destined connection – 緣

If you’ve come to this page by chance,  then maybe we have  緣

(  destined connection  )  ???

. . .   note :  this post will always be put at the top   . . . . . .

A Love Before Time (English version) – 臥虎藏龍 主題曲

“A Love Before Time” -  a song with beautiful melody and lyrics …

theme song for movie, Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon   (電影『臥虎藏龍』主題曲)
Artist:  CoCo Lee (李玟),   music:  Jorge Calandrelli / Tan Dun,   lyrics:  James Schamus

A Love Before Time (Mandarin version) – 月光愛人

I like the melody of this song and the lyrics,  “… I do not want to wake up, but who will understand why?  I’m too afraid to open my eyes, to find that you’re not here …”

theme song for movie,  Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon  (電影『臥虎藏龍』主題曲)
Artist:  CoCo Lee (李玟),   music:  Jorge Calandrelli / 譚盾,   lyrics:  易家揚
song in Mandarin :  A Love Before Time (月光愛人) 
我醒來 睡在月光裡 下弦月 讓我想你,  不想醒過來 誰明白 怕眼睜開 你不在,  愛人心 深入海 帶我去 把它找回來,  請愛我一萬年 用心愛〈愛是月光的禮物〉〈我等待天使的情書〉〈說你愛我〉我願為了愛沉睡 別醒來.   永恆哪 在不在,  怪我的心 放不開,  北極星 帶我走 別躲藏 把愛找出來,  我愛你 每一夜 我等待〈等你〉我的心 為了愛 睡在月之海,  孤單的我 想念誰 誰明白〈我在月光下流淚〉〈也在月光下沉睡〉〈沒有後悔〉等待真心人把我吻醒〈我在睡夢中一天〉〈也是在回憶中一年〉〈說你愛我〉我願為了愛沉睡 到永遠

untying a bell on the tiger’s neck ? 解鈴還須繫鈴人

the Chinese quote “only the person who tied a bell to the tiger’s neck can untie the bell”  (解鈴還須繫鈴人)  came from the following story :

During the South-North Dynasty,  a Chinese monk named Rule-Eyes asked in his lecture, “there is a bell tying to a tiger’s neck.  Who can untie it?”  No one knew the answer.  A smart young monk (named  Peace-Respect ) just came in and replied, “of course, the person who tied a bell to the tiger’s neck can untie it.”

This story implies “a problem can only be solved by whatever/whoever caused it.”

* please see  an extended version of this quote  (心痛還得心藥醫, 解鈴還須繫鈴人)

* this story reminds me of the western children story, “the mice holding a meeting to find a way to warn themselves of the cat’s coming,  and coming up with the idea of tying a bell to the cat’s neck”
—
South-North Dynasty = 南北朝,  Rule-Eyes = 法眼,  Peace-Respect = 泰欽,
above story (in Chinese) from  Epochtimes

problem solvers ? 心痛還得心藥醫, 解鈴還須繫鈴人

one of my favorite quotes “心痛還得心藥醫,  解鈴還須繫鈴人”  means

“only the person who tied a bell to the tiger’s neck can untie the bell,
 only heart medicine can cure heartache”          implying

“a problem can only be solved by whatever/whoever caused it, 
 and with a solution directly addressing the problem”

* my extensions :  
   “only the person who tied the dead knot can untie it” – T.L  ( 解死結還須繫死結人)
   “often, not even the person who tied the dead knot can untie it”  -  T.L

* this also reminds me of Einstein’s quote, “we can’t solve problems by using the same kind of thinking we used when we created them.”

* please see  the story  behind this quote  ( 解鈴還須繫鈴人)

The Road Ahead (Women Don’t Cry) – 前路 (女人不哭)

my partial translation of the theme song of  Silent Tears  (Mandarin version) :

When god is so muddled,
when fate is so cruel,
when opponents are so abominable,
when time is so short,
when right and wrong are so mixed up,
when love and hate are so vulgar,  
when go and stay have to be so brief,
when living and forever-resting are both so lonely,
a woman won’t cry,
not because she doesn’t have feelings or emotions,
not because she doesn’t want to be loved and protected,
just because affection or animosity,  gratitude or resentment,  love and favorites,  sorrow and pains,  success or failure,  gain or loss,  all come and go in one blink …

song in Mandarin:  The Road Ahead  (Women Don’t Cry)   前路 (女人不哭)
from Chinese TV drama :  Silent Tears  (Women Don’t Cry)  (女人不哭)
artist :  姚貝娜

above lyrics:  當上天那樣糊塗,  當命運那樣殘酷,  當對手那樣可惡,  當時間那樣滄促,  當是非如此模糊,  當愛恨如此庸俗,  當去留如此短促,  當生死如此孤獨,  [ 女人不哭,  不是因為她沒有感觸,  不是因為她不想得到愛護,  只是 情仇 恩怨 喜愛 悲苦 成敗 得失 都是一瞬間光顧 ]  ( 女人不哭,  回頭也沒有退路,  徬徨也要開創前路,  只能勇敢  邁步 )  天糊塗人不糊塗,  令坎坷方向清楚,  讓對手甘心佩服,  讓時間醉心了度.  [ ] ( ) ( )

