Hi everyone, I am posting a few songs a week onto this blog. Hope you will like my pick for the day. Feel free to post links for songs that you think are related to my pick :D
The
song for today is “3-7-20-1” by Gary Chaw (曹格). Gary is a Malaysian
singer that make his name in Taiwan. This is a song released in 2007. The title
actually got a meaning, it pronounced as “three seven twenty one”, which is a
multiplication. But in Chinese we also say “不管3-7-20-1” (which is also
part of the lyrics of the song), directly meaning “Don’t care three seven
twenty one”, what it actually means is don’t care no matter what.
The
lyrics of the song are about music. The protagonist said: “ my night life in Taipei
is that type. Didn’t have time to make Oolong tea, but specifically make music.
Melody are all surrounding, and I felt touched. Don’t close my ears, just leave
me alone. One after another, different modified cars just passes by. Beautiful
cars and beauty ladies, bump bump bump. La si do re do la la la, I cleared my
throat, preparing to be connected to the world. I don’t want to run away, I
just wanna play. Don’t care 3-7-20-1, I will just flow with the feeling. I don’t
want to run away, I just wanna feel. Get rid of 3-7-20-1, I need to progress.
Taipei my new friends, use music to say hello. I will not be a party animal,
but will still be high. Feeling are jumping between my fingers, and I couldn’t
control it. Don’t come to try to lock me down, just leave me alone”. Hope you
will like the song.
The
song that I chose for today is “左右無緣” by Gary Chaw. This song was a
few years ago, but I only heard it for the first a few days ago on the radio.
The title is a bit hard to translate, as it plays with words and also the word “緣”
(or its long form from context “緣份”) doesn’t have a direct compatible word
in English. There is an old Chinese saying “左右逢源”, meaning that everything
goes on smoothly (the direct translation of the Chinese saying is “left and
right would meet the source”. In here, the source referred to the source of
water, hence it means that no matter where you go, you could easily find
water.) The word “源” (meaning source) and “緣”
(meaning fate, destiny, elaborating more on this, it generally use in context
whether two people are meant to meet and form a relationship, which doesn’t
necessary need to a romance) pronounced the same in Cantonese. With the third
word becoming “無”, it basically flips the meaning of the Chinese saying.
The closest translation that I can think of for the title in English is “No
fate at all”.
The
lyrics of the song are about love. The protagonist said that he suspected that
he bumped into his ex-girlfriend, but sadly at the moment, the power of the
light bulb was killed. He is worry that they might have meet up but the
connection keeps cutting off, causing them not to be able to see each other
even to their dead. He tried to search for clues in the city about her, but he
didn’t find any. He can only blame that when he travelled around the city and
hotels, but at a slower speed then she was. The crossing points were too far
away and they are just looping around the city. Earlier for a few second or be
late for a few seconds, how to judge early and late? Every time when he go
forward, she turned right, they couldn’t meet up. They share the same small
world and had fate. Perhaps they were only apart for six inches, but their lives
are so far apart. Every section of their lives is differed by a few inches, so
how could he still blame their lives? He guessed that he might have walked pass
her in the city, or he might have been in the same train as she was, but there
were too many people, so even if they have meet, they would missed each other. There
were lot of people celebrating on the street during Christmas, he guessed that
they might have been in the same crowd. He tried to see through each person in
the crowd, but he still missed her, so maybe he looked at the wrong place. A
short distance has turn into a long distance and they are running around in
circle. The same shop, the same city, why does it differ so much. If he looked
up and saw her, he saw the same background. But she is so far away, like
looking at stars. When he turned right she moved forward and they were about to
meet up. They are a mismatch and they are just floating in time. They are
always distanced by six inches and this six inches is making his dreams so far
away. Every sections in their lives, they differ by a few inches, this dragged they
from fate further and further away. Hope you will like the song.
