Wednesday, April 18, 2012

a thing of beauty is a joy forever

note: i thought this would be a quick entry, but i was pleasantly surprised at the length it got. i've learned so much! :)

i love this song! ok, i obviously love a lot of wlh's songs.. but this one, it's fun and again, not a ballad (we'll lay off those for a short time)! the chorus may sound repetitive as it makes use of three 'mei' homonyms, i.e. 美 (beautiful), 媚 (charming) and 妹 (sister), which were echoed rather liberally throughout.
a quick side note: the Chinese language is rife with opportunities for punnery as it "has a significant number of homophonous syllables and words due to its limited phonetic inventory" (wiki). I remember stumbling upon a fine example of this in a poem called 施氏食獅史 or The Lion-Eating Poet in the Stone Den (uh yeah :D), a "92-character poem written in Classical Chinese by Yuen Ren Chao which contains every syllable has the sound shi (in different tones) when read in modern Mandarin Chinese." (wiki)
it's a deliciously bouncy tune so much so that i converted the chorus into my ringtone. with wlh proclaiming how drop-dead gorgeous i am every time you call makes me giggly, so excuse me if i don't pick your call immediately hahaha!

the verses were also interesting, as I was introduced to ancient China's Four Beauties (more below), who were said to be so enchantingly beautiful they had kings weak at the knees (and someplace else obviously? heh..) wrapped around their little fingers. ooh lala femme fatale..

the music video is erm.. very Ne-Yo/Usher-esque hahaha.. i don't know.. it's very been-there-done-that kinda feel, you'd probably think he was the Smooth Operator's brotha from another motha.. i rber some youtube vids of him and Usher at an event, so probably he got star-struck or just want to channel his inner hip-hop star. i'd say that he's rather dashing in some of those suits, but i wish they'd done something more/different.

i held my tongue at calling him a wannabe, as this is the culture he grew up with, and i would like to think that you should be able to adopt the culture of your home ground without being discriminated based on your skin colour -- i actually reasoned this out when watching the latest Far East Movement ft. Justin Bieber & LMFAO - Live My Life music vid. it took me a good minute to mentally synchronize the sight and sound of Kev Nish throughout the song.. here's this very East Asian looking dude dressing and singing like any other hip hop artist out there, and i thought to myself: why not? he's American, grew up in NY listening to those very songs, and he's just like everyone else there. so yeah, applying that logic to wlh and his dapper hhop 'do, i ask, why not? again, i wish they'd thought of something more original visually.

on to the list of new words for me:

花蕾 huālěi - bud (flower)
搅乱 jiǎoluàn - confuse, disconcert, disorder, abash, blush, confound, embarrass
摧毁 cuīhuǐ - destroy, wreck
占据 zhànjù - occupy
视线 shìxiàn - line of sight
想入非非 xiǎngrùfēifēi - to indulge in fantasy (idiom); to let one's imagination run wild
雅贼 yǎ zéi - elegant thief
责怪 zéguài - blame
冒昧 màomèi - taking the liberty
征服 zhēngfú - conquer
大江南北 dàjiāngnánběi - lit. both sides of the Yangtze River (idiom) / fig. throughout a vast area
沉鱼落雁 chényúluòyàn - lit. fish sink, goose alights (idiom); fig. female beauty captivating even the birds and beasts
项背 xiàngbèi - back of neck/body

你这么美 你这么媚
你这么美 你这么美 美 美 妹妹
you're so beautiful, you're too charming
you're so beautiful, girl
[i was having difficulty translating 妹妹 as it literally means younger sister which give this song an incestuous twist. i knew it meant something like shawty but i wasn't sure, and then i found this here:
Talking about internet homophonic words, the most familiar one for these students who are learning to speak Chinese is the word “美眉”. This word means “妹妹” in internet language and is always used to address girls and the two morphemes “美” and “眉” are all related to girls in Chinese. Therefore, this word contains the meaning of beautiful ladies, which gets semantic connection with the noumenon “妹妹” of homophone.]
你是寒冬里的花蕾
你是西施搅乱了春水
你是天使般的恩惠
你是我宠爱的贵妃
you are a flower bud in the midst of winter
you are Xi Shi who confuses the spring water (Xi Shi is said to be so beautiful that fish would forget how to swim and sink away from the surface when she walks by)
you are the grace of angels
you are my most beloved of the imperial consorts (i guess this is a reference to Xi Shi again)
from wiki: Xi Shi is one of the Four Great Beauties are four ancient Chinese women, renowned for their beauty. The scarcity of historical records concerning them meant that much of what is known of them today has been greatly embellished by legend. They gained their reputation from the influence they exercised over kings and emperors and consequently, the way their actions impacted Chinese history. Three of the Four Beauties brought kingdoms to their knees, and the lives of all four ended in tragedy or under mysterious circumstances.
世间的伤悲 全都被你摧毁
你是美酒千杯 我怎能不醉
不小心爱上 oh 你的香味
the sorrows in this world have been destroyed by you
you are a thousand cups of great wine, how could i not get drunk
can't help but to fall in love with your fragrance