Women Don’t Cry (Cantonese version) – 女人不哭

my partial translation of the theme song of  Silent Tears  (Cantonese version) :

If tears had weight,  why would anyone go thru the pains learning to be strong?  ……
(In this world)  who will love and protect you? 
Women are born with the ability to endure pains.
Maybe you were born without the luck of an average person,
but growing up through the years,  you will get to understand the survival principles.
Your own era has to be built by your own hands.
(In this world)  who will harbor and protect you? 
A person should rely on her own  ……

song in Cantonese :  Women Don’t Cry  ( 女人不哭 )
from Chinese TV drama :  Silent Tears  (Women Don’t Cry)  ( 女人不哭 )

above lyrics :  如果眼淚有重量,  何苦要學會堅強?  但面對環境風霜,  誰給你踏平路障?  嚎哭也沒有作用,  何不去習慣歡容?  學習到成長之中,  連哀痛亦有笑容.  誰愛護你?  天生女人最能受苦.  天生也許失去常人運氣,  隨年成熟然後自會明白生存道理.  時代靠雙手建起.  誰庇佑你?  一個人要憑自己.  走過倒影化成年紀,  永不哭皺眉.  
( 作曲：撈仔,  填詞：林若寧,  主唱：蔡立 )

Love During The Earth Is Being Destroyed – collector version

my translation of the opening words :

There is one thing I will never want to forget.  That’s why I’m recording my own words.

“I don’t want to forget a person.  I don’t know why I do not want to forget this person. 
Or I should say,  I don’t know why I want to  forever  remember this person.
Even if the world is going to end after one minute,  I still want this person to stay in my heart until the very last second.

Though the time we have spent together is not that much,  we have cared about each other,  felt sad together,  separated and not together,  even facing life and death together …   But every time,  we have not given up on each other.

There is one sentence I’ve never dared to tell anyone,  not even to myself  –
I have felt in love with  ……”

for  lyrics  (without opening words),   please see  regular version  post in this blog
————
song :  Love During The Earth Is Being Destroyed - collector version   ( #12 in CD )
album :  (songs from)  My Date With An Vampire II  ( Hong Kong TV drama )

in Cantonese : 「愛在地球毀滅時 – 珍藏版」 ( 我和殭屍有個約會2  插曲 )  開頭自白 :
有一件事我永遠都唔想忘記, 所以我錄低呢段說話. 我唔想忘記一個人, 我唔知點解我唔想忘記佢. 或者應該話, 唔知點解我好想永遠都記住佢. 就算一分鐘之後係世界末日, 我都想呢個人留喺我心入面直至到最後一秒. 雖然我地喺埋一齊啲時間唔多, 不過我地互相關心過, 傷心過, 分開過, 甚至一齊面對過生同死. 但係每一次我地都冇放棄過對方. 有一句說話我從來都唔敢同人講, 亦都唔敢同自己講 – 我愛上啲呢個男人, 佢就係 ……

Change Is Our Destiny – 變幻是緣份 ♫ ♪

“Change Is Our Destiny”  – 1980′s Hong Kong song with nice melody and lyrics

“I am so sure change is our destiny.  So,  why questioning the past with doubts ?
 Tomorrow,  will love turn into hate ?  Or like a dream ending without a trace ?
 It’s senseless to think.  It’s pointless to waste effort on thinking …”

song (in Cantonese) :  變幻是緣份    artist : Kenny Bee ( 鍾鎮濤 ) 
above lyrics :  我已確知變幻是緣份 過去往影為何多疑問
 明日會否愛變恨 還是夢去未留痕  無謂去想無謂費心去唸 …

I Have A Date With Spring – 我和春天有個約會 ♫ ♪

“I Have A Date With Spring”   -  a Hong Kong song with moving melody and lyrics

“In the still of the night,
    dim sounds of a saxophone pull out sadness deep inside my heart.
 In the still of the night,  when hearing these sounds of a saxophone,
    I would be totally lost in the pitch-dark midnight  thinking of you.
 Tonight,  when the stars and the moon are dim and vague,
    I wish so much to see again your face …”
 

artist :  Alice Lau ( 劉雅麗 ),    music & lyrics :  Chung, Chi-Wing ( 鍾志榮 )
song (in Cantonese) :    我和春天有個約會
“夜闌人靜處　響起了一訣幽幽的 saxophone   牽起了愁懷於心深處
 夜闌人靜處　當聽到這一訣幽幽的 saxophone   想起你茫然於漆黑夜半
 在這晚星月迷濛　盼再看到你瞼容 … “

