Tuesday 26 June 2012

浪漫派 Romantics*- English translation


路过的狂歌者 躁动的音乐声
正认真准备着坠落的一盏星辰
掉落的一根针 在寂寞上睡着了
正忐忑祈祷着平安的一队旅人

Wild singers are passing by with the restless sound of music
Earnestly preparing for a falling star
A fallen needle is asleep on top of loneliness
A band of travellers anxiously pray for peace

发梢雨丝彼此磨蹭
风的强迫症

Hair and rain wear each other out
The obsession of the wind

我的红色敏感 你的灰色地带
流水云彩 无关紧要的对白
起劲到费力的爱

My red sensitivity; your grey region
Water and clouds; unneccesary dialogue
Energises that straining love

怎么说 你的眼是一面失焦的镜
因此我多喜欢看着你 像看自己
弦月的脚步声 华丽得令人窒息
或舞蹈或劳动 或漠然得令人着迷

How do I put it? Your eyes are like an unfocused mirror
Because of this, I like watching you; it’s like watching myself
The steps of the string-like moon are suffocating in their splendour
In dancing or in labouring, or in its bewitching indifference

比一尾鱼更哑更聋
更冷进怀里

Muter and deafer than a fish
And colder in my embrace

我的金色狂烈 你的墨色呜咽
身体取悦 灵魂已凋谢
我的褪色倒影 你的染色身形
我将是你 最丑陋的装饰品
炙热到冷却的心

My golden intensity; your ink-coloured sobbing
The flesh obtains gratification while the spirit withers
My fading reflection; your tinted physique
I will soon become your ugliest, crudest decoration
A heart heated so much that it becomes cold

越发鲜艳 终究成为一团黑

No matter how bright it becomes, it would become a black mass* in the end

快乐不再是重点
忧郁不再来盘旋
无穷无尽的思念
以真以假的爱

Happiness is no longer the point
Depression will no longer linger
Endless longing and yearning
Love based on both truths and falsehoods


Translator's notes:
* My personal interpretation of the title is that it refers to participants in the Romantic movement, or Romanticism, which in Chinese is '
浪漫主义'. The '' in the title refers to people belonging to a certain group, or a clique. Thus, I rendered the English title as 'Romantics', participants in the Romantic movement. You could very well accuse me of not having done my research, but from what I know, Romanticism is connected to Bohemianism, another artistic movement, which is often associated with a lifestyle dedicated to the arts as well as loose living and hippies. I'm not sure what Tsing-Fong means, giving his song this title, but as the first sodagreen song I've seen with relatively obvious references to sex (Tsing-Fong's confirmed this himself), the title could be a reference to this. I know my 'argument' is weird, but *shrugs* I'm no Literature student.
* 'A black mass' here is my translation of '一团黑', which literally translates as 'a group of black'. You could replace 'a black mass' with 'a pile of darkness' or 'completely dark'. I felt that 'black mass' better captures the essence and flow of the lyric. 'Black mass' in the translation does not refer to the rite, the Black Mass.

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