I LIKE PIE
This is a rush job, because I'm not at home. I'm in NYC, chilling on the couch with my laptop, full of: turkey with cognac gravy; cranberry jelly (and I mean jelly in the American sense! not gelatin!) in the shape of a pig; brussel sprouts vinaigrette; cornbread stuffing; almond stuffing; mashed potatoes and sauerkraut, with more gravy; acorn squash with fig syrup; sweet potatoes; creamed onions; green beans; apple pie and lots of homemade whipped cream.
But my dedication to you knows no bounds! I must get you Thanksgiving-themed music on Thanksgiving Day! (That is, in America, the only country that counts, LOLERCOASTERZ.)
ICON MAKERS: I'm in the market for a new icon! I want a laughing picture of a Chinese music celebrity with the text "I LOL'd". Coulod be lots of people: Jay Chou, Landy Wen, David Tao, Stefanie Sun... basically anyone I've uploaded here and others I haven't. JUST NOT WANG LEEHOM. This LiveJournal is a Wang Leehom free zone. Thank you.
In return for your mad icon skillz, you will get credit and all the requests you can eat!
Under the cut, Rebecca Kar celebrates Thanksgiving and Vivian Hsu ain't gonna give u luv dat be just soso. (Man, do you know how brain cells I had to kill to enable me to write that sentence?) Original Chinese lyrics in chinesesongs, as usual!
ARTIST: Rebecca Kar / Jia Li Yi / 賈立怡
SONG: Ganenjie (Thanksgiving) 感恩節
Downloads: MegaUpload SendSpace YouSendIt
ALBUM: Ganenjie (Thanksgiving) 感恩節
STYLE: piano and strings ballad
MY TAKE: Thanksgiving is an import to Chinese-speaking countries, and it is celebrated about to the extent that most Americans celebrate the Mid-Autumn Festival:
Person 1: Hey! It's the Mid Autumn Festival!
Person 2: ...
Person 1: Let's go bowling!
Person 2: YAY!
So there is a dearth of Chinese language songs about Thanksgiving the holiday, though of course there are plenty of songs about feeling gratitude. It's not like we have a lot of Thanksgiving songs in English either. Aside from "Over the River and Through the Woods" I can't think of any.
ANYWHOOZLE! Reachel Kar is a new name to me, as she well might be, since this is her second album and her debut was in Cantonese. I generally only get Cantonese music only if it's an artist I like already for Mandarin music, or someone specifically recommended to me. (<3 for AT17.) She did a charity song for the Hong Kong SPCA (animal rescue group): View the music video on Youtube for 自由貓 Freedom Cat. Lots of cute kitties!
Back to the Mandarin song. I love the lyrics. Very beautiful imagery. Don't have any idea what the relation is to Thanksgiving...
TRANSLATION:
for a long time [I] haven't returned to the seaside where [we] first met
the seawater's as salty as before, the sky remains distant
what's different is my smiling face
small gusts of wind like your fingers passing through the spaces between [mine]
leading me towards that former loneliness a little
but the footprints haven't worn away
I was a willful and ignorant child
who changed into a brave girl
because of you, because the rain awoke the love that was fast asleep
it's better than the illusion of waiting in a beautiful dream[1]
not as good as love coming true
joining in the splendor of the next second
every yesterday's stories of love and stories of distress[2]
I always refused someone to come and write again[3]
I wasn't careful and fell shedding blood
it's also another page of a touching story
every past season of warmth and past season of cold
were all to write the score of the song of [my] life
now I only feel gratitude for everything
only someone who has been loved can understand
only after being loved by you did I understand
things worth remembering like the room you stayed in
receiving your promise, one day, one drop
already tears moisten my eyes no longer
I was a willful and ignorant child
who changed into a brave girl
without you, without rain, what will love irrigate itself with?
it's better than the illusion of waiting in a beautiful dream
not as good as love coming true
writing down ten million shades of color
1. I know all the words here. But the word order is messing me up a little. Why is deng3dai4 (await) at the end?
2. Plot as in the plot of a story.
3. I'm guessing an idiom? In context with the next line, I'm guessing the meaning is that she wouldn't accept help from others in the past.
ARTIST: Vivian Hsu / Xu Ruoxuan [NOTE: Pinyin error in filename, my bad.] / 徐若瑄
SONG: SOSO
Downloads: Edit: File error! Renamed and reuploaded to YouSendIt; more links to come.
ALBUM: Vivi and...
