Iron Lotus – English Lyrics

• By: Mili

Lyrics & Translation

Discover the poignant beauty of Mili's "Iron Lotus," a song that intricately weaves traditional Chinese musical elements with modern electronic sounds to tell a story of love and regret. By exploring its rich lyrics and cultural references, listeners can gain insight into Chinese symbolism and the universal themes of unspoken emotions .

[English]

Frozen stairs, carpet in blood red

Seating goodbyes left unsaid, goodbyes left unsaid

Despite our promises, here I am following your steps

I’m following your steps

Drop by drop

As your unchanging reality dampen my sleeve

You kissed them off

Through the fibers of my handkerchief

I am fire

Burn those who dare to care for me

And my fuel are memories, fuel are memories of you

They perish with the heat, perish with the heat

So I can move on

Flower of iron

Shrivelled up to hide the imposter in me

“Hey, why did you leave? Why did you leave?”

Don’t let those words out of me

Imposter’s about to speak

So I chewed on Huameitang

For whom the shelves hold on to the pages, hold on to the pages

Their pain, their joy were given value as they were rated

Isn’t it ironic?

Greed is unlimited; freedom is a limited resource

Extra large for you means less for me

There’ll be less for me

I banged the drums (Weiwu...)

Court of hell (Weiwu…)

Demanding a new trial (Weiwu...)

You got the wrong head

Would you take mine instead, take mine instead?

Stop leading me on

World of titan allows me to live

Only in the mud down its feet

Though you’re not with me, you’re not with me

I’ll never admit defeat

Cause when I thought that every nice thing about me has become Canxiang

You showed me I still had an umbrella full of love inside me

Without you I could never be

So sincerely thank you for everything

It pains me to think

That my happiness turned out to be one of those fingers that strangled you until you couldn’t breathe

Not ashamed to go this way

I just want to choose my fate

I’m on my last white rabbit Naitang

I am iron

In my blood it streams roots deep

With bruises on my knees, bruises on my knees

And ribs crushed down to pieces, crushed down to pieces

Nothing left to hold on

Actually wait

I do have one regret

That day before you left me

“You’re my everything”

Before my thoughts began to speak

I bit my lip, said nothing

And just sucked on Maiyatang

Key Grammar Structures

• Despite our promises, here I am following your steps

  ➔ Present continuous tense after 'despite'

  ➔ The phrase uses the present continuous tense ('following') to contrast with the past situation ('Despite our promises'), showing ongoing action.

• You kissed them off / Through the fibers of my handkerchief

  ➔ Past simple with adverbial phrase

  ➔ The past simple ('kissed') is used with an adverbial phrase ('Through the fibers of my handkerchief') to describe how the action was performed.

• I am fire / Burn those who dare to care for me

  ➔ Present simple with implied subject

  ➔ The present simple ('Burn') is used with an implied subject ('those who dare to care for me'), emphasizing the general truth of the action.

• Isn’t it ironic?

  ➔ Tag question

  ➔ The tag question ('Isn’t it ironic?') is used to seek agreement or confirmation from the listener.

• Would you take mine instead, take mine instead?

  ➔ Conditional sentence (second conditional)

  ➔ The second conditional ('Would you take') is used to talk about hypothetical situations in the present or future.

• Without you I could never be

  ➔ Past modal for hypothetical situations

  ➔ The past modal ('could never be') is used to express a hypothetical situation in the past that did not occur.

• I just want to choose my fate

  ➔ Infinitive of purpose

  ➔ The infinitive of purpose ('to choose') is used to express the reason or purpose of the action.

• Nothing left to hold on

  ➔ Present perfect with 'left'

  ➔ The present perfect with 'left' ('Nothing left') indicates an action that occurred in the past and has a result in the present.