Taiwan. It would have been impossible to miss him, with his face plastered on billboard advertisements, on commercials (one of my favorites being the 黃綠紅 commercials for McDonald’s, his name being a play on words with the yellow, green, and red dipping sauces for McNuggets), and in the video for his song “Kiss Goodbye,” which played nonstop on MTV that year.

In 2007, he released his latest album, 改變自己 – Change Me, which contains this title track. It has been on my iPod since the day after I heard it, and both the message and the energetic beat make great morning music. Plus, the video is, well, incredibly cute. Enjoy!

* Notes: (1) The term kuso in the song is borrowed from Japanese, and my own translation would be: so bad, it’s good. The Back Dorm Boys are a good example of this. And yes. I love those guys. (2) This song also contains Taiwanese pronunciation – the characters 龜毛, while pronounced gui mao in Mandarin, are pronounced ku mo in Taiwanese. Although Taiwanese folks seem to generally use the Mandarin pronunciation, this term (meaning high-maintainance or nitpicky) is said to have originated in Taiwanese. The history of the term is debatable.

Intro

很久沒 很久沒
hen jiu mei hen jiu mei

不如用 唱歌好了
bu ru yong chang ge hao le

我很久沒 聽見那
wo hen jiu mei ting jian na

又新鮮 又熟悉 的聲音
you xin xian you shu xi de sheng yin

請準備 改變 自己 ~ yeah ~ yeah …
qing zhun bei gai bian zi ji ~ yeah ~ yeah …

我回來了
wo hui lai le

+++

今早起床了 看鏡子裡的我
jin zao qi chuang le kan jing zi li de wo

忽然發現我髮型睡的有點KUSO
hu ran fa xian wo fa xing shui de you dian KUSO

一點點改變 有很大的差別
yi dian dian gai bian you hen da de cha bie

你我的力量也能改變世界
ni wo de li liang ye neng gai bian shi jie

最近比較煩 最近情緒很DOWN
zui jin bi jiao fan zui jin qing xu hen DOWN

每天看新聞都會很想大聲尖叫
mei tian kan xin wen dou hui hen xiang da sheng jian jiao

但髒話沒用 大家只會嫌兇
dan zang hua mei yong da jia zhi hui xian xiong

我改變自己發現大有不同
wo gai bian zi ji fa xian da you bu tong

新一代的朋友我們 好好的加油
xin yi dai de peng you women hao hao di jia you

大家一起大聲的說 Na Na Na Na Na~
da jia yi qi da sheng de shuo Na Na Na Na Na~

(Chorus)

我可以改變世界 改變自己
wo ke yi gai bian shi jie gai bian zi ji

改變龜毛 改變小氣
gai bian ku mo gai bian xiao qi

要一直 努力努力 永不放棄
yao yi zhi nu li nu li yong bu fang qi

才可以 改變世界 C’mon 改變自己
cai ke yi gai bian shi jie C’mon gai bian zi ji

今早起床了 覺得頭有點痛
jin zao qi chuang le jue de tou you dian tong

可能是二氧化碳太多 氧氣不夠
ke neng shi er yang hua tan tai duo yang qi bu gou

一點點改變 有很大的差別
yi dian dian gai bian you dian da de cha bie

你我的熱情也能改變世界
ni wo de re qing ye neng gai bian shi jie

只能代表自己 沒有政治立場
zhi neng dai biao zi ji mei you zheng zhi li chang

即使這世界讓我看得十分緊張
ji shi zhe shi jie rang wo kan de shi fen jin zhang

要調整自己
yao tiao zheng zi ji

恩~
en~

沒想到一點就能 畫龍點睛
mei xiang dao yi dian jiu neng hua long dian jing

新一代的朋友我們 好好的加油
xin yi dai de peng you wo men hao hao di jia you

大家一起大聲的說 Na Na Na Na Na~
da jia yi qi da sheng de shuo Na Na Na Na Na~

(Repeat chorus 2x)

Lyrics at KKBOX: http://www.kkbox.com.tw/funky/web_info/0QdEKoJ6m0tsiha00MG7008l.html

Wang Leehom’s Official Site: http://www.wangleehom.com/

Permalink 1 Comment

別說對不起 (Bie Shuo Dui Bu Qi) by S.H.E. [Cover of Britney Spears' "Everytime"]

January 17, 2008 at 12:24 pm (* Easy, Chinese lyrics, Cover songs, Female Singers) (, )

I’ve known about this song since I arrived in Taiwan, but haven’t heard it in a good while. I had forgotten it existed until I saw a reference to it on the web today and decided to track down the KTV video on YouTube. If you know anything about American pop music, you’ll probably recognize the music right away, but the Chinese lyrics are not a translation of Britney Spears’ English version. There are some references to flying and still loving someone, but that’s where the similarities end. Even the videos are drastically different. [See Spears' much more entertaining version here.]