只有你 占据了视线
其它的 我都看不见
这是爱情或 这是对你的迷恋
i only have eyes for you
i can't see anything else
is this love or am i just infatuated with you

怎么那么美 是你让我想入非非
想当一个偷心雅贼
爱已萌芽 万分珍贵
没有时间可以浪费
how did you get so beautiful
you make my imagination run wild
i want to be an elegant thief who steals your heart
love has blossomed, it's so precious
there's no time to waste

我愿意用生命换一个机会
让我吻上你的嘴
Hablo Espanol 给你拉丁味道
你的美就是一种美好
i am ready to trade my life for an opportunity
let me kiss you on the lips
i'll speak in spanish and give you a taste of Latin
your beauty is a kind of goodness

别责怪我的一点冒昧
我想陪你度过年年岁岁
你太美 你太媚
为了你 我能 征服大江南北
please forgive me for saying this so freely
i would to spend eternity with you
you're too beautiful, you're too charming
for you, i'll conquer kingdoms

沉鱼落雁 难望你项背
文字不足形容你的美
嘿 宝贝 给我你的拥抱
让我永远珍藏你的美
怎么那么美
you are so beautiful, even from the back
no word can sufficiently describe your beauty
hey precious, come into my embrace
let me forever behold your beauty
you are just too gorgeous!

*draws a deep longgg breath* done! :)





王力宏

你这么美 你这么媚
你这么美 你这么美 美 美 妹妹
你这么美 你这么媚
你这么美 你这么美 美 美 妹妹
你这么美 你这么媚
你这么美 美 美 妹妹

你是寒冬里的花蕾
你是西施搅乱了春水
你是天使般的恩惠
你是我宠爱的贵妃
世间的伤悲 全都被你摧毁
你是美酒千杯 我怎能不醉
不小心爱上 oh 你的香味
只有你 占据了视线
其它的 我都看不见
这是爱情或 这是对你的迷恋

你这么美 你这么媚
你这么美 你这么美 美 美 妹妹
你这么美 你这么媚
你这么美 美 美 妹妹

你是寒冬里的花蕾
你是西施搅乱了春水
你是天使般的恩惠
你是我宠爱的贵妃
世间的伤悲 全都被你摧毁
你是美酒千杯 我怎能不醉
不小心爱上 oh 你的香味
只有你 占据了视线
其它的 我都看不见
这是爱情或 这是对你的迷恋

你这么美 你这么媚
你这么美 你这么美 美 美 妹妹
你这么美 你这么媚
你这么美 美 美 妹妹

怎么那么美
是你让我想入非非
想当一个偷心雅贼
爱已萌芽 万分珍贵
没有时间可以浪费
我愿意用生命换一个机会
让我吻上你的嘴
Hablo Espanol 给你拉丁味道
你的美就是一种美好
别责怪我的一点冒昧
我想陪你度过年年岁岁
你太美 你太媚
为了你 我能 征服大江南北
沉鱼落雁 难望你项背
文字不足形容你的美
嘿 宝贝 给我你的拥抱
让我永远珍藏你的美
怎么那么美

你这么美 你这么媚
你这么美 你这么美 美 美 妹妹
你这么美 你这么媚
你这么美 美 美 妹妹
你这么美 你这么媚
你这么美 你这么美 美 美 妹妹
你这么美 你这么媚
你这么美 美 美 妹妹

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