Do Not Hesitate Any More – 不應再猶豫 ♫ ♪

interesting lyrics from a Hong Kong song,  Do Not Hesitate Any More  ( 不應再猶豫 ) :

“if I cannot be with you this whole life,  I would rather disappear with the wind”

artist,  music,  lyrics :  Terence Choi  ( 蔡國權 )  .   audio with unrelated pictures : 

above lyrics :  若未能終生跟你相伴　我亦隨著風飄走去

Concert Hall – 大會堂演奏廳 ♫ ♪

I like both the music and lyrics of this Hong Kong song,  Concert Hall

…  “Every minute every second (together),  it’s like staying in a romantic concert.  Unfortunately,  (good) time would not halt and stay”  …
“It’s funny that I’ve no way of not wanting to (continue) spending sweet time with you”   …   “(It’s sad that)  being in love is like this - making me endlessly tired and (eventually) have no strength to save our love”  …

song (in Cantonese) :  大會堂演奏廳     music :  林慕德     lyrics :  Hacken Lee
artists : Hacken Lee ( 李克勤 ) & Christopher Wong ( 黃凱芹 )
above lyrics: 
… 分分秒秒像是停留停留  浪漫中的演奏  可惜時光不會逗留 …
… 可笑是我沒法沒法不想   跟你同渡甜蜜甜蜜片段 …
… 相愛是這樣會令我  疲倦不休  無力挽留 …

Half Moon Serenade – 月半小夜曲 ♫ ♪

I like both the music and lyrics of this Hong Kong song,  Half Moon Serenade 

… “she is like the moon in the sky,  it is not possible to possess”   …   “but my heart is still being possessed by her every single minute,  every single moment” … 

* love is not something one can easily forget,  even though it’s not possible any more
 

song in Cantonese :  Half Moon Serenade  ( 月半小夜曲 )
artist :  Hacken Lee  ( 李克勤 ),    music ：河合奈保子,    lyrics ：向雪懷,

above lyrics:  人如天上的明月 是不可擁有 …  但我的心每分每刻 仍然被她佔有

may those in love ultimately become a couple – 但願天下有情人終成眷屬

The Chinese proverb  ‘may those in love  ultimately  become a couple’  

expresses love ideally  –  wishing any 2 persons in love  (under the sky)  to be able to become a couple  (without specifying any gender).   In my fair opinion,  any 2 persons truly in love should be allowed to marry,  with regardless of  gender and  race.

Thus,  the California Proposition 8  ( changing the constitution regarding marriage from ‘between any 2 persons’  to  ‘between a man and a woman only‘ )  is totally wrong and backward !   Love and marriage should be for any 2 persons truly in love !

* note:  US Constitution (before 1967) did not allow inter-racial marriages !

但願  = wishing,    天下 =  under the sky  =  the whole world,
有 = have,    情 = love,    人 =  persons    =>    有情人 =  2 persons in love,
終 = ultimately,      成 = become,               眷屬 =  a couple

existing in the dream of a butterfly ? – 莊周夢蝶

“Chuang Tzu dreamed of a butterfly”  -  from “Equality of Things”  (~ 300 B.C.)

Chuang Tzu once dreamed that he was a butterfly.  The dream was so real.  
After he woke up,  he started to wonder  -
“Is he a man who dreamed that he was a butterfly ?”    or
“Is he a butterfly, now dreaming that he is a man ?”
“Is his whole life existing in the dream of a butterfly ?”
He thought human beings cannot distinguish between real and unreal.

This reminds me of the script of my favorite movie, The Matrix  (1999 A.D.) :
“If real is what you can feel, smell, taste and see, then ‘real’ is simply electrical signals interpreted by your brain.”

