焚城篇 - 棠花谢 (Fén Chéng Piān – Táng Huā Xiè) / Chapter of the Burning City – The Kerria Flower Falls

Original posted on：http://yc.5sing.com/2281920.html

 From the album by 晃儿 – 三千世界 (Three Thousand Worlds)

作/编曲//Music：又又 (You you)
填词/Lyrics：Vagary
演唱/Vocals：慕寒 (Mu Han)，晃儿 (Huang’er)
混缩/Mix and compress：Allen

一十六载不曾闲，篱外棠花沁骨甜。

——对影问花开何愿？

“愿岁岁盛放，照翩翩少年。”

——题记

For sixteen years never have I been idling, the sweetness of Kerria flowers^[1] beyond the garden seeps even into the bones.

——Facing the shadows, I asked, for what the flowers blossom?

“The flowers wish to bloom year by year, to shine at the handsome youth.”

——Preface

【歌词】 Lyrics:-

慕寒：

要如何闲坐对听旧年华  夕烟折落枝头花

Yào rú hé xián zuò duì tīng jiù nián huá / xī yān zhé luò zhī tóu huā

要如何忘却朝暮黄泉下  抬眼时韶光已虚化

Yào rú hé wàng què zhāo mù huáng quán xià / tái yǎn shí shào guāng yǐ xū huà

How should I sit idly reminiscing old years; as the mist of evening broke the flowering branch

How should I forget [the one] residing in the netherworld^[2] beneath, for dawn and dusk; as I lift my eyes golden times have faded into a mere mirage^[3]

晃儿：

要如何忘情水截杀  要如何奈何桥斜跨

Yào rú hé wàng qíng shuǐ jié shā / yào rú hé nài hé qiáo xié kuà

要如何放得下  西风不吹陇头沙

Yào rú hé fàng dé xià / xī fēng bù chuī lóng tóu shā

白骨为笛诉一腔喑哑

Bái gǔ wéi dí sù yì qiāng yīn yǎ

How do I intercept this with a potion to forget past affections? How do I stride past the bridge leading to the underworld^[4]?

How do I put this down? The wind blowing from the west fails to blow the sands of the north^[5]

Using bones as a flute, a song of dumb silence was put forth.

慕寒：

红尘有雪  剑气纠结  梦幻百年  空花罹灭

Hóng chén yóu xuě / jiàn qì jiū jié / mèng huàn bǎi nián / kōng huā lí miè

是你以诀别书写  风华绝代的不屑

Shì ní yǐ jué bié shū xiě / fēng huá jué dài de bú xiè

前尘的夜  今世的血  闪现交叠

Qián chén de yè / jīn shì de xiě / shǎn xiàn jiāo dié

Snow in the mortal world, the wind of swords intertwining; a dream-like hundred years, the empty illusion of flowers obliterated

You were the one who wrote with your farewell, an unparalleled disdain

The night of the past life, the blood of the present, flashed and overlapped each other

晃儿：

归去不歇  天凝残月  过眼足痕  次第皎洁

Guī qù bú xiè / tiān níng cán yuè / guò yǎn zú hén / cì dì jiǎo jié

你一步踏进惨烈  笑容却依旧无邪

Nǐ yí bù tà jìn cǎn lié / xiào róng què yī jiù wú xié

旧时山野  月下蝴蝶  含笑一瞥

Jiù shí shān yě / yuè xià hú dié / hán xiào yì piě

A restless journey returning home, the broken moon condensed in the sky, the footprints that passed my eyes, was illuminated by the extravagantly white moonlight.

You took a step into great tragedy, yet your smile remained innocent

In the past, at the countryside, with the butterfly under the moon, [I remember that you] peered at me with a smile in your eyes

慕寒：是你说争与不争都无解  不如就拱手让却

Shì nǐ shuō zhēng yǔ bù zhēng dōu wú jiě / bù rú jiù góng shǒu ràng què

晃儿：而你说男儿生当歌万阕  死当筑千秋业

Ér nǐ shuō nán er shēng dāng gē wàn què / sǐ dāng zhù jiān qiū yè

You were the one who said there is no resolve whether to contend with others or not, so might as well just politely give in^[6]

But you said men should sing millions of songs while you live, and build a legacy lasting for a thousand autumns before death.

