Chinese Pop Songs

消極掰-蔡依林 Life Sucks-Jolin Tsai

Jolin Tsai’s 2018 burnout song is quite therapeutic.

作詞:王永良
Lyricist: Wang Yongliang/Tom Wang
作曲:Sam Fishman/Jazelle Rodriguez/Samual Petersen
Composers: Sam Fishman, Jazelle Rodriguez, and Samual Petersen
編曲:陳星翰/鄭人豪
Arrangers: Chen Xinghan/Star Chen and Zheng Renhao
演唱:蔡依林
Singer: Cai Yilin/Jolin Tsai

不想起床不想睡覺,不換內褲不想洗澡
I don’t want to get up, go to bed, change my underwear or take a shower.
自怨自哀自憐放棄治療,系統不正常雜訊幹擾
I loath myself, grieve for myself, pity myself, and give up therapy [give up on myself]. The system malfunctions. Noise jamming.

來福薩克死(Life Sucks),羅曼蒂克死,悲哀莫大于心死,全身只剩眼神死
Life sucks, romance dies, there is no grief greater than apathy, and the whole body is shut down except my glazed eyes.

愛情卡關孤單寂寞難熬,生活卡關爲五鬥米折腰
In the love department, I’m lonely and suffering; in the life department, I bow and scrape for five pecks of rice [make compromises to get by].
運氣不好總有瞎咖來鬧,需要時間消化這些黑色玩笑
When I’m not in luck, there are always idiots barging in to make a scene [when it rains, it pours], and I need time to digest these dark jokes.

說得好在哪裏跌倒在哪裏躺好,消極好消極一下好人生有高低潮
It’s well said that wherever you fall, you should just stay horizontal. Being negative is good. Negativity helps. Life has its ups and downs.
說得好流年不太好當作上大號,消極好跟消極握手再一筆勾消
It’s well said that when it’s not your year, you should just treat it as a time to take a dump [to flush your bad luck away]. Being negative is good. Shake hands with negativity, and then all the old scores can be written off.

說得好在哪裏跌倒在哪裏躺好,消極好消極一下好人生有高低潮
It’s well said that wherever you fall, you should just stay horizontal. Being negative is good. Negativity helps. Life has its ups and downs.
說得好流年不太好當作上大號,消極好跟消極擁抱再分道揚镳
It’s well said that wherever you fall, you should just stay horizontal. Being negative is good. It’s good to embrace negativity and then part with it.

不想假笑陰森很好,想無理取鬧不裝客套
If you don’t want to fake a smile, it’s good to sulk. If you intend to make trouble, you don’t have to pretend to be polite.
難過到走心一了百了,賀爾蒙不正常理智線斷掉
When sorrow goes deep, it cuts your heart and ends all your woes; your hormones are out of whack, and your brain refuses to be rational.

來福薩克死,羅曼蒂克死,悲哀莫大于心死,全身只剩眼神死
Life sucks, romance dies, there is no grief greater than apathy, and the whole body is shut down except my glazed eyes.

愛情卡關孤單寂寞難熬,生活卡關爲五鬥米折腰
In the love department, I’m lonely and suffering; in the life department, I bow and scrape for five pecks of rice [make compromises to get by]
運氣不好總有瞎咖來鬧,需要沈澱思考命運莫名其妙
When I’m not in luck, there are always idiots barging in to make a scene [when it rains, it pours]. You need to take a break and think. Fate is baffling.

說得好在哪裏跌倒在哪裏躺好,消極好消極一下好人生有高低潮
It’s well said that wherever you fall, you should just stay horizontal. Being negative is good. Negativity helps. Life has its ups and downs.
說得好流年不太好當作上大號,消極好跟消極握手再一筆勾消
It’s well said that when it’s not your year, you should just treat it as a time to take a dump [to flush your bad luck away]. Being negative is good. Shake hands with negativity, and then all the old scores can be written off.

說得好在哪裏跌倒在哪裏躺好,消極好消極一下好人生有高低潮
It’s well said that wherever you fall, you should just stay horizontal. Being negative is good. Negativity helps. Life has its ups and downs.
說得好流年不太好當作上大號,消極好跟消極擁抱再分道揚镳
It’s well said that wherever you fall, you should just stay horizontal. Negativity helps. It’s good to embrace negativity and then part with it.

