追 / Chase

Thoughts on Lyrics

The song was written for the movie 金枝玉葉 / “He’s a Man, She’s a Woman”. Lyricist 林夕 chose very ordinary, everyday words for this ordinary love song, resulting in a Cantopop classic for many years that followed. The song was about the subject’s realization that the thing he’d been chasing for was already in front of him.

Since the theme of the song was straightforward, I will pick the two great lines of the song:

有了你 即使平凡卻最重要 can be literally translated as, “After having you, even ordinary becomes great/important.” A suggestion that happy couples tend to be content with simple, ordinary life. It makes sense since after the “honeymoon period”, 6 months according to some, life will have more ordinary moments than fireworks. Learning to love the ordinary will bring us a long way.

提前做錯 is a very interesting line. It can be literally translated as “To pre-make mistakes”. The idea is that we all learn our mistakes the hard way, after the fact, and hurting our loved ones along the way. If only we had learnt all of our shortcomings before meeting our significant others, then maybe we won’t hurt or lose them. Four letters, how amazing, 林夕.

Thoughts on Melody

Like the line 即使平凡卻最重要, Dick Lee / 李迪文crafted this very beautiful piece from very ordinary notes. One can easily play the melody in C Major scale on a piano by ears. For those unfamiliar with piano: right hand part, on the white keys only. The melody very much gave the reminiscing feel that the subject was going through.

This was one of the more famous songs sung by late Leslie Cheung. Though he had lost his vocal crispness in 90s, he compensated with skills and a lot of hearts. In my personal opinion, his songs were much better when he combined those two with his then raspy voice.

Note: Dick Lee, a Singaporean, was also the composer of musical 雪狼湖 / Snow Wolf Lake.

Video

追
Chase

Artist: 張國榮 (Leslie Cheung)
Composer: 李迪文 (Dick Lee)
Lyricist: 林夕 (Lam Jek)

這一生 也在進取
這分鐘 卻掛念誰
我會說 是唯獨你不可失去
I have been chasing (for something) my whole life
But whom am I missing this very minute
I will say only you whom I cannot miss (lose).

好風光 似幻似虛 誰明人生樂趣
我會說 為情為愛 仍然是對
Good scenery is like an illusion. Who understands the joy of life?
I will say, for love, everything is still justifiable. [Movie: Living for love is still my belief]

* 誰比你重要 成功了敗了也完全無重要
誰比你重要 狂風與暴雨都因你燃燒
Who is more important than you? Success or failure is no longer important
Who is more important than you? [Movie:] You turn the tempest into warm fire

一追再追 只想追趕生命裡一分一秒
原來多麼可笑 你是真正目標
一追再追 追蹤一些生活最基本需要
原來早不缺少 ha...
有了你 即使平凡卻最重要 *
Kept on chasing, I just want to chase for every moment in life
[Movie:] But it’s stupid, since you my goal
Kept on chasing, chasing for the basic needs in life
[Movie:] But I’ve got so much.
[Movie:] It’s ordinary but important to be with you

好光陰 縱沒太多
一分鐘 那又如何
會與你 共同渡過 都不枉過
Great memories, there has not been too many
So what if it’s just for one minute
There will be no regret if I can spend it together with you

瘋戀多 錯誤更多 如能從新做過
我會說 願能為你 提前做錯
Lots of crazy love, even a lot more mistakes, how can I restart from scratch?
I will say, for you, I am willing to make all my mistakes before seeing you

Repeat *

一追再追 只想追趕生命裡一分一秒
原來多麼可笑 你是真正目標
一追再追 追蹤一些生活最基本需要
原來早不缺少 Oh... 只得你
會叫我彷彿人群裡最重要
有了你 即使沈睡了 也在笑

Kept on chasing, I just want to chase for every moment in life
[Movie:] But it’s stupid, since you my goal
Kept on chasing, chasing for the basic needs in life
[Movie:] But I’ve got so much. Oh... only you
Will let me feel as if you’re the greatest amongst all
With you, even if I’m in deep sleep, I’ll still be smiling

[Movie: Translation taken from the movie’s subtitle]