慕寒：何处觅知音为注解

Hé chù mì zhī yīn wèi zhù jiě

晃儿：才使得荒凉都退怯

Cái shǐ dé huāng liáng dōu tuì qiè

合：怕离别却离别  说忘却怎敢忘却

Pà lí bié què lí bié / shuō wàng què zén gǎn wàng què

一生有谁交心不言谢

Yì shēng yǒu shéi jiāo xīn bù yán xiè

Where can I seek soulmates for guidance

Only then the desolate emptiness within can retreat

We fear partings, yet partings take place; saying that we should forget yet how dare we forget

All of life, who can we share our hearts with unapologetically

慕寒：

红尘有雪  剑气纠结  梦幻百年  空花罹灭

Hóng chén yóu xuě / jiàn qì jiū jié / mèng huàn bǎi nián / kōng huā lí miè

是你以诀别书写  风华绝代的不屑

Shì ní yǐ jué bié shū xiě / fēng huá jué dài de bú xiè

前尘的夜  今世的血  闪现交叠

Qián chén de yè / jīn shì de xiě / shǎn xiàn jiāo dié

Snow in the mortal world, the wind of swords intertwining; a dream-like hundred years, the empty illusion of flowers obliterated

You were the one who wrote with your farewell, an unparalleled disdain

The night of the past life, the blood of the present, flashed and overlapped each other

晃儿：

归去不歇  天凝残月  过眼足痕  次第皎洁

Guī qù bú xiè / tiān níng cán yuè / guò yǎn zú hén / cì dì jiǎo jié

你一步踏进惨烈  笑容却依旧无邪

Nǐ yí bù tà jìn cǎn lié / xiào róng què yī jiù wú xié

旧时山野  月下蝴蝶  含笑一瞥

Jiù shí shān yě / yuè xià hú dié / hán xiào yì piě

A restless journey returning home, the broken moon condensed in the sky, the footprints that passed my eyes, was illuminated by the extravagantly white moonlight.

You took a step into great tragedy, yet your smile remained innocent

In the past, at the countryside, with the butterfly under the moon, [I remember that you] peered at me with a smile in your eyes

慕寒：最真的心

Zuì zhēn de xīn

晃儿：最热的血

Zuì rè de xiě

慕寒：太暖的人

Tài nuǎn de rén

晃儿：太狠的劫

Tài hěn de jié

The truest of hearts,

The hottest of blood,

A person too warm,

Yet a calamity too harsh.

慕寒：就这样行到终结

Jiù zhè yàng xiáng dào zhōng jié

晃儿：就这样冷如霜雪

Jiù zhè yàng lěng rú shuāng xuě

合：争与不争从来无解

Zhēng yǔ bù zhēng cóng lái wú jiě

合：花开为谢

Huā kāi wèi xiè

Just like that, [you] walked to the end

Just like that, [I] turned cold as snow^[7]

To contend or not to contend, there never was a resolve

Flowers bloom for the sake of their fall.

Footnotes:

1.       If you are interested: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kerria_japonica

2.       “黄泉” literally means “Sulphur fountain”, which is equivalent to the English term “netherworld” where people believe the deceased reside.

3.       “虚化” can be translated to “becoming hollow/empty/unreal”.

4.       The bridge to the underworld is termed “奈何桥”or “Naihe Bridge”, and it has origins from Taoism beliefs. I’m not too sure what the lyrics states there exactly, as it says “crossing the bridge obliquely”, but the idea of it, in my opinion, seems to be to avoid death.

5.       “陇头”(Long tou) is apparently another word for “塞外”, referring to the land beyond the Great Wall in the far north.

6.       “拱手” is a polite gesture to pay obeisance, like so: http://baike.baidu.com/view/744494.htm

7.       This song is related to a story for the album, and there are 2 main characters in this chapter. I still can’t confirm which character’s parts are Mu Han and Huang’er singing, so I added the pronouns based on my own guesses. The “I” & “you” may be the other way round. I’ll see if I can find time to translate the rest of the stories and the other related songs in this album.

Disclaimer: I do not own anything other than the pinyin annotations and translations.