Those of you who have been following my blog know how much I love the series “Bottled Passion”, which just finished airing last week. Since I already wrote a detailed review on the series (those interested can read it here), I won’t go into huge detail about the series itself with this post. However, one thing that my review didn’t talk about was the theme song to the series – a beautifully written song called 朝花夕拾, which translates into English as “Dawn Blossoms Picked at Dusk”.
I loved this song almost from the first time I heard it (which is rare), primarily because I was attracted to the soothing musical arrangement, which was a perfect match with singer Teresa Cheung’s sweet voice. I actually didn’t pay a whole lot of attention to the lyrics of the song at first – I mean, yes, I did read the lyrics and understood the story the song was trying to tell, but it didn’t have too much of an impact on me in the beginning. It wasn’t until almost half way through the series -- as I watched the love story between the main characters Tung Boon Sin (Raymond Wong) and Tsui Sum (Niki Chow) play out -- that I began really studying the lyrics to the song and recognized how appropriately the theme song matched with the series. Now that I finished watching the series, when I look back through the lyrics to the song, I realize that, in essence, the song is a recap of Boon Sin and Tsui Sum’s relationship in the series. It actually summarizes the emotions and feelings that Tsui Sum goes through almost perfectly in step with the storyline: the broken heart that Tsui Sum suffers after Boon Sin’s betrayal; the constant reminiscing of their days together; the conflicted feelings of sadness and anger whenever she sees Boon Sin, yet at the same time knowing that she has feelings for him; finding out about his revenge plans and forgiving him, waiting for him to return; being reunited in their ‘second’ lifetime and hoping to live a happy life together; and finally, the regret of Boon Sin dying and the two of them only being able to meet again in the ‘next’ lifetime....
Listening to the song now after watching the series actually has a greater emotional impact on me because it serves as a reminder of the poignant and touching yet agonizingly bittersweet story of the two main characters in the series (makes me want to go re-watch the series again…LOL).
This themesong is definitely my favorite song of the year and can also be counted as one of my all-time favorite songs of the decade! Teresa Cheung definitely did a wonderful job performing this song – I’ve heard her sing in the past (primarily in the 1980s, though she is technically a 1970s singer) and even back then, I’ve always loved her sweet and soothing voice. TVB old-timers may remember the theme songs that she sang for classic series such as “The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly” 《網中人》as well as “Return of the Condor Heroes” 《神鵰俠侶》—in my opinion, her voice is just as beautiful now as it was back then! Of course, praise should also be given to the composer of the song (Tang Chi Wai) as well as the lyricist (Cheng Ying Lun) for the beautiful melody and lyrics. This song definitely gets my vote for Best Theme song of the year!
Not surprisingly (seeing how much I loved this song and the series), I decided to translate the lyrics to the song into English. Now, I have to admit that the lyrics have less of an emotional impact in English then they do in Chinese (which is why I always advocate reading / watching / listening to stuff in its original language), but it does get the story across. Also, as a disclaimer, this is purely my own interpretation of the lyrics and so most likely will be different from other translations of the song that may be out there.
For those who understand Chinese, I again highly recommend listening to the original version of the song – I’ve included the link to the song’s MV below for that purpose.
Lastly, if anyone has feedback regarding the theme song itself, please feel free to comment!
*****
Link to MV (as posted on Youtube): Dawn Blossoms Picked at Dusk
[Translated by: llwy12]
朝花夕拾
Dawn Blossoms Picked at Dusk
電視劇《我的如意狼君》 主題曲
TV Series “Bottled Passion” theme song
主唱：張德蘭
Performed by: Teresa Cheung
作曲: 鄧智偉
Composed by: Tang Chi Wai
填詞: 鄭櫻綸
Lyrics by: Cheng Ying Lun
傷透的芯花睜不開 灰的天等你回來
A flower hurt so completely won’t open, grey skies awaiting your return
一天一天應不應該 思憶中聽你示愛
Day by day should I be, reminiscing about your declarations of love?
Ha......
仿似朝花一息間開 凋萎一刻照夕來
Like a dawn blossom opening in a breath, but withering at the moment dusk arrives
漆黑的天一絲星光 悲傷中感到被愛
A thread of starlight in a darkened sky, feeling loved even in sorrow
Ha......
回頭期望見你在步近 如途人
Turn my head back hoping to see you come close, like a stranger
我數百次轉身站在問
Turning around, I countlessly stand there and question
為何還望再見 為何還要等
Why do I still hope to see you again, why must I still wait?
回頭能望見你在步近 如行人
Turn my head back seeing you come close, like a traveler
你我隔世可相聚沒恨
You and I separated by a lifetime, can reunite without regret
離離合合錯過仍還要等
Separating and reuniting, if miss out, still need to wait
Ha......
其後若相見 可認出聲線
Later if we meet again, hope to recognize your voice
情若是不變 愛沒完沒了
As long as the feelings haven’t changed, we will love endlessly
*****
LL's Musings 小賢角落
I still have to reply you on your review of BP! But never get the time.
ReplyDeleteAnyways, my favorite part of the themesong is "離離合合錯過仍還要等", it's not the meaning of the words, but more the melody of that part with the combination of the repetition of the '離' and '合' words.
Which is your favorite part of the song?
@lizzy: Haha....not a problem....take your time! I've actually got more responding to do as well on that post (my friend DTLCT commented, but haven't had a chance to respond yet either).
ReplyDeleteAs for which part of the themesong is my favorite.....Hmmm...that's actually a difficult question since I really liked the song as a whole because it was so well put together, both in terms of melody and lyrics.
If I had to choose, it would actually be the same section as yours (離離合合錯過仍還要等), primarily because I feel that's where the song really climaxes in terms of melody and where the emotional level is highest. My second favorite part would probably be the last section (其後若相見 可認出聲線,情若是不變 愛沒完沒了), because 1) the lyrics (in Chinese) are especially sweet and touching, and 2) I feel that those 2 lines are closest to the intention of the ending -- that Tsui Sum and Tung Boon Sin will see each other again and be together in their next lifetime. Every time I hear those last 2 lines of the song, that last scene in the series (the one where Tsui Sum imagines them reuniting and Tung Boon Sin puts the ring on her finger and kisses her forehead) always pops up in my mind.