One day last month or a few months ago, Jenny and I were in her car and she said “Judy, do you know what genre of music I just discovered? Taiwanese folk music. I really like it.” I thought she meant like… OLD folk music, like the stuff we used in chinese dance, but she meant the folk movement in taiwan in the 70s and 80s.
So she played me this song:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HrjQmZ8t8nQ
don’t ask me whence i came
my home is far, far away.
why wander so far?
for the little birds flying carefree in the big sky
for the small streams flowing clear and blue from the mountaintops
for the grass fields swept across the wide steppes
i wander so far.
and… also…
for the olive trees in my dreams.
don’t ask me whence i came…
my hometown is far, far away.
why do you wander so far?
for the olive trees that i see in my dreams.
I love this song very much. Here are the lyrics in chinese after the jump. Lisa, I’m thinking of you when I do this detailed writeup.
Note: the pinyin is wrong. I’ve forgotten real pinyin, so this is just me sounding out the words.
bu yao wen wo cong na li lai
don't ask me from where come
wo de gu xiang zai ruan fang ("gu" means "ancient" too, in other words. so it's like "originating point")
my hometown is far away direction (so "ruan fang" is a word that means "far, far away")
wei se me liu lang (the word "liu" is also used for water and streams, so that's the kind of wandering liu lang is... flowing and going whatever direction it's taken)
why wander (like a dude with a bag on a stick on his back, like a hobo)
liu lang ruan fang
wander very far away
liu lang.
wei le tian kong fei xiang di xiao niao (tian=sky/god/etc, kong=empty. tiankong just means sky)
because sky-empty flying on the wing 's little birds
wei le shan jian qing liu di xiao xi
because mountain-sharp clear-flowing 's little streams
wei le kwan kwoh di cao yuan
because wide steppes 's grass fields
liu lang ruan fang
liu lang.
hai yo, hai yo
also, also
wei le mong zhong di gan lan xu, gan lan xu
because dream inside 's olive tree, olive trees
bu yao wen wo cong na li lai
do not ask me from where come
wo de gu xiang zai ruan fang...
my home is very very far...
wei she me liu lang?
wei she me liu lang, ruan fang?
wei le wo mong zong di gan lan xu.
because me/i dream inside 's olive trees.
We hung out at J’s house with her mom, who helped us with the lyrics and translated them for us. She said to me that I should go to Taiwan and try out for their version of Idol. She told me in chinese: “you can DEFINITELY PK those other people!” and I could not stop laughing. PK has entered the language. (the letters PK in english. so she said something like “ni jue de ke yi ba ren jia PK diao!”) PK stands for player-kill in english and is used in video games. Ha ha haha haha.
The lyrics come from writings by Sanmao, a Taiwanese writer. The singer of this song is Chyi Yu. As far as I can tell, this version is the original. J’s mom said something like it was set to music by some famous music professor in Taiwan.
It is covered a lot, though. One cover that I found that I really really dislike in every way is here. Ugh. It’s awful.
Now I can add my own! http://www.midomi.com/index.php?action=main.profile&recording_id=65aa6f42a8fdda533105839ff84777c4&from=mini_updates&type=mini_feed_type_songs&position=1
Wow! She’s like the Taiwanese Simon and Garfunkel! Right down to the acoustic guitar arpeggios. I like it though! Also, I appreciate your translation. I wonder, could the second part be translated as “because the x wanders” instead of “for the x, I wander”? I think I remember the verb doesn’t change and person is implied through context… ???
Finally, I like thinking of the sky’s little birds.
Not sure. There’s another word that means “because” that is “ying wei” … “wei le” is more like “for the ___” … it never occurred to me to think it could be translated as “because of the wanderings of the little birds in the big sky” or something. or “because the little birds wander, i wander.” well of course it is implied that the little birds and the little stream are doing wandering also.
also i don’t know if i should put in “i wander” because she doesn’t say “i wander.” she just says “wander.” so i don’t know if it’s like “the state of wandering” or “the desire to wander” or “the noun, wander” or “i am a wanderer and i am wandering” or “you wander too” or what, because my experience with chinese poetry is exceedingly limited.
p.s. how could you possibly have not commented on my agricola post? LOOK AT THE ANIMEEPLE. I’M GOING TO GET A COPY OF AGRICOLA AND YOU ARE HELPING ME MAKE SOME ANIMEEPLE OK. WE MUST DO THIS. DO YOU KNOW WHERE TO GET SCULPEE. TINY SHEEP!!!!!!!!! OMAGOD!!!!