annotated translation
In which there is more annotating than translating.
I should stop doing this. No ear for poetry.
無雙
詞：方文山 曲：周杰倫
苔蘚綠了木屋 路深處 翠落的孟宗竹
亂石堆上有霧 這種隱居叫做江湖
箭矢漫天飛舞 竟然在城牆上遮蔽了日出
是誰 在哭
衝 你懂 你懂 你匆匆
有多少的 蠻力就拉多少的弓
聽我說武功 無法高過寺院的鐘 禪定的風 靜如水的松
我命格無雙 一統江山
狂勝之中 我卻黯然語帶悲傷
我一路安營扎下蓬 青銅刀鋒 不輕易用 蒼生為重
我命格無雙 一統江山
破城之後 我卻微笑絕不戀戰
我等待異族望天空 歃血為盟 我等效忠 浴火為龍
殘缺的老茶壺 幾里外 馬蹄上的塵土
升狼煙的城池 這種世道叫做亂世
那歷史已模糊 刀上的鏽卻出土的很清楚
是我 在哭
序 你去 你去 你繼續
我敲木魚 開始冥想 這場戰役
我攻城略地 想冷血你需要勇氣
揮劍離去 我削鐵如泥
你去 你再去 你繼續不敵我致命的一擊
遠方的橫笛 吹奏你戰敗的消息
保持著殺氣 想贏的情緒 讓我君臨天下的駕馭
我命格無雙 一統江山
狂勝之中 我卻黯然語帶悲傷
我一路安營扎下蓬 青銅刀鋒 不輕易用 蒼生為重
我命格無雙 一統江山
破城之後 我卻微笑絕不戀戰
我等待異族望天空 歃血為盟 我等效忠 浴火為龍
命格無雙 一統江山
狂勝之中 我卻黯然語帶悲傷
我命格無雙 一統江山
破城之後 我卻微笑絕不戀戰
我等待異族望天空 歃血為盟 我等效忠 浴火為龍
Despite being the theme song for Shin Sangoku Musou Online I'm not convinced it's set in the Three Kingdoms period; too many Buddhist allusions. Probably just meant to convey a generic 亂世 "age of chaos" feel.
Seriously his enunciation is so bad I can't hear shit. "To transcribe Vincent Fang's profound lyrics you need to be peerless at taking dictation, because the way I sing is so difficult to understand! *sounds pleased*" Fuckerrrrrr.
Please point out references allusions etc. that I have missed in my horrible potato-eatingness.
italicised = rap
Peerless
Lyrics: Vincent Fang Music: Jay Chou
A moss green hut stands On a forsaken path Bamboo1 cascades in jade-green falls2
Mist shrouds stone cairns This seclusion is the way of the world3
Flying arrows eclipse daybreak seen atop fortress walls
Who is that crying
move you know you know you go
loose arrows till your strength gives out
listen the arts of war transcend nothing
neither monastery bells nor calm4 winds nor pine trees still as water
I was born peerless Destined to build empires
Yet amidst frenzied triumph I am overcome by sorrow
I make and break camp this bronze blade is not wielded lightly there is too much at stake5
I was born peerless Destined to build empires
Yet I smile and refuse prolonged battle
watching the sky I await foreign tribes and their blood oaths we6 swear fealty in a crucible of fire we emerge dragons
A chipped old teapot lies Miles from anywhere Dust coats horses' hooves in streaks
Signal flares rise from fortress walls This chaos is the age of war
History is hazy But verdigris shows clear on this blade
I am the one crying
speak you go you go you go on
I strike a prayer block and contemplate this campaign
I conquer all before me ruthlessness takes courage
leaving my sword shears iron like mud
go on keep holding back the finishing blow
in the distance flutes sound out news of your defeat
keep this intent to kill this desire to win let my sovereign lord rule this world
I was born peerless Destined to build empires
Yet amidst frenzied triumph I am overcome by sorrow
I make and break camp this bronze blade is not wielded lightly there is too much at stake
I was born peerless Destined to build empires
Yet I smile and refuse prolonged battle
watching the sky I await foreign tribes and their blood oaths we swear fealty in a crucible of fire we emerge dragons
Born peerless Destined to build empires
Yet amidst frenzied triumph I am overcome by sorrow
I was born peerless Destined to build empires
Yet I smile and refuse prolonged battle
watching the sky I await foreign tribes and their blood oaths we swear fealty in a crucible of fire we emerge dragons
1孟宗竹 meng zong bamboo is I think an ephitet for the sort of bamboo you usually see in paintings scrolls etc. Meng Zong is a character in one of the 24 Filial Pieties. Story goes one day Meng Zong's ill mother craved bamboo shoots, dutiful son Meng Zong accordingly heads to the nearest bamboo grove to find some but there were none to be found, in despair Meng Zong wept and where his tears fell bamboo shoots sprouted, he digs them up cooks them for Mom and she recovers.
