我的愛像落葉歸根

after last evening, i realised that i haven't been listening to david tao in a while now. looping one of my fav DT songs but for now i wanna share this one from wlh first (the boys would have to take turn, but there's plenty of blog space for the both of them :D)

the title of the song (落葉歸根) reminds me of adeline yen mah's bestselling book, Falling Leaves. i read that so many moons ago i needed to read the reviews to remind me. ahh, a sad story.. the same sentiment from listening to the melody. lee hom supposedly wrote this while he was in character post-Lust, Caution, that of Kuang Yu Min, one of the student leaders in the show. he's said it took him about six months to get out from being KYM and this song came to him during that time.

this track starts with a haunting melody on the violin reminiscent of the era of which the film portrayed (i think).. i think it's a beautiful sad song.. i'll talk more about it later. ok, today's list of vocab is a little long, like i said, i only needed that next song to tell me how limited my vocab is. putting them here for myself, but feel free to learn along :)

舉頭望無盡灰雲 ju tou wang wu jin hui yuin - i raise my gaze to gray clouds as far as the eyes can see
塞滿 sai man - filled
選擇 xuan ze - choose, select
寒冷 han leng - cold
遺憾 yi han - regrets
遵守自然的邏輯 zūnshǒu zìrán de luójí - comply with the logic of nature (luójí = logic? srsly??)
揭謎底 jie mi di - find the answer to the riddle
不勝唏噓 busheng xixu - lament
遺失 yishi - loss
墜 zhui - fall
剩 sheng - remnant, surplus
沉默 chen mo - silence

so many new words! because i learn via the shape of a character in a sentence and within context of the song, i'm afraid that i would not recognise all these in other sentences. nvm, i will, if it repeats itself enough. you know what, i think i am going to attempt translating the song. i hope it doesn't come across as being fed through google translate!

舉頭望無盡灰雲 那季節叫做寂寞
背包塞滿了家用 路就這樣開始走
i lifted my gaze to clouds of gray as far as the eyes can see
that season was one of loneliness
with a backpack filled with household expenses
thus my journey began

日不見太陽的暖 夜不見月光的藍
不得不選擇寒冷的開始 留下只擁有遺憾
i never saw the warmth of day
i never saw the night sky and its blue moon
i had no choice but to start off on a cold trail
else all i'm left with would be regrets

命運的安排 遵守自然的邏輯
誰都無法揭謎底
this is how fate would have it, a compliance the logic of nature
no one is able to get to the bottom of (uncover the answer to) the riddle

遠離家鄉不勝唏噓 幻化成秋葉
而我卻像落葉歸根 墜在你心間
my lament about leaving home to a place far away is turning into autumn leaves
and i am like a falling leaf returning to its roots, falling into a space in your heart

幾分憂鬱幾分孤單 都心甘情願
我的愛像落葉歸根 家唯獨在你身邊
no matter how painful it would be, or how lonely it would get, i am willing to endure it
my love is like a falling leaf returning to its roots
the only place i would call home is by your side

但願陪你找回所遺失的永恆
當我開口你卻沉默 只剩一場夢
i hope be with you as we recover the eternity that was lost
but when i speak you remain silent, leaving us with just a dream


ta-dah! i can't be certain of its accuracy, but i think i got the gist of it. alas, so much is lost in translation. one thing i appreciate about the Chinese language is how each character packs so much in it. this is why i prefer the traditional chars to the simplified ones; i find that the latter is unjustifiably stripped of its richness. the only people who wld appreciate the lesser strokes are students who are stuck with writing them. hehe..with the advent of technology, i don't see the need to simplify them, the computer does most of the input anyway. sigh... who am i to say anything anyway :/

anyways, understanding the song as it is makes me feel a little sad. this song seems to be a reflection his own journey, when he left home at a relatively young age to make a name for himself in a place, though far away from home, is where he came from (hence the expression 落葉歸根). he often worked (still do!) long hours and he's paid his dues; he's sacrificed a lot to be where he is, but he has known all along this is his passion and what he wanted to do.. he speaks of his love as a falling leaf returning to its roots, which i guess is about him embracing the culture of his people (btw i'm not making this para up -- i gathered all these from the various interviews he's given).

back to the title of the song. i've been thinking about the subject during my auto-drive mode. roots. unlike lee hom, i have no affinity nor ties with the dragon. other than it being where my ancestors came from (and i'm sorry i'm not "filial" or "loyal" like many of the Chinese diaspora), i am a Malaysian through and through. which is why it hurts and i get into a blind rage when blabbering idiots time and again tell me that i don't belong here. wteff are they talking about? disgusting! admittedly, i do find it hard to realign certain views we were fed with growing up but i hope that in my lifetime, we'd be able to overcome all that :) whoever was it that said change begins with me? oh, him. *yuck* haha..



落葉歸根
王力宏

舉頭望無盡灰雲 那季節叫做寂寞
背包塞滿了家用 路就這樣開始走
日不見太陽的暖 夜不見月光的藍
不得不選擇寒冷的開始
留下只擁有遺憾
命運的安排 遵守自然的邏輯
誰都無法揭謎底

遠離家鄉不勝唏噓 幻化成秋葉
而我卻像落葉歸根 墜在你心間
幾分憂鬱幾分孤單 都心甘情願
我的愛像落葉歸根 家唯獨在你身邊

但願陪你找回 所遺失的永恆
當我開口你卻沉默 只剩一場夢

我卻像落葉歸根 墜在你心間
幾分憂鬱幾分孤單 都心甘情願
我的愛像落葉歸根 家唯獨在你身邊