STYLE: hip-pop
MY TAKE: Ah, Vivian. She got her start doing softcore porn (nude modeling! hiss her defenders). It's actually really amazing that she managed to break into mainstream and be as popular as she is, and it's mostly due to her talent. She's even released music successfully in Japan through the band Black Biscuits. She's a lyricist who has written hits for herself and others including megastar Jay Chou. She's also been romantically connected to some big names, the most famous being her relationship with Vanness Wu, which resulted in a messy breakup that delighted Chinese tabloids for months. She's now 31 and still a big star.
Now, her new single... well... I love the beat. But for crying out loud, the idiotic English rapping HAS TO END, or my brain will ooze out my ears! I blame Wang Leehom. Not that he actually invented or started the trend, but he made THE WORST ENGLISH SONG EVAR, "Not Your Average Thug." I'm serious. That song made me want to cry and hug a dictionary, telling it "It's okay sweetie, I'm here, I'll protect you from the stupid."
Newsflash, ABCs: Being born in America does not automatically make you a rapper. STFU, PLZKTHX.
TRANSLATION:
*love talk, you shouldn't just talk carelessly[1]
paying [2], you shouldn't do it carelessly
if you've decided to love me fiercely
the way you show it just can't be merely so-so
romance, shouldn't go blindly and carelessly
couples, shouldn't carelessly pick whatever [3]
if you want to use tenderness to conquer me
your love just must not be so-so*
[insert idiotic English rap here]
#JUST DO IT, go on, try harder, BOY
girls facing a whole heart, whole desire, true heart, true desire[4]?
there's hardly any who can resist
DON'T YOU LOVE ME[5], prove yourself at once!
I've already told you about all the tricks there are
what are you still waiting for?#
repeat *
[another idiotic English rap]
repeat #, repeat *
roses are things that can wilt, candy is something that can melt
a beautiful love mustn't waste time OH YEAH OH YEAH
love is something that may be forever, but it's something that shouldn't be half-assed[6]
there is happiness only in 100% OH YEAH OH YEAH
[in Nicky's part, the only Chinese is "Come over here and give me a hug"]
repeat *
1. I've flipped back and forth on what to translate "隨便" as here. It's a word that expresses the "whatever!" concept in English, but I can't use whatever as an adverb. "You shouldn't just talk like whatever" sounds too Valley Girl to me. Though maybe appropriate to the target audience for her music!
2. Difficult to translate. 付出 is "pay out", but it can also be used to mean "expend" more idiomatically, as in effort.
3. Two "whatever" words in the same sentence!
4. 全心全意 idiomatically means "whole heartedly", 真心 idiomatically means "sincerity", but I think a literal translation captures the repitition better.
5. I refuse to cooperate in the lyrics' degradation of the English language.
6. Literally "horse tiger". ^_^
But my dedication to you knows no bounds! I must get you Thanksgiving-themed music on Thanksgiving Day! (That is, in America, the only country that counts, LOLERCOASTERZ.)
ICON MAKERS: I'm in the market for a new icon! I want a laughing picture of a Chinese music celebrity with the text "I LOL'd". Coulod be lots of people: Jay Chou, Landy Wen, David Tao, Stefanie Sun... basically anyone I've uploaded here and others I haven't. JUST NOT WANG LEEHOM. This LiveJournal is a Wang Leehom free zone. Thank you.
In return for your mad icon skillz, you will get credit and all the requests you can eat!
Under the cut, Rebecca Kar celebrates Thanksgiving and Vivian Hsu ain't gonna give u luv dat be just soso. (Man, do you know how brain cells I had to kill to enable me to write that sentence?) Original Chinese lyrics in chinesesongs, as usual!
ARTIST: Rebecca Kar / Jia Li Yi / 賈立怡
SONG: Ganenjie (Thanksgiving) 感恩節
Downloads: MegaUpload SendSpace YouSendIt
ALBUM: Ganenjie (Thanksgiving) 感恩節
STYLE: piano and strings ballad
MY TAKE: Thanksgiving is an import to Chinese-speaking countries, and it is celebrated about to the extent that most Americans celebrate the Mid-Autumn Festival:
Person 1: Hey! It's the Mid Autumn Festival!
Person 2: ...
Person 1: Let's go bowling!
Person 2: YAY!
So there is a dearth of Chinese language songs about Thanksgiving the holiday, though of course there are plenty of songs about feeling gratitude. It's not like we have a lot of Thanksgiving songs in English either. Aside from "Over the River and Through the Woods" I can't think of any.
ANYWHOOZLE! Reachel Kar is a new name to me, as she well might be, since this is her second album and her debut was in Cantonese. I generally only get Cantonese music only if it's an artist I like already for Mandarin music, or someone specifically recommended to me. (<3 for AT17.) She did a charity song for the Hong Kong SPCA (animal rescue group): View the music video on Youtube for 自由貓 Freedom Cat. Lots of cute kitties!
