In reply to:

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Does anyone have an English translation of the Mandarin version? If not, perhaps FingFing could help us translate.

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( It was posted HERE )

I know it's very LATE to reply your posts and maybe you are lost interest of this.

I think you know very well how GOOD of my English, so don't expect too much......


Are you OK?
You lost your hair / The hair that you lost
The reincarnation of the scars / The scars are reincarnated
and the flowers to grow
If this theory is true / If you believes in this
Why you made no reply / Why don't you reply
The snow was falling
Forgotten the spring and summer
The clouds was became a monks
to search / find the theory
If the world are false
Don't be surprise / upset / shock
and made no reply
I prayed to you / I praise to you
A fleeting moment of life / Life is short
I prayed to you / I praise to you
A fleeting moment
I prayed to you / I praise to you


Well...... I just try my very best.

Thanks very much, Fing Fing. I never lose interest in these things.

I think in Hong Kong, the Mandarin version was named 'A Fleeting Moment' which was a line that never occurred in the original song.

You've picked that out toward the end of the song, so very well done.

This was a chart topping hit in Hong Kong.


Bowie in Australia 2004 | Join the Community

Quite different from the original English version. Interesting new lyrics.

NoGame
...wants to be screwing when the nightmare comes.

It's also very interesting because as I said in the other thread, there was speculation that Bowie would not be allowed to tour there again after releasing the song.

So the appearance of a word like 'monk' is significant and to some extent, a bit more direct than the original song.

FingFing, can you tell me why some of your lines are reworded and seperated by a forward slash (/)? I presume this was to distinguish the different verses and choruses.

Another question (and people with knowledge of any other languages can probably answer this) but when translating from say English to Mandarin or vice versa is it apparant that some sentences read 'back to front'? And how often?



Bowie in Australia 2004 | Join the Community

In reply to:

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can you tell me why some of your lines are reworded and separated by a forward slash (/)? I Presume this was to distinguish the different verses and choruses.

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No, they are in the same lines. I mean...... it was translated "word by word" and then I try to make those words became a sentence......

Although I'm with my very thick English-Chinese dictionary, but I'm still not sure which meaning was fit in the song...... I just put them all in my translation.

I think you can choose the one you like.

p.s. i know that my translation wasn't good. anyone here are both good in english and chinese and would you like to help us to translate this song? PLEASE.............

From what people have told me, Mandarin is one of the hardest languages for an English speaker to learn. I can understand that the words translate but the sentence structure and grammar is probably very different between the languages.

I wanted to ask.........do you like the song when Bowie sings it in Mandarin? And does it sound similar to how a Chinese/Madarin speaker would have sung the song?

Anyway, I like your translation very much. Thanks again. I'll keep this thread bookmarked and I will see if one of my Chinese friends can help us translate.


Bowie in Australia 2004 | Join the Community

it is fascinating - herbert grönemeyer once translated some of his albums into english language. to keep it singable, he asked an english-speaking poet to create the lyrics instead of just translating them. so often, the lines say something completly different but meaning the same as the german lines, which gives hints about the interpretation. since grönemeyer and bowie have in common a rather expressive way of writing i think it is the same with seven years in tibet.

apart from this i think its really awesome to communicate in one thread with someone from australia AND someone from china. some years ago this would have meant a huge telephone bill (given that there would have been a possibility to get in contact at all).

"Have you tried... not being a mutant?"

I have always wondered why certain songs were into other languages.

Bowie has released seven songs (that I can think of) in other languages;

Ragazza solo, Ragazza sola, the Italian version of Space oddity, with totally different lyrics (lonely boy,lonely girl), this was recorded purely to spoil the chances of another artist having a hit in Italy with this song, and the new lyrics was because "the italians wouldn't understand about spacemen, but they would about lonely boys and girls".

Heroes, recorded in German (Helden) and French (Heros), The German one was obviously inspired by the location he was recording and given the theme works as well (some would say better) in German, I never really worked out why French was picked as another language to get a translation and Bowie's French is not as good as his German.

Girls was recorded in japanese, Japan has always been blessed with having unique versions of lots of cd's, usually with additional tracks on them and this time Bowie graced them with a song in their own language, why this song, though, is a mystery.

Amlapura / Don't let me down and down. Both of these were sung in Indonesian, can anyone tell me the significance of these tracks and this language?

Seven years in Tibet, and back to the one which started this thread, obiviously with the theme of this song Mandarin is a good choice of language and considering Bowie's long history of interest in this country, one can understand this translation.

There is also the unreleased (and allegedly destroyed) version of Day in Day out in spanish, which you can listen to on the illustrated David Bowie site, there also used to be a rumour of Space oddity in French, however this has since been denied by Ken Pitt, so seems unlikely, and of course the partial German version of Love you til tuesday for a tv show in the late 60's.

Any others?

I'm having so much fun with the poisonous people,
Spreading rumours and lies and stories they made up.

In reply to:

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There is also the unreleased (and allegedly destroyed) version of Day in Day out in spanish

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Now that's what I call quality! I have always hated Day in Day out passionately (probably the weakest cut on NLMD) but surprisingly Al Alba is even worse! Bowie can't sink any lower.
Then again, even his worst hour is atleast "interesting"...

I bear more grudges
than lonely high court judges

Not being versed in Spanish what does Al Alba literally mean, anyone?

I'm having so much fun with the poisonous people,
Spreading rumours and lies and stories they made up.