“Equality of Things” 《齊物論》-  written by Chuang Tzu ( 莊子 )  ~ 369 B.C. – 286 B.C.
a Chinese philosopher,  aka : Zhuang Zi,  Chuang Chou ( 莊周 ),  Zhuang Zhou, …  
夢 =  dream,      蝶 =  butterfly,      莊周夢蝶 =  莊子蝶夢

same bed, different dreams – 同床異夢

the old Chinese idiom  Same Bed, Different Dreams  ( 同床異夢)  is used to describe a couple  (husband and wife)  who think differently  -  have different values and ideals  -  probably not a good match ?!

another variation :  Same Bed, Two Dreams  ( 同床2夢)  or   One Bed, Two Dreams
( note : in Cantonese,  ’2‘ sounds exactly the same as ‘異‘ )

I  think the opposites would be  Same Bed, Same Dream  ( 同床同夢)    
or  One Bed, One Dream  ( 同一張床,  同一個夢 )   
and the most idealistic situation would be  One World, One Dream  for all humans !!
( 同一個世界, 同一個夢想 )

同 =  same,     床 =  bed,     異 =  different,     夢 =  dream,   
世界 =  world,       夢想 =  a dream  (that one wishes to have in reality),
一個 =  one unit,     一張 =  one unit  (of bed, table, chair, etc.)

One world, One dream – 同一個世界, 同一個夢想

“One World, One Dream”  is the slogan of the Beijing Olympics 2008

word-to-word translation is actually :  “same one world,  same one dream”

According to the Beijing Olympics website,  it is China’s belief that “peace and progress, harmonious development, living in amity, cooperation and mutual benefit, and enjoying a happy life are the common ideals of the people throughout the world.”

sounds like  ‘one world, one whole set of dreams‘    

but I agree,  the slogan is “simple in expressions, but profound in meaning”

同 =  same,   一個 =  one (unit),   世界 =  world   =>   同一個世界 =  same one world
同 =  same,   一個 =  one (unit),   夢想 =  dream  =>   同一個夢想 =  same one dream

   in official Chinese :  同一个世界, 同一个梦想  (simplified characters)
traditional Chinese :  同一個世界, 同一個夢想

Love During The Earth Is Being Destroyed – 愛在地球毀滅時 ♫ ♪

Although a bit sad,  I like this Hong Kong song,  Love During The Earth Is Being Destroyed.   The lyrics describe love in a special way too.

“May there be no ending to missing-thoughts (even when the earth is ending).
 May missing-thoughts never depend on present, past or future
        (can still continue when time does not exist any more).   
 Even if my body totally turned into dust one day,
 may these dust still linger around you in the universe …”  

note :  above in ( ) are my interpretations of the implicit meanings

song in Cantonese : 愛在地球毀滅時    artist : 李國翔    music & lyrics : 鍾志榮 
( from HK TV drama : My Date With an Vampire II  「我和殭屍有個約會Ⅱ」插曲 )

above lyrics :  願思念是並沒盡頭, 沒有依附現在過去或以後.
                         即使這驅殼, 有一朝化盡塵垢, 仍能跟你纏綿於宇宙…

Fairy Tale – 童話 ♫ ♪

I like the music of this awards winning Chinese song (2005),  but not particularly fond of the lyrics,  except the part,  ‘maybe you just don’t know,  ever since you said you love me,  the stars in my sky are all lit up,’  which gives an interesting description of what the night sky would look like to a happy person.

song (in Mandarin) : Fairy Tale ( 童話 )    music, lyrics, artist :  Michael Wong ( 光良)
above : piano playing  (not by Michael)  with Chinese & translated lyrics

above quoted lyrics :  也許你不會懂,　從你說愛我以後,   我的天空星星都亮了

In Different Corners Of The World – 天各一方 ♫ ♪

“In Different Corners Of The World”   is a classic (1980′s)  Hong Kong song with philosophy of love reflecting the old Chinese culture  (keeping feelings inside rather than expressing them).  I like this song but feel sad when listening to it.

my translation of the whole song : 

part 1 (read)
Today we are in different corners of the world -
you’re having your own life, I am busy with my work.
But suppose one day we ran into each other by chance.
We would greet each other. Then we wouldn’t know what else to say,
for you would find that I have changed, just as I may not know you any more.
But this doesn’t matter, because at that moment,
I would only know I am still missing you very very much !

part 2 (sing)
Who has ever made me feel deeply in love ?
made me as light and gentle as clear water ?
made my mind return to a peaceful state ?
made my heart free from all worries ?
let me reexperience a past beautiful dream ?
let my soul regain all the comforts ?
let me feel calm lying under the moon ?

part 3 (read)
Actually, what is real and everlasting ?
Perhaps, I should only keep my wishes and desires,
rather than believing that there is some fortune in this world,
which can be easily gotten and forever possessed.
Sometimes, hot passions grabbed in hands may turn into ashes.
But being kept in the heart, they would be forever fresh.
Once I got this, all tears and miserable thoughts became meaningless !

repeat part 2 (sing)

music: Herb Alpert,    lyrics: 俞琤, 小菲,    sung by 曾路得,    read by 俞琤,
song (in Cantonese) : 天各一方,     video showing only the sky