One pleasant surprise about finding this video is recognizing my own progress in learning Chinese. When I first heard this song in 2005, I didn’t give the words a second thought. Today, I was pleased to learn that I could read and mentally translate all but a couple of characters at the pace of the song (I didn’t know what a 望遠鏡 was), which in my book qualifies this as an easy song. It’s also what I expect to be the first of many cover songs to be posted, since there are so many out there, and I so enjoy cross-language covers.

望遠鏡看不見你 你的心飛去哪裡
wang yuan jing kan bu jian ni ni de xin fei qu na li

無聲飛行 享受黑夜的靜謐
wu sheng fei xing xiang shou hei ye de jing mi

(Chorus)

別說對不起 別讓我傷了心才說 不是故意
bie shuo dui bu qi bie rang wo shang le xin cai shuo bu shi gu yi
我卻無法怪你
wo que wu fa guai ni

別說對不起 別讓我的愛情變成 廉價物品
bie shuo dui bu qi bie rang wo de ai qing bian cheng lian jia wu pin

我卻只能愛你
wo que zhi neng ai ni

閉上眼睛卻看見你
bi shang yan jing que kan jian ni

想你的好代替無力
xiang ni de hao dai ti wu li

我相信你 卻開始不信任自己
wo xiang xin ni que kai shi bu xin ren zi ji

別說對不起 別讓我灰了心才說不是故意
bie shuo dui bu qi bie rang wo hui le xin cai shuo bu shi gu yi

我卻無法怪你
wo que wu fa guai ni

別說對不起 別讓我的愛情變得 小心翼翼
bie shuo dui bu qi bie rang wo de ai qing bian de xiao xin yi yi

我卻只能愛你
qo que zhi neng ai ni

用行動來證明 你的決心
yong xing dong lai zheng ming ni de jue xin

不要說說而已
bu yao shuo shuo er yi

我想要的不只是SORRY
wo xiang yao de bu zhi shi SORRY

無聲飛行 享受黑夜的靜謐
wu sheng fei xing xiang shou hei ye de jing mi

(Repeat chorus)

Lyrics at KKBOX: http://www.kkbox.com.tw/funky/web_info/kSWparLZ.fTei8m00Cyb008l.html#3

S.H.E.’s Blog: http://www.wretch.cc/blog/she911

Permalink 8 Comments

天使 (Tian Shi) by 五月天 (Mayday)

January 15, 2008 at 5:04 pm (** Medium, Chinese lyrics, Male Singers) (, )

I got to know this song because it was featured in the commercials for Le Power, an energy drink that actually doesn’t taste very good. However, like most people in Taiwan, I really like Mayday, so I can forgive them for endorsing a product I don’t like. Moreover, this tune is quite catchy, and I love the lyrics. (My unskilled attempt at translating the second line: “You’re my angel, the angel that gives me so much happiness that I’ve learned to fly.” Beautiful.) I’ve never tried to sing this at KTV, strangely. This is partly because I’ve never sat down to look at the lyrics carefully (the song is too fast in some parts, so I’d stumble over the lyrics trying to read them quickly) and partly because the song sounds much better with a male voice. Still, now that I’ve spent the time putting it into pinyin, I might give it a go sometime.

你就是我的天使 保護著我的天使 從此我再沒有憂傷
ni jiu shi wo de tian shi bao hu zhe wo de tian shi cong ci wo zai mei you you shang

你就是我的天使 給我快樂的天使 甚至我學會了飛翔
ni jiu shi wo de tian shi gei wo kuai le de tian shi zhen zhi wo xue hui le fei xiang

飛過人間的無常 才懂愛才是寶藏
fei guo ren jian de wu chang cai dong ai cai shi bao zang

不管世界變得怎麼樣 只要有你就會是天堂
bu guan shi jie bian de zen me yang zhi yao you ni jiu hui shi tian tang

(Chorus)

像孩子依賴著肩膀 像眼淚依賴著臉龐
xiang hai zi yi lai zhe jian bang xiang yan lei yi lai zhe lian pang

你就像天使一樣 給我依賴 給我力量
ni jiu xiang tian shi yi yang gei wo yi lai gei wo li liang

像詩人依賴著月亮 像海豚依賴海洋
xiang shi ren yi lai zhe yue liang xiang hai tun yi lai hai yang

