Lovely Chinese song: 送别 （Farewell)
On 楊沛宜 Yang Pei Yi's EP, she has a lovely little song called 送别 Song Bie which means "Farewell" or "the Parting".
After a bit of searching, it discovered it was a cover of a song from a Chinese movie called "城南旧事 My Memories of Old Beijing". A clip from the movie in which the song is sung can be found here.
I found a lovely version of the song here.
The mp3 can be downloaded here.
Weirdly enough, it's not even a 'real' Chinese song. The melody was composed by John Pond Ordway a doctor, composer, music entrepreneur, and politician who was born in Salem, Massachusetts.
His song "Dreaming of Home and Mother", written in 1851 was a popular sentimental song of the Civil War era - also popular in China of all places :) Apparently it's now a common graduation/farewell song.
Lyrics are here.
长亭外，古道边 芳草碧连天 晚风拂柳笛声残 夕阳山外山
天之涯， 地之角 知交半零落 一杯浊酒尽余欢 今宵别梦寒
I can't even begin to translate them so here are three translations I found from Googling :)
Beyond the distant pavilion
Beside the ancient road
Jade green and fragrant,
high grass joins the sky
Evening breeze sways dripping willows
Dying flute notes linger still
On the hill behind the hill, the sun sets
To the ends of the earth
and corners of the seas
Half our friends are scattered
With a scoop of thick wine
Let's enjoy what joy remains
Tonight's cold dreams shall be held at bay
*
On the ancient road by the Farewell Pavilion, green grass stretches far into the sky.
With willow trees in evening wind and sounds of a staccato flute, the setting sun silhouettes layers of hills.
In the far distant quarters of heaven and earth, half of my friends are gone.
With a cup of turbid wine to swallow my merriment, I wait for a chilly farewell dream tonight.
*
Houses are behind, the old path aside.
Into the sky grasses are growing wide.
Through willows the breeze whispers free.
Melodies of flutes fade nowhere to be.
Dusk comes along to the edge of night.
Mountains from mountains glows the rosy light.
Far under the heaven friends are apart
Rejoice drinking ere we have to part
So long as stars and the moon are alight
Never be I free of the sorrow tonight
For those who like singing along, here's the pinyin
長 亭 外， 古 道 邊，
cheng ting wai gu dao bian
芳 草 碧 連 天。
fang cao bi lian tian
晚 風 拂 柳 笛 聲 残，
wan feng fu liu di sheng chan
夕 陽 山 外 山。
xi yang shan wai shan
天 之 涯，地 之 角，
tian zhi ya, di zhi jiao
知 交 半 零 落。
zhi jiao ban ling luo
一 觚 濁 酒 盡 餘 歡，
yi piao zhuo jiu jin yu huan
今 宵 别 夢 寒。
jin shao bie meng han
After a bit of searching, it discovered it was a cover of a song from a Chinese movie called "城南旧事 My Memories of Old Beijing". A clip from the movie in which the song is sung can be found here.
I found a lovely version of the song here.
The mp3 can be downloaded here.
Weirdly enough, it's not even a 'real' Chinese song. The melody was composed by John Pond Ordway a doctor, composer, music entrepreneur, and politician who was born in Salem, Massachusetts.
His song "Dreaming of Home and Mother", written in 1851 was a popular sentimental song of the Civil War era - also popular in China of all places :) Apparently it's now a common graduation/farewell song.
Lyrics are here.
长亭外，古道边 芳草碧连天 晚风拂柳笛声残 夕阳山外山
天之涯， 地之角 知交半零落 一杯浊酒尽余欢 今宵别梦寒
I can't even begin to translate them so here are three translations I found from Googling :)
Beyond the distant pavilion
Beside the ancient road
Jade green and fragrant,
high grass joins the sky
Evening breeze sways dripping willows
Dying flute notes linger still
On the hill behind the hill, the sun sets
To the ends of the earth
and corners of the seas
Half our friends are scattered
With a scoop of thick wine
Let's enjoy what joy remains
Tonight's cold dreams shall be held at bay
*
On the ancient road by the Farewell Pavilion, green grass stretches far into the sky.
With willow trees in evening wind and sounds of a staccato flute, the setting sun silhouettes layers of hills.
In the far distant quarters of heaven and earth, half of my friends are gone.
With a cup of turbid wine to swallow my merriment, I wait for a chilly farewell dream tonight.
*
Houses are behind, the old path aside.
Into the sky grasses are growing wide.
Through willows the breeze whispers free.
Melodies of flutes fade nowhere to be.
Dusk comes along to the edge of night.
Mountains from mountains glows the rosy light.
Far under the heaven friends are apart
Rejoice drinking ere we have to part
So long as stars and the moon are alight
Never be I free of the sorrow tonight
For those who like singing along, here's the pinyin
長 亭 外， 古 道 邊，
cheng ting wai gu dao bian
芳 草 碧 連 天。
fang cao bi lian tian
晚 風 拂 柳 笛 聲 残，
wan feng fu liu di sheng chan
夕 陽 山 外 山。
xi yang shan wai shan
天 之 涯，地 之 角，
tian zhi ya, di zhi jiao
知 交 半 零 落。
zhi jiao ban ling luo
一 觚 濁 酒 盡 餘 歡，
yi piao zhuo jiu jin yu huan
今 宵 别 夢 寒。
jin shao bie meng han