Jay Chou’s Songs
My absolute favorites, each bringing me immense happiness. I hope you, my esteemed friend, will find them to your liking. Ranked in order of preference.
You Can Hear It
Who could know better than I, that your tenderness is like a feather
Secretly lying in my embrace, only you can hear it
Does anyone else know, that your smile is like an embrace
How I wish to hide your goodness, for my eyes alone to see
Standing on the rooftop, telling only the wind, I don’t want to be swayed
I used to hate the rainy sky, until I heard someone say they love me
Sitting on the second floor of the cinema, watching the crowd pass by
Why did the two of us that day, silently smile for so long
I think I am far too dependent, just now as we hung up the phone
Insisting on being like an innocent child, quietly guarding this love
Knowing I shouldn’t rely too much, afraid you might spoil me
Your fragrance lingers on and on, I cannot bear to leave
I’m Not Worthy
This street is too crowded, too many people hold secrets
Mist upon the glass, whose past is being hidden away
The emotion on your face, is recreating that rain
This alley is too winding, I can’t walk back into the story
These days are no longer green, mottled with a few more words
Leaving me, hollowed of memories, in this big house
The cinema seats, separate us by a vast distance
Love has no co-star here, you are playing chess with yourself
Before I could even, carefully, write down everything about you
Describing how I love you, you left me with a smile
This feeling is already wrong, I’m trying hard to redeem it
Those little moments of tenderness I should have given, I failed to provide
The wish you made with a pout was so humble, compromising
It was my neglect, you merely wanted someone by your side
This feeling is already wrong, only at the end did I understand
Page after page of plots too painful to read, you are so tired
You silently memorized, how many tears you shed for me, how worn out you are
While my heart breaks and you suffer, your beauty, I am not worthy of
Rain in the Heart
Oh, the green leaves of the oak, the white bamboo fence
How I wish to tell my girl, that this place is like a painting
Last year’s Christmas card, the stubble in the mirror
She begins to fade from the frame, yet I’m still playing the fool
Promised to brew flower tea for me, learning to set the knives and forks
An empty home in the student dorm, guarding the phone yet waiting in vain for her
The rain in my heart pours down in torrents, yet it cannot wet her hair
Tears blur the longing on the postcard; turns out, heartbreak knows no time difference
The rain in my heart pours down in torrents, yet it can never drench her
The cold wind passes through the branches in the yard, chilling the fresh flowers in my hand
Dandelion’s Promise
The dandelions by the grade school fence, are a fragrant scenery in my memory
The sound of cicadas from the playground during nap time, still sounds so sweet after all these years
Folding wishes into paper planes to send as letters, because we couldn’t wait for that shooting star
(Standing in the hallway as punishment, palms smacked, yet our eyes were on the dragonfly by the window)
Earnestly tossing a coin to decide our fate, yet not knowing where we could truly go
(Wherever I went, you followed so closely; so many dreams were waiting to unfold)
The promise of growing up together, so crystal clear; we pinky-swore, and I believed
The promise to travel together, is now, the only whim you stubbornly hold onto
(The promise of growing up together, so sincere; the endless past we used to talk about)
(Yet I can no longer tell, whether you are friendship, or a love I missed)
Hair Like Snow
Beneath the crescent moon, my fair lady pines away; I raise my chalice, drinking down the wind and snow
Who hath overturned the cabinet of past lives, stirring up the dust of mortal strife
The incantation of fate, through cycles of samsara; thou knit’st thy brows, weeping for a beauty beyond recall
Though the annals of history be turned to ash, my love shall never die
Worldly splendor flows like three thousand eastward streams, yet I take but a single gourd of love to fathom
Enamored only of the butterfly thou hast become
Thy hair like snow, rendering our parting poignantly fair; I burn incense, yet whose heart doth it move
Inviting the bright moon, to purify our memories, love finds perfection 'neath the lunar glow
Thy hair like snow, scattering falling tears; my vigil hath aged whom in time
Drunk in the mortal realm, through tipsy fleeting years
With no regret, I carve a monument of eternal love for thee
(La-er-la, la-er-la, la-er-la-er-la)
(The bronze mirror reflects thy guileless face, tying a ponytail)
(Shouldst thou run wild, in this life I shall pledge thee with wine till the end)
Sorry
A copper coin in the plaza, its sorrow deeply hidden
In the wishing well, it softly sighs
Too many "I love you"s, leave it breathless
Having already lost their meaning
The ring is weeping, lying quietly in the drawer
All it possesses now are mere memories
Falling in love and parting ways, like rain that cannot be scheduled
Ready to strike at any moment
I miss the desks and chairs of grade school, miss writing diaries in pencil
Recording that most primal beauty, recording the very first time I met you
Jay Chou
If meeting you was a tragedy
I think I am destined in this life to act in a solo play
And in the end, slowly reminisce all alone
Stripped of the past, I detach myself from bygone days
If meeting you was a tragedy
I can let my life just be meaningless like this
Perhaps at the very end, I might hear a word from you
A gentle sigh, regretfully saying sorry
(If meeting you was a tragedy)
(I softly sigh, regretfully saying sorry)
Obviously
So many colors in the candy jar, yet the smile is no longer sweet