你是天使 你是天使
ni shi tian shi ni shi tian shi

你是我最初和最後的天堂
ni shi wo zui chu he zui hou de tian tang

你就是我的天使 保護著我的天使 從此我再沒有憂傷
ni jiu shi wo de tian shi bao hu zhe wo de tian shi cong ci wo zai mei you you shang

你就是我的天使 給我快樂的天使 甚至我學會了飛翔
ni jiu shi wo de tian shi gei wo kuai le de tian shi zhen zhi wo xue hui le fei xiang
飛過人間的無常 才懂愛才是寶藏
fei guo ren jian de wu chang cai dong ai cai shi bao zang

不管世界變得怎麼樣 只要有你就會是天堂
bu guan shi jie bian de zen me yang zhi yao you ni jiu hui shi tian tang

(Repeat chorus 3x)

Lyrics at KKBOX: http://www.kkbox.com.tw/funky/web_info/n1F2o7mcMz44WwG00KYU008l.html

Mayday’s Official Site: http://www.imayday.com

Permalink 1 Comment

倒帶 (Dao Dai) by 蔡依林 (Jolin)

January 15, 2008 at 10:37 am (* Easy, Chinese lyrics, Female Singers) (, )

This is another song that I learned entirely via KTV. In fact, I don’t even own the MP3! The song is very slow, and the lyrics are pretty manageable with a low reading level. It’s a favorite among women at KTV, and pop culture enthusiasts will be interested to know that the song was written by Jay Chou. (One friend thinks this is why it’s the only Jolin song she actually likes.) Enjoy!

我受夠了等待 你所謂的安排
wo shou gou le deng dai ni suo wei de an pai

說的未來到底多久才來
shuo de wei lai dao di duo jiu cai lai

總是要來不及 才知道我可愛
zong shi yao lai bu ji cai zhi dao wo ke ai

我想依賴而你卻都不在
wo xiang yi lai er ni que dou bu zai

應該開心的地帶 你給的全是空白
ying gai kai xin de di dai ni gei de quan shi kong bai

一個人假日發呆 找不到人陪我看海
yi ge ren jia ri fa dai zhao bu dao ren pei wo kan hai

我在幸福的門外 卻一直都進不來
wo zai xing fu de men wai que yi zhi dou jin bu lai

你累積給的傷害 我是真的很難釋懷
ni lei ji gei de shang hao wo shi zhen de hen nan shi huai
(Chorus)

終於看開 愛回不來 而你總是太晚明白
zhong yu kan kai ai hui bu lai er ni zong shi tai wan ming bai

最後才把話說開 哭著求我留下來
zui hou cai bai hua shuo kai ku zhe qiu wo liu xia lai 終於看開 愛回不來 我們面前太多阻礙
zhong yu kan kai ai hui bu lai wo men mian qian tai duo zu ai

你的手卻放不開 寧願沒出息 求我別離開
ni de shou que fang bu kai ning yuan mei chu xi qiu wo bie li kai

你總是要我乖 慢慢計畫將來
ni zong shi yao wo guao man man ji hua jiang lai

我的眼淚卻一直掉下來
wo de yan lei que yi zhi diao xia lai

過去怎麼交代 你該給的信賴
guo qu zen me jiao dai ni gai gei de xin lai

被你親手緩緩推入懸崖
bei ni qin shou huan huan tui ru xuan ya

從我臉上的蒼白 看到記憶慢下來
cong wo lian shang de cang bai kan dao ji yi man xia lao

過去甜蜜在倒帶 只是感覺已經不在
guo qu tian mi zai dao dai zhi shi gan jue yi jing bu zai

而我對你的期待 被你一次次摔壞
er wo dui ni de qi dai bei ni yi ci ci shuai huai

已經碎成太多塊 要怎麼拼湊跟重來
yi jing sui cheng tai duo kuai yao zen me pin cou gen chong lai

終於看開 愛回不來 而你總是太晚明白
zhong yu kan kai ai hui bu lai er ni zong shi tai wan ming bai

最後才把話說開 哭著求我留下來
zui hou cai ba hua shuo kai ku zhe qiu wo liu xia lai

(Repeat chorus 2x)
Lyrics at KKBOX: http://www.kkbox.com.tw/funky/web_info/ujF5D9u3L1NkySy00C8s008l.html#10

Jolin’s Official sites: http://www.sonymusic.com.tw/pop/jolin/, http://www.emimusic.com.tw/artist/info/535

Permalink Leave a Comment

Next page »