說得好在哪裏跌倒在哪裏躺好,消極好消極一下好人生有高低潮
It’s well said that wherever you fall, you should just stay horizontal. Being negative is good. Negativity helps. Life has its ups and downs.
說得好流年不太好當作上大號,消極好跟消極擁抱再分道揚镳
It’s well said that wherever you fall, you should just stay horizontal. Negativity helps. It’s good to embrace negativity and then part with it.

休息夠了重新上緊發條,頹廢夠了活動活動手腳
Once you are well-rested, you can resume winding the clock [gearing up]. Once you are done with feeling down in the dumps, you can try to limber up the joints [stretch].
消極夠了掰掰告別煩惱,活著就有希望一切都是治療
Once you are done with all this negativity, you can say goodbye to your worries. As long as you are alive, you are not running out of hope. Everything is a kind of therapy.

Chinese Pop Songs

慢慢喜歡你-莫文蔚 Slowly Growing Fond of You-Karen Mok

I met a Karen Mok fan online through a feminist group lately. We raved about Karen Mok’s charisma and unique voice. Then I started listening to her songs again…

Love ballads in Mandopop usually target straight couples, but I’m growing tired of such heterosexual norms. Imagine the song is for LGBTQ+ couples, and you may enjoy the song better.

Karen Mok is currently working on her musical. I truly hope that all her dreams come true.

詞/曲:李榮浩
Songwriter: Li Ronghao
歌手:莫文蔚
Singer: Mo Wenwei (Karen Mok)

書裡總愛寫到喜出望外的傍晚
[People] love writing about overjoyed evenings in books
騎的單車還有他和她的對談
The bikes [they] rode and the conversations between him and her
女孩的白色衣裳男孩愛看她穿
The girl’s white shirt, which the boy enjoys seeing her wear
好多橋段
So many plots
好多都浪漫
are so romantic
好多人心酸
So many people’s hearts ache
好聚好散
So many meetings and partings without hard feelings
好多天都看不完
[So many stories] that take so many days to finish reading

剛才吻了你一下你也喜歡對嗎
[I] gave you a peck and you liked it too, right?
不然怎麼一直牽我的手不放
Otherwise why keep holding my hand?
你說你好想帶我回去你的家鄉
You said you really wanted to take me back to your hometown
綠瓦紅磚
Green shingles and red bricks
柳樹和青苔
Willow trees and green lichen
過去和現在
The past and the present
都一個樣
are the same
你說你也會這樣
You said you would do the same

慢慢喜歡你
Slowly growing fond of you
慢慢的親密
Slowly becoming close
慢慢聊自己
Slowly opening up about myself
慢慢和你走在一起
Slowly getting to walking with you
慢慢我想配合你
Slowly I want to change myself to support you
慢慢把我給你
Slowly giving myself to you

慢慢喜歡你
Slowly growing fond of you
慢慢的回憶
Slowly reminiscing about the past
慢慢的陪你慢慢的老去
Slowly accompanying you to slowly grow old
因為慢慢是個最好的原因
Because [love at] the slow pace is the best reason

晚餐後的甜點就點你喜歡的吧
Order what you like for the desert after dinner
今晚就換你去床的右邊睡吧
It’s your turn tonight to sleep at the right side of the bed
這次旅行我還想去上次的沙灘
For this trip I still want to go to the same beach we went to last time
球鞋手錶
The snickers, the watch,
襪子和襯衫都已經燙好
the socks and the shirts were already ironed
放行李箱
and packed
早上等著你起床
Waiting for you to get up in the morning

慢慢喜歡你
Slowly growing fond of you
慢慢的親密
Slowly becoming close
慢慢聊自己
Slowly opening up about myself
慢慢和你走在一起
Slowly getting to walking with you
慢慢我想配合你
Slowly I want to change myself to support you
慢慢把我給你
Slowly giving myself to you

慢慢喜歡你
Slowly growing fond of you
慢慢的回憶
Slowly reminiscing about the past
慢慢的陪你慢慢的老去
Slowly accompanying you to slowly grow old
因為慢慢是個最好的原因
Because [love at] a slow pace is the best reason

書裡總愛寫到喜出望外的傍晚
[People] love writing about overjoyed evenings in books