Some of your joys, happen in moments without me
In this medieval city, I think I’ll just walk up to here
When seagulls no longer yearn for the sea, they can fly much further
Bagpipes echo from afar, I only care for news of you
The castle guards secrets for love, while I guard memories for you
Obviously not used to holding hands, why then did you reach out to hook mine
You have too many weights on your mind, I won’t expose them
Obviously he is more gentle, perhaps he can give you more
No need to choose, I will automatically become just a friend
Handwritten Past
This wind chime, is so close to a fluttering heart
This letter, is still reminiscing about the journey
The loves that passed by, were all too young
You are the scenery I wish, to return to once more
This parting, is bottled up as a secret
This daisy, is as beautiful as a line of poetry
While I wait in the wind for news, of you
Waiting for moonlight to fall on snow, for maple red to dye the autumn, waiting to meet
I revisit the afternoon sunlight, slinging the guitar across my shoulder
Just like many years ago, we softly sing, going anywhere at all
I look at, your face, gently strumming the chords
On the Valentine’s card, a handwritten forever
(First love is an entire expanse, of the handwritten past)
Still remembering, the plaza park, performing together
(Still remembering, that autumn, when we said goodbye)
The candy shop by the campus, is faintly sweet in my memory
(When the romance has drifted far away, I bury you deep within my heart)
The breeze needs the bamboo grove, the stream needs the dragonfly
A departure like homesickness, needs drifting duckweed
Remembering the rainy season of that year, so remarkably quiet in my memory
The decision made after crying, can it still be carried on
I foolishly wait, foolishly waiting for spring to warm and flowers to bloom
Waiting till the end, till it’s clear and understood, waiting for love to return
Youth belongs to confessions, sunlight belongs to the windowsill
And I think I belong to, a future that holds you
A rainbow on paper, a clock drawn in sketch
I am still revising, your smile within my memories
How should I describe, the pain brewed by longing
The neon lights in the night sky, are all a prosperity I do not want
Perhaps take a trip to the beach, perhaps go watch the setting sun
Perhaps any place at all where I can ponder my thoughts
Emotions in the café, are blended into an essay
Completely falling in love with your tear-glint, as transparent as a poem
Give Me the Time of One Song
Rain drenched the sky, ruining it with such exquisite care
You say you don’t understand, why I hold your hand at this moment
I dried out the silence, regretting so impulsively
Even if this is a mistake, I’m only afraid of missing out on you
Being together is called a dream, parting ways is called pain
Does that mean, an unfinished dream hurts the most
The consequence of getting lost, I can bear
This final exit, only exists after having loved
Can you give me the time of just one song
To tightly turn that embrace into forever
(Listen to the story till the very end, before saying goodbye)
In my arms, you don’t need to fear insomnia
(The tears you gave me, let them stay in the rainy day)
If you want to forget, I can lose my memory too
(Crossing the line you drew, I set the endpoint of my courage)
You say I shouldn’t, I shouldn’t
Shouldn’t have said I love you at a time like this
How can I prove I don’t even have the strength to lie
Please tell me, does pausing count as giving up
I only have one day’s worth of memories
Common Jasmin Orange
Sparrows outside the window, chatter away on the utility pole
You say this line, feels so much like summer
The pencil in my hand, goes back and forth upon the paper
I use a few lines of words to describe who you are to me
The taste of pacific saury, both the cat and you wish to know
(Those plump, ears of rice, have blessed this season with happiness)
The fragrance of first love is thus rediscovered by us
(And your cheeks are like ripe tomatoes in the field)
That warm, sunlight, is like freshly picked, vibrant strawberries
(You suddenly, tell me, that “Seven-Mile Fragrance” is a beautiful name)
You say you can’t bear to eat away this kind of feeling
(Yet at this moment, I only want to kiss your stubborn lips)
Rain falls all night, my love overflows just like the rainwater
Fallen leaves in the yard, piled thick like my longing
(Butterflies on the windowsill, like beautiful chapters fluttering in a poem)
A few words of gossip, cannot cool down my passion
(I keep on writing, writing “loving you forever” into the poem’s end)
You appear on every page of my poetry
(You are the only understanding I ever want)
Luo Tianyi
Pinky Swear
You are the beginning of a letter, the substance of a poem, the ending of a fairy tale
(You are the waypoint I seek, in my adventure across ten thousand crags and torrents)
You are a miracle taken for granted, you are “the moon is so beautiful”
(You are the line that divides my life, yet connects the pieces together again)
You are the gift Santa Claus sent to me, for being a good child
(You are the thousand backward glances in a past life, the hand held in devotion)
In the three thousand beautiful worlds, you are my single gourd of water
(You are everything else that remains, you are my world)
So let me come just a little bit closer, because you are so warm
(So please shine just a little bit brighter, even though I am so ordinary)
I will become just a little bit stronger, because you are so soft
(I will become just a little bit softer, because you are so sensitive)
Exchanging the golden contract on our ring fingers, giving each other our years
Promising to hold hands from now on, because we have a long way to go
(Promising to hold hands from now on, no matter how far we have to go)