the wandering songstress
Xah Lee
Long time no see! It is, Lyrics Appreciation time!
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The following is a shortened version of the article:
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天涯歌 is a theme song from the movie 马路天使↗ ( Street Angel (1937
film)↗ ), sung and starring 周璇↗ (Zhou Xuan↗) 1918?-1957. Music by 賀綠汀
(1903-?). Lyrics by 田漢 (1898-1968).
The following is its lyrics and English translation. The translation
is from the DVD of the movie “Lust, Caution” (色，戒).
天涯呀海角，
觅呀觅知音，
小妹妹唱歌 郎奏琴，
郎呀，咱们俩是一条心
家山呀北望，
泪呀泪沾襟，
小妹妹想郎 只到今，
郎呀，患难之交恩爱深
人生呀谁不，
惜呀惜青春，
小妹妹似线 郎似针，
郎呀，穿在一起不离分。
English translation:
From the end of the earth, to the farthest sea
I search and search for my heart's companion
A young girl sings, while he accompanies her
Your heart is my heart
Looking north from my mountain nest
My tears fall and wet my blouse
Missing him, i will not rest
Only love that lasts through hard time is true
In life, who does not
Cherish the springtime of youth?
A young girl to her man, Is like thread to its needle
Ah my beautiful man
We're like a threaded needle
Never to be separated
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above: Screenshot of “Lust, Caution”, while the girl is singing the
song “The Wandering Songstress”, during the phrase “郎呀，患难之交恩爱深” (Only
love that lasts through hard time is true). You can see the tinge of
sadness on her expression.
Youtube clip from the movie “Lust, Caution” (色，戒) on the song The
Wandering Songstress: video↗.
YouTube video: 天涯歌女,周璇↗.
YouTube video: 天涯歌女↗.
The song is one of the most beautiful love song there is.
Here is some info about the music and lyrics authors of this song,
from 鼓吹小站—民族音樂論壇 十五16周璇老歌目錄↗ (2001-07) by 孫心裁:
...
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Lust, Caution
I was watching on DVD, 李安 (Ang Lee↗)'s movie Lust, Caution (film)↗ (色，
戒).
It is a fantastic movie. There are 2 greatest scenes in this movie.
One is the diamond scene near the end (2:18:10-2:21:10). The other is
the also near the end, where the girl sings his man a song
(2:03:43-2:06:39). I've watched these 2 scenes repeatedly for like 10
times, and each time it deeply touches me.
Youtube video on the “go now” scene: video↗.
Youtube video on the Street Angle theme song: video↗.
Other fantastic scenes, are the dining table scene (~00:51:00), the
good night scene in front of her apartment (~00:54:40), and the first
hotel meeting scene (01:30:30). Here, we see the woman's charm and the
showing of her willingness to mate, most lucidly.
It turns out, that the love song is a oldie called 天涯歌 from 1940s of
Shanghai, sung by the famous 周璇. It was a theme song in the same war-
era context. It is a beautiful song and beautifully sung, and the
lyrics are beautiful and the English translation is superb.
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China Censorship
The mainland China's version cuts out many scenes. Its cutting out of
sex scenes is mundane and understandable. However, it also cuts out
the remark the girl made in the ending diamond scene, where the girl
tells the guy “快走” (go now). (about 10 seconds of the film) This 10
seconds, is the cream of acting of the whole film, and is also the
quintessence of this film.
This film, missing this 10 seconds, completely destroys it.
Apparently, the reason for cutting this 10 seconds is that its too
strong a gesture of loving a traitor to be shown nationally.
Either China made a blunder in their decision to cut this, or that the
Art of Cinema in China's has still ways to go.
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The Question of Trust in Females
I've always have wondered, a female nature that often colloquially
ascribed as un-loyal, can't be trusted, fickle, unreliable, or can't
carry great missions or deeds. The question has been on my mind for a
few years, to find the truthfulness or origin of this from a
Evolutionary psychology↗ point of view.
Today, from the diamond scene, and reading a blog http://www.xici.net/b5293/d62939591.htm
(2007-12-17 by niceviola), i had a insight.
The last sentence of the blog says: «什么伟大事业、民族己任，女人若是痴傻起来，是什么都可以不顾的。她要留
住他，她要他活着，即使自己都不曾活过。“人生呀，谁不惜呀惜青春…”». (Translation: «What great deeds?
What national duty? When a woman becomes foolhardy, she can be quite
reckless. She wants to keep him, she wants him to live, even though
herself never lived well. “In life, who does not, cherish the
springtime of youth?”»)
My brother also gave a comment to the last scene. He said: “嘴上无毛,办事不
劳” (“no mustache; not reliable”), which is a colloquial Chinese
saying. This comment is funny and also on the spot.
These lead me to realize, that gist of this female characterization,
is because females, are the ones that carry the offspring of the human
progeny. It is this, the instinctive nature to get conception, protect
their young, gives them their untrustful, un-loyal, un-ambitious,
characteristics. Men, in contrast, can be logical or thinking or build
a bridge or following a regime or do great deeds. Women, by nature,
are wholly devoted to the very task of getting conception to happen,
and bring to life new human animals in their womb.
Male's contribution to the multiplication of the human species, is
spreading seeds, due to the fact that male ejaculates. Thus, this is
what men do and are conditioned to do. In not so noble a description:
men maximize the propagation of human animals by womanizing. For
women, the conception of a baby, and its growth, actually happens in
their tummy. It is they, the process of breeding ultimately and
critically depends on. This is far greater a mission and dedication,
than man-made social ones such as logic, philosophy, inter-personal
trust, state allegiance.
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On Being a Love Spy
Consider being a love spy for a moment. The life of a love spy is
somewhat fascinating, not just because the sex. It asks the question
of what is love. When one becomes a love spy, one must act whole
heartedly as depicted in this movie. It is somewhat like acting in a
movie, except for real and actually live it. In great acting, it is
not possible to simply physically act out a scene, but must really
think like the person he pretends to be, to the degree that all
involuntary muscle activities are generated spontaneously according to
the situation. We can see this in great films, of all the involuntary
muscle twitches, subtle breathing changes, blushing, sweating, and
unconscious body languages.
As a human animal, our physical actions are intimately tied to our
mind. It is impossible, for a person, to act out behaviors and mental
makeup, involving physical intimacy in a prolonged period of time,
without actually developing genuine emotions and attachment. Our
physical behaviors, from a smile to love making, are connected to our
mental states in the chemistry in our blood. (i.e. by physiology,
muscles, nervous system, are bi-connected to thought, in a measurable
way.)
So, given that it is impossible to act out a love spy with complete
emotional detachment, how can love spies be what they are or what they
do? I think, that for love spies, they essentially live their lives in
a illogical, abnormal way. First of all, i do not think all love spies
are successful love spies. Either they fails at some point in their
pretension, or that they broke their mission and love their target, or
ceases to be a spy for some reason. For the successful ones, their
lifes are essentially un-human, with a cold heart such that the
meaning of love and the normal behavior and expectations of people in
love, is really not there.
Xah
x...@xahlee.org
∑ http://xahlee.org/
☄
irwell
>In life, who does not
>Cherish the springtime of youth?
>A young girl to her man, Is like thread to its needle
>Ah my beautiful man
>We're like a threaded needle
>Never to be separated
>
tony cooper
That's odd.
--
Tony Cooper - Orlando, Florida
