pasta time!

Okay, not really.

You see, the title of the song I've translated today is Olia by David Tao. And I love the song and its melody but I can't shake off that it's a song about one of my favorite pasta cooking styles: aglio olio (which I just had for dinner not an hour ago :)!

Anyway, according to thinkbabyname.com, Olia is a girl's name and is a variant of Olga (Old Norse, Scandinavian) and Olivia (Latin), and the meaning of Olia is "blessed, holy; successful; olive tree". It's not a popular name at all though, unlike mine, which placed #423 out of 1,220 most popular.. men's names! Haha! E's actually a unisex name but apparently it's not so popular with girls. Oh well, I love my name still! Btw David is not unaccustomed to naming a song after a girl's name (e.g. Susan, Angeline, Katrina, Melody, etc.) and Olia is his muse from his 2006 album, Beautiful 太美麗.

I don't remember having heard this song before, and it was brought to my attention following this recent weibo conversation between David and another singer, Yoga Lin (whom I've heard of but have no idea of who he is)(translation below image):

@林宥嘉 (Yoga Lin)
When Olia first came around, we were solely focused on its light and shadow, on whether it constituted the point of view that we hoped for, on its transience; when actually a face of incomparable beauty has unexpectedly been drowned out by the crowd for a good few years. Big brother David, I love you; you were the first person in my life who I reckoned truly felt the beauty of music, and I hope that this generation would be able to better appreciate the absolute energy found in music.

@陶喆 (David Tao)
Yoga, thanks for reminding me of the things I once knew but now often forget. Sometimes we would forget that we can move the world in our own small ways. Let's rock the world.

I think Yoga's comment is just so sincere and beautifully written (and truly lost in my translation), and reading it has moved me, what more with David's gracious reply. So heart-warming.. ^_^

***

碎石子路長青苔 指針把時間再掃開
馬戲團走了但小丑還在這舞台
黑馬車沒停下來 消失前妳回過頭來
多少人到現在還不明白 還等待
the gravel road is covered with moss
the hands of the clock sweeps time away
the circus has left, but the clown remains on stage
the black carriage didn't stop, but before it disappeared you turned your head around
how many people still do not understand, and keep on waiting?

一直走 一直走 一直不停的走 該選那個路口
一瞬間 一瞬間 可能這個瞬間 那命運就會改變
Olia 請不要走 是否我做的還是不夠
Olia 請不要走 為什麼永久不會永久 不停留
keep going on, keep going on, keep going on non-stop, which road should i choose?
a moment, a moment, perhaps it's this moment, that fate would change
Olia, please don't go, have I not done enough?
Olia, please don't go, why doesn't "forever" last? why doesn't it stay?

鐘聲把夕陽暈開 十八歲又換了一代
機會是否劃一次的火柴 不重來
the bell chime ushers the setting sun
at 18 years old, a new generation is replaced
is opportunity like a match stick, there's no going back once lit?

一直走 一直走 一直不停的走 能不能再重頭
一輩子 一輩子 就算用一輩子 也沒有辦法挽回
keep going on, keep going on, keep going on non-stop, could we start all over?
this life, this life, even if I spend my whole life, i wouldn't be able to get it back

Olia 請不要走 是否我做的還是不夠
Olia 請不要走 為什麼永久不會永久 不停留
Olia 請不要走 是否我讓你等得太久
Olia 妳早已走 為什麼失去才想保有 不放手
Olia, please don't go, have I not done enough?
Olia, please don't go, why doesn't "forever" last? Why doesn't it stay?
Olia, please don't go, did I leave you waiting for too long?
Olia, you have left a while ago, why did I want you to stay only after I've lost you? I'm not letting go.

不放手 不放手
not letting go, not letting go




Olia

作詞：李焯雄 / 陶喆
作曲：陶喆

碎石子路長青苔 指針把時間再掃開
馬戲團走了但小丑還在這舞台
黑馬車沒停下來 消失前妳回過頭來
多少人到現在還不明白 還等待

一直走 一直走 一直不停的走 該選那個路口
一瞬間 一瞬間 可能這個瞬間 那命運就會改變

OLIA請不要走 是否我做的還是不夠
OLIA請不要走 為什麼永久不會永久 不停留

鐘聲把夕陽暈開 十八歲又換了ㄧ代
機會是否劃一次的火柴 不重來

一直走 一直走 一直不停的走 能不能再重頭
一輩子 一輩子 就算用一輩子 也沒有辦法挽回

OLIA請不要走 是否我做的還是不夠
OLIA請不要走 為什麼永久不會永久 不停留
OLIA請不要走 是否我讓你等得太久
OLIA妳早已走 為什麼失去才想保有 不放手

不放手 不放手