Invisible Wings
Here’s my attempt at a translation of a pop song called “Yǐnxíng de Chìbǎng” 隐形的翅膀 (”Invisible Wings”) by Zhāng Sháohán 张韶涵.
Of course I almost always need help when translating songs because translating poetry from one language to another is something you can get a graduate degree in if you want to. Thanks to Tom for clearing up those tricky parts of this song.
That said, it’s worth noting that no attempt was made to make the English translation reflect the poetic tone of the Chinese. We only tried to get the original Chinese meaning across. Even so, I’m not terribly sure I understand every bit of the song.
It seems to be about a girl who escapes the pain in her life by retreating into her imagination. The “Invisible Wings” are probably a symbol of the comfort and freedom she finds in her imagination. If anyone else has any thoughts on what the song means, or suggestions for translation I’d love to hear them.
invisible-wings.pdf (English, pinyin, 汉字)
(requires Adobe Reader, which is available here).
NOTE: To download the document directly to your computer without viewing it in your internet browser, right-click on the link and select “Save link/target as…”
If you like learning Chinese pop songs, check out the other song translation I’ve done.
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9 Responses to “Invisible Wings”
AZ
said:
Zhāng Shàohán 张韶（not绍）涵
Comment date: Mar 1, 2007
Alexandria Skinner
said:
I’m enjoying your blog. I don’t remember how I linked to it the first time, but living in Guangzhou and enjoying the culture (mostly), I have similar language and social challenges.
Comment date: Mar 7, 2007
Albert
said:
AZ,
Thanks. My mp3 file was the culprit. It’s fixed now.
Comment date: Mar 10, 2007
Yiyan
said:
Nice translation. I think you got the gist of it. One needs to understand that many artists in China now often create things don’t make sense in Chinese even for Chinese people. I’ve had several of this kind of experiences.
What they create often appears good, if you want to dig into its meaning, that’s when you discover that they are without substance. That’s just the way the current culture is.
Comment date: May 19, 2007
Gabe
said:
Hi, came across your site quite by chance.
I agree with Yiyan above. Many of the mainstream Mandarin pop songs today have lyrics that do not make much apparent sense. Sometimes lyricists opt for words that rhyme or sound better together. Chinese pop songs from Taiwan (the song you posted is an example)and Hongkong are especially guilty of this, and it seems like the mainland Chinese have been picking up in recent years. Which is why I think Chinese songs are a good way to learn new vocabulary, but not necessarily the best way to learn the language.
Your translation was pretty good btw. I would translate ‘zhui zhu’ in the chorus as “chasing” or “pursuing”, and not perusing. for example you could use ‘zhui zhu meng xiang’, which means ‘pursuing dreams’.
Comment date: Jun 4, 2007
Albert
said:
Gabe,
Oops…ya. Fixed. Thanks.
Comment date: Jun 4, 2007
Barry
said:
So many times I have heard this song when at the karaoke with the rest of the chinese English teachers… the video is a bit arty as well a friend of mine said it looked like she was on drugs… having all those hallucinations…
Comment date: Feb 26, 2008
Ellen
said:
My son would like to hear the tune. How to get it?
Comment date: Aug 13, 2008
Albert
said:
Ellen,
Here’s the Youtube: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fgKmdoPljJc
You can also go here for the mp3 if you don’t mind navigating through some Chinese.
Comment date: Aug 16, 2008