Most people on fb post songs of their own culture. Which is great for me: I get to hear Turkish, Greek, Slavic Macedonian, Latin American, Russian or Portuguese songs from the people I am in touch with - you name it, my friends see to it Im always up to date regarding the latest Mexican or Brasilian song. I like it too when people try to transcend their own cultures and look beyond the walls marking the imits of their world, through their upbringing, their culture, their environment... This is what I always try to do. I am extremely interested in world music, this is the kind of music I listen to all the time in my office, or in the evenings while I religiously go thru my working out routine. People should be curious. They are not always. I for one am curious. Big time. Curiousity killed the cat. But Im sure the cat had lots of fun listening to Cesária Évora, Hindi Zahra (thanks Galanopoulou Venetia!) or Daniela Mercury and Oum Kalthoum before getting killed. Curiousity is about Otherness, about embracing what you are not. And being inspired by it. You are not Cuban but you want to know what those people are listening to. Neither are you Chinese (除非你是!) but you absolutely want to know what those people with the weird language listen to. The Chinese language works as a Great Wall, Chinese not being exactly Italian or Spanish: no need to have a PhD in Romance languages to know what sono un Italiano, un Italiano vero means. Chinese music production is as vast as the entire European production multiplied by a factor of I-dont-know-how-much. I picked a beautiful, very catchy, very sweet song to share with you today. I translated the lyrics for you for those of you who would be interested perchance to take a peek across the Great Wall of the Chinese language. This song is called Cháng Huí Jiā Kànkan (Visit Home Frequently!). It epitomizes values that would be readily labeled petty bourgeois in the West. In China these universal values are shared by all social strata, as classes are called there euphemistically. This is about Confucianism, a way of thought that is as alive in modern China as ever. You have to take care of your family, family is the beginning and the end of ones life. This is why Chinese names always start with the family name, unlike in the West (Greek names were like this in the past, I would be Ikonomou Yannis/Ioannis in the old days, but much less so nowadays): Mao Zedongs last name is Mao, not Zedong! Here are the lyrics of this song I liked so much, with a rough interlinear translation: 找点空闲，找点时间， Find some free time, look for some time 领着孩子常回家看看， Take the kid and visit home frequently 带上笑容，带上祝愿， Put a smile on your face, bring your best wishes 陪同爱人常回家看看， Accompanied by your spouse visit home frequently 妈妈准备了一些唠叨， Mom has prepared some words to share with you 爸爸张罗了一桌好菜， Dad has made a tablefull of delicacies 生活的烦恼向妈妈说说， Tell your mom your everyday troubles 工作的事情向爸爸谈谈， Discuss the situation at your work with your dad 常回家看看，回家看看， Visit home frequently, visit home frequently 哪怕帮妈妈洗洗筷子，刷刷碗， It would be enough to help mom wash the dishes 老人不图儿女为家做多大贡献， The elderly parents do not want their children to do a lot of house chores 一辈子不容易，就图个平平安安， They worked hard all their life seeking a peaceful existence 常回家看看，回家看看， Visit home frequently, visit home frequently 哪怕帮爸爸捶捶后背，揉揉肩， It would be enough to massage dads back, to rub his shoulders 老人不图儿女为家做多大贡献啊， The elderly parents do not want their children to do a lot of house chores 一辈子总操心，就换个平平安安。 So transform their lifelong worries into a peaceful existence. youtube/watch?v=wAza5Tc3wTo&feature=related
Posted on: Wed, 05 Mar 2014 15:00:09 +0000
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