温柔累了

<<幸福了 然后呢>> was released on the 30th of December last year and I have to say, I always look forward to A-lin's latest albums. She is a fabulous singer with strong emotive vocals and her ballads are simply keepers for your playlist. 

曾经以为最美丽的爱情，
停留在「从此以后过着幸福快乐的日子」
但是幸福了 然后呢
我们的故事 是不是才要开始
日复一日的寻常生活裡
我们都渴望 爱情再确认

Quoted from her album description, this prose captures this album's theme of  "What's next after the happily-ever-after". We are all familiar with fairy tales which end with "And they lived happily ever after..." The biggest irony of that statement is the "..." segment. The story continues and we find ourselves slipping back into the daily nuances of mundane life and as time passes by, the feeling of love disappears. Or on a more positive note, rather than saying it disappears, it is very much toned down or neglected and we find ourselves needing to re-affirm that affection.

The first song from her album that I will be covering in this post is entitled, 温柔累了and is my personal favourite.

听 你的朋友说你的抉择
我微笑得像晓得
从哪里开始的
你不说心事了
我不说希望了
不求就不会失落

爱 嚼到慢慢变淡的时候
一回忆渗出苦涩
想呐喊为什么 
你会这么不懂

我会这么多感受

拥抱还是泪流

我累了 假装接受人都有秘密的
我累了 假装习惯了被忽略的不快乐
当你吼著生活不是浪漫的
凝望却没辩驳
但心里有些什么 死了

我曾经多么享受

这幸福的不自由
原来爱虚幻 美在有梦

我累了 无力再争执谁给谁负荷
我累了 无力去证明比你爱得更深刻
所有独立坚强都不是性格
而是一种温柔 想扮好体谅你的角色

A wonderful song is impossible without a fantastic lyricist and 姚若龙 has proven his writing chops once again with his insights into what I call the "Afters of the supposedly happily-ever-afters". The song begins with our leading lady hearing about a decision made by his other half from his friends. This line hints something; if they are as close as before/usual, why would she hear of such decisions from his friends and not from him personally.

Whilst we mull over that, our suspicions are confirmed; since a forgotten time, he has stopped sharing his inner feelings/thoughts, our lady has stopped hoping, because high hopes lead to greater disappointment. 姚若龙 subsequently parallels love with chewing gum; the longer you chew it, the more bland and tasteless it becomes. I thought that was pretty apt; some people continue chewing tasteless gum out of habit. Is staying together a mere sign of habit then?

By now, our lady is frustrated; why is he so insensitive and why is she so emotional? Men always say women are too sensitive and conversely, women say men are tactless.

In the chorus, our lady admits that she is tired; she has had enough of pretending that she is alright with the neglect she gets. Her partner rebuts by insisting that life is not all romantic. She stares blankly, not refuting but something in her heart has just died away. It is true that despite how much we enjoy the "happily-ever-story", it is just not realistic. But then and again, who doesn't hope for fairy tales to come true.

She used to enjoy this fortune feeling of being committed in a relationship aka cue lack of freedom. But it finally dawns upon her that love is but a dream and beauty lies in having that dream.

The song comes to an end with a twist in the chorus; she is tired of determining who has given the other a greater burden or who loves the other party more. All those independence and strength are but a façade; it was a gesture out of love towards him that she is playing the role of someone who understood.

Unknowingly, I ended up loosely translating this song with snippets of my own thoughts thrown in. This has only made me appreciate this well-penned song even more.

Credits: Music Baidu
http://music.baidu.com/song/33465886