2翠落 cui luo lit. jade falls is an unusual construction; I think it's deliberately meant to pun 坠落 zhui luo fallen, which like in English has both the connotation of physically fallen and of degradation. Jay Chou does pronounce it zhui luo, whatever that's supposed to mean.
3I HATE having to translate 江湖 lit. rivers and lakes. It brings up so much I can't put into words. *flaps hands helplessly* You know, wuxia novels. Louis Cha for preference because Dad is a fanboy (and now you know where my geek propensities come from). Swashbuckling swordspeople. Old-school HK gangster flicks. 人在江湖身不由己. Things like that. Maybe the best way to explain it is in opposition to 江山 rivers and mountains; 江山 belongs to the emperor, 江湖 is of the people.
4Exact phrase 禪定 lit. Zen calm; Chinese for Zen being 禪宗 chan zong
5蒼生為重 uhhh "lives of the common people are more important."
6Can't tell if the second 我等 means "I wait" or "we". Picked "we", but I could be wrong.
I should stop doing this. No ear for poetry.
無雙
詞：方文山 曲：周杰倫
苔蘚綠了木屋 路深處 翠落的孟宗竹
亂石堆上有霧 這種隱居叫做江湖
箭矢漫天飛舞 竟然在城牆上遮蔽了日出
是誰 在哭
衝 你懂 你懂 你匆匆
有多少的 蠻力就拉多少的弓
聽我說武功 無法高過寺院的鐘 禪定的風 靜如水的松
我命格無雙 一統江山
狂勝之中 我卻黯然語帶悲傷
我一路安營扎下蓬 青銅刀鋒 不輕易用 蒼生為重
我命格無雙 一統江山
破城之後 我卻微笑絕不戀戰
我等待異族望天空 歃血為盟 我等效忠 浴火為龍
殘缺的老茶壺 幾里外 馬蹄上的塵土
升狼煙的城池 這種世道叫做亂世
那歷史已模糊 刀上的鏽卻出土的很清楚
是我 在哭
序 你去 你去 你繼續
我敲木魚 開始冥想 這場戰役
我攻城略地 想冷血你需要勇氣
揮劍離去 我削鐵如泥
你去 你再去 你繼續不敵我致命的一擊
遠方的橫笛 吹奏你戰敗的消息
保持著殺氣 想贏的情緒 讓我君臨天下的駕馭
我命格無雙 一統江山
狂勝之中 我卻黯然語帶悲傷
我一路安營扎下蓬 青銅刀鋒 不輕易用 蒼生為重
我命格無雙 一統江山
破城之後 我卻微笑絕不戀戰
我等待異族望天空 歃血為盟 我等效忠 浴火為龍
命格無雙 一統江山
狂勝之中 我卻黯然語帶悲傷
我命格無雙 一統江山
破城之後 我卻微笑絕不戀戰
我等待異族望天空 歃血為盟 我等效忠 浴火為龍
Despite being the theme song for Shin Sangoku Musou Online I'm not convinced it's set in the Three Kingdoms period; too many Buddhist allusions. Probably just meant to convey a generic 亂世 "age of chaos" feel.