Back to the Mandarin song. I love the lyrics. Very beautiful imagery. Don't have any idea what the relation is to Thanksgiving...
TRANSLATION:
for a long time [I] haven't returned to the seaside where [we] first met
the seawater's as salty as before, the sky remains distant
what's different is my smiling face
small gusts of wind like your fingers passing through the spaces between [mine]
leading me towards that former loneliness a little
but the footprints haven't worn away
I was a willful and ignorant child
who changed into a brave girl
because of you, because the rain awoke the love that was fast asleep
it's better than the illusion of waiting in a beautiful dream[1]
not as good as love coming true
joining in the splendor of the next second
every yesterday's stories of love and stories of distress[2]
I always refused someone to come and write again[3]
I wasn't careful and fell shedding blood
it's also another page of a touching story
every past season of warmth and past season of cold
were all to write the score of the song of [my] life
now I only feel gratitude for everything
only someone who has been loved can understand
only after being loved by you did I understand
things worth remembering like the room you stayed in
receiving your promise, one day, one drop
already tears moisten my eyes no longer
I was a willful and ignorant child
who changed into a brave girl
without you, without rain, what will love irrigate itself with?
it's better than the illusion of waiting in a beautiful dream
not as good as love coming true
writing down ten million shades of color
1. I know all the words here. But the word order is messing me up a little. Why is deng3dai4 (await) at the end?
2. Plot as in the plot of a story.
3. I'm guessing an idiom? In context with the next line, I'm guessing the meaning is that she wouldn't accept help from others in the past.
ARTIST: Vivian Hsu / Xu Ruoxuan [NOTE: Pinyin error in filename, my bad.] / 徐若瑄
SONG: SOSO
Downloads: Edit: File error! Renamed and reuploaded to YouSendIt; more links to come.
ALBUM: Vivi and...
STYLE: hip-pop
MY TAKE: Ah, Vivian. She got her start doing softcore porn (nude modeling! hiss her defenders). It's actually really amazing that she managed to break into mainstream and be as popular as she is, and it's mostly due to her talent. She's even released music successfully in Japan through the band Black Biscuits. She's a lyricist who has written hits for herself and others including megastar Jay Chou. She's also been romantically connected to some big names, the most famous being her relationship with Vanness Wu, which resulted in a messy breakup that delighted Chinese tabloids for months. She's now 31 and still a big star.
Now, her new single... well... I love the beat. But for crying out loud, the idiotic English rapping HAS TO END, or my brain will ooze out my ears! I blame Wang Leehom. Not that he actually invented or started the trend, but he made THE WORST ENGLISH SONG EVAR, "Not Your Average Thug." I'm serious. That song made me want to cry and hug a dictionary, telling it "It's okay sweetie, I'm here, I'll protect you from the stupid."
Newsflash, ABCs: Being born in America does not automatically make you a rapper. STFU, PLZKTHX.
TRANSLATION:
*love talk, you shouldn't just talk carelessly[1]
paying [2], you shouldn't do it carelessly
if you've decided to love me fiercely
the way you show it just can't be merely so-so
romance, shouldn't go blindly and carelessly
couples, shouldn't carelessly pick whatever [3]
if you want to use tenderness to conquer me
your love just must not be so-so*
[insert idiotic English rap here]
#JUST DO IT, go on, try harder, BOY
girls facing a whole heart, whole desire, true heart, true desire[4]?
there's hardly any who can resist
DON'T YOU LOVE ME[5], prove yourself at once!
I've already told you about all the tricks there are
what are you still waiting for?#
repeat *
[another idiotic English rap]
repeat #, repeat *
roses are things that can wilt, candy is something that can melt
a beautiful love mustn't waste time OH YEAH OH YEAH
love is something that may be forever, but it's something that shouldn't be half-assed[6]
there is happiness only in 100% OH YEAH OH YEAH
[in Nicky's part, the only Chinese is "Come over here and give me a hug"]
repeat *
1. I've flipped back and forth on what to translate "隨便" as here. It's a word that expresses the "whatever!" concept in English, but I can't use whatever as an adverb. "You shouldn't just talk like whatever" sounds too Valley Girl to me. Though maybe appropriate to the target audience for her music!
2. Difficult to translate. 付出 is "pay out", but it can also be used to mean "expend" more idiomatically, as in effort.
3. Two "whatever" words in the same sentence!
4. 全心全意 idiomatically means "whole heartedly", 真心 idiomatically means "sincerity", but I think a literal translation captures the repitition better.
5. I refuse to cooperate in the lyrics' degradation of the English language.
6. Literally "horse tiger". ^_^