Is this nostalgia or a reflection?

“Since when have playmates been far apart?
Since when have the surrounding people become unfamiliar?
Moving crowds add distance between us
The lonely earth is weeping in silence in a quiet night”.
“Since when have the sounds of frogs and cicadas been a memory?
When did the hometown become so crowded?
High Rises are everywhere.

“Who can tell me, Who can tell me –
If it is we who have changed the world
Or the world that has changed you and me?”

This is a song written in the early eighties by a Taiwan song writer Luo Dayou, used as the theme song in the film – Got on the Wrong Bus 搭错车. Although it was written some thirty years ago, the meaning that the words convey lasts and invoking.

I just recently went back to my hometown – Beijing. Having seen my family and friends, it was a joyful experience. But somehow I also got a feeling of being lost when I was going out by myself – many places and streets I was familiar I couldn’t find anymore, those big department stores, new and old, in just a couple of years’ time became completely new, and when I went in those stores, to my surprise, it looked like I was walking in a store in New York – all the vendors were selling some international brands, having their store names written in English on their windows, and the whole interiors of departments, buildings were built like five-star hotels – the floors are shinny and hard. I couldn’t find what I wanted to buy, so just left. When sitting in a taxi, passed in front of eyes only a few familiar places that looked so humble pressed between those high rises of fancy-designs while the filthy air was flowing in through the slit of side window.

What did we human do to our places? what did we do to ourselves? Maybe the cry out from this song can make us awake!

The Lyrics of the Song

一样的月光 – 苏芮    词：吴念真/罗大佑  曲：李寿全

一样的月光
什么时候儿时玩伴都离我远去
什么时候身旁的人已不再熟悉
人潮的拥挤拉开了我们的距离
沉寂的大地在静静的夜晚默默地哭泣

谁能告诉我
谁能告诉我
是我们改变了世界
还是世界改变了我和你
一样的月光
一样的照着新店溪
一样的冬天
一样的下着冰冷的雨
一样的尘埃
一样的在风中堆积
一样的笑容
一样的泪水
一样的日子
一样的我和你

什么时候蛙鸣蝉声都成了记忆
什么时候家乡变得如此的拥挤
高楼大厦到处耸立
七彩霓虹把夜空染得如此的俗气
谁能告诉我
谁能告诉我
是我们改变了世界
还是世界改变了我和你

The English Translation

The same moonlight
Since when have playmates been far apart?
Since when have the people surround me become unfamiliar?
Moving crowds add distance between us
The lonely earth is weeping in silence in a quiet night
Who can tell me, Who can tell me –
If it is we who have changed the world
Or the world that has changed you and me?

The same moonlight
Shine on the same Xidian Creek,
Same in the winter, same cold rain is coming down
The same dusts pile up
Same in the wind
The same smile, the same tears
The same life, the same you and me.

Since when have the sounds of frogs and cicadas been a memory?
When did the hometown become so crowded?
High Rises are everywhere,
No taste is the night made by glaring lights
Who can tell me, Who can tell me –
If it is we who have changed the world
Or the world that has changed you and me?

Note: 苏芮Su Rui， a well-known singing star from Taiwan, her powerful voice wins fans all over the Asian mandarin speaking world and lasts for decades from the eighties. A lot of singer stars after her started by imitating her songs.This Song is one of them. SuRui is one of my favourit singers in the Mandarin music stage.
I would like to hear your comments. Please ‘share’ if you like
Posted by Helen Zhu   copyright@learnwithuniversalmind.com