Seriously his enunciation is so bad I can't hear shit. "To transcribe Vincent Fang's profound lyrics you need to be peerless at taking dictation, because the way I sing is so difficult to understand! *sounds pleased*" Fuckerrrrrr.
Please point out references allusions etc. that I have missed in my horrible potato-eatingness.
italicised = rap
Peerless
Lyrics: Vincent Fang Music: Jay Chou
A moss green hut stands On a forsaken path Bamboo1 cascades in jade-green falls2
Mist shrouds stone cairns This seclusion is the way of the world3
Flying arrows eclipse daybreak seen atop fortress walls
Who is that crying
move you know you know you go
loose arrows till your strength gives out
listen the arts of war transcend nothing
neither monastery bells nor calm4 winds nor pine trees still as water
I was born peerless Destined to build empires
Yet amidst frenzied triumph I am overcome by sorrow
I make and break camp this bronze blade is not wielded lightly there is too much at stake5
I was born peerless Destined to build empires
Yet I smile and refuse prolonged battle
watching the sky I await foreign tribes and their blood oaths we6 swear fealty in a crucible of fire we emerge dragons
A chipped old teapot lies Miles from anywhere Dust coats horses' hooves in streaks
Signal flares rise from fortress walls This chaos is the age of war
History is hazy But verdigris shows clear on this blade
I am the one crying
speak you go you go you go on
I strike a prayer block and contemplate this campaign
I conquer all before me ruthlessness takes courage
leaving my sword shears iron like mud
go on keep holding back the finishing blow
in the distance flutes sound out news of your defeat
keep this intent to kill this desire to win let my sovereign lord rule this world
I was born peerless Destined to build empires
Yet amidst frenzied triumph I am overcome by sorrow
I make and break camp this bronze blade is not wielded lightly there is too much at stake
I was born peerless Destined to build empires
Yet I smile and refuse prolonged battle
watching the sky I await foreign tribes and their blood oaths we swear fealty in a crucible of fire we emerge dragons
Born peerless Destined to build empires
Yet amidst frenzied triumph I am overcome by sorrow
I was born peerless Destined to build empires
Yet I smile and refuse prolonged battle
watching the sky I await foreign tribes and their blood oaths we swear fealty in a crucible of fire we emerge dragons
1孟宗竹 meng zong bamboo is I think an ephitet for the sort of bamboo you usually see in paintings scrolls etc. Meng Zong is a character in one of the 24 Filial Pieties. Story goes one day Meng Zong's ill mother craved bamboo shoots, dutiful son Meng Zong accordingly heads to the nearest bamboo grove to find some but there were none to be found, in despair Meng Zong wept and where his tears fell bamboo shoots sprouted, he digs them up cooks them for Mom and she recovers.
2翠落 cui luo lit. jade falls is an unusual construction; I think it's deliberately meant to pun 坠落 zhui luo fallen, which like in English has both the connotation of physically fallen and of degradation. Jay Chou does pronounce it zhui luo, whatever that's supposed to mean.
3I HATE having to translate 江湖 lit. rivers and lakes. It brings up so much I can't put into words. *flaps hands helplessly* You know, wuxia novels. Louis Cha for preference because Dad is a fanboy (and now you know where my geek propensities come from). Swashbuckling swordspeople. Old-school HK gangster flicks. 人在江湖身不由己. Things like that. Maybe the best way to explain it is in opposition to 江山 rivers and mountains; 江山 belongs to the emperor, 江湖 is of the people.
4Exact phrase 禪定 lit. Zen calm; Chinese for Zen being 禪宗 chan zong
5蒼生為重 uhhh "lives of the common people are more important."
6Can't tell if the second 我等 means "I wait" or "we". Picked "we", but I could be wrong.