往事只能回味 | What Has Passed Can Only Be Remembered
作詞 (Lyricist)：劉家昌 (Liu, Chia-chang)
作曲 (Composer)：劉家昌 (Liu, Chia-chang)
往事只能回味 往事只能回味 what has passed, can only be remembered.
憶童年時竹馬青梅 忆童年时竹马青梅 I recall the memories with my childhood sweetheart,兩小無猜日夜相隨 两小无猜日夜相随 two innocent playmates alongside each other day and night
〈第二段〉VERSE 2 春風又吹紅了花蕊 春风又吹红了花蕊 Autumn winds have, once again, blown a blush into flower buds
你已經也添了新歲 你已经也添了新岁 You, too, have already added on years
你就要變心 你就要变心 You're about to have a change of heart (about loving me, I'm sure)像時光難倒回 像时光难倒回 it’ll be as likely as turning back time.
我只有在夢里相依偎 我只有在梦里相依偎 (So, until then) I can only rely on my dreams.
〈第一段〉VERSE 1 。。。〈間奏〉MUSICAL INTERLUDE 。。。
〈第二段〉VERSE 2 。。。
Translation Notes
The sentence 你就要變心 像時光難倒回, found in the latter half of the second verse, has quite an awkward translation due to the several layers of meaning packed into it:
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你就要變心- “You’re about to have a change of heart” is the singer’s desperate assertion that their crush would change their mind and fall in love with them. -
像時光難倒回- The possibility of this change of heart by their crush is likened to the “difficulty of turning back time” by the singer, which is to say, impossible, as implied by the very first verse of the song時光已逝永不回(Time has passed and will never return). -
In this lament, the singer already knows that the possibility of them being together is long gone, but they cannot let go. The singer is resigned to the fact that they could only realize their love solely in their dreams.
Of Horses 🐎 and Plums 🍏
The phrase 竹馬青梅 in Verse 1 translates directly to an obscure phrase: “bamboo hobby horse and green plums”. However, it’s actually an idiom referencing a Tang-dynasty poem《長干行》A Song of Changgan by the famous 李白 (Li Bai: 701 - 762 C.E.)
Told from the perspective of a woman who is lovesick for her traveling husband, the poem briefly narrates their early childhood together. The idiom references this specific stanza from that part of the poem: 郎騎竹馬來, 繞床弄青梅, translating roughly to “my darling rode up on a bamboo horse, going in circles while throwing green plums”. Specifically, the imagery being conveyed here is the playfulness of childhood sweethearts (who eventually get together after growing up).
The following phrase in the song 兩小無猜, translates directly to “two small (ones), no guesses” also comes from the poem. It adds onto that imagery, as it can be interpreted as “two young people in a pure/innocent/platonic relationship with no ulterior motives or doubts (guesses) between them”.
However, unlike the poem, the singer in the context of the song ultimately does not end up with their childhood sweetheart, despite their long-standing relationship and idyllic times spent together in the past.