天才兒童1985 – Bilingual Lyrics Chinese/English

• By: 張敬軒

Lyrics & Translation

[Chinese]

[English]

臨床幾千樽荒廢的藥水

Thousands of bottles of discarded medicine in the clinic

完成不到的火箭有一堆

A pile of rockets that couldn't be finished

才能 一出生舉國已嘉許

Talent, praised by the whole country from birth

注定流行的歌只寫了三句

Only wrote three lines of a destined hit song

作個序 其餘待續然後睡覺

Write a preface, to be continued, then sleep

廿八年後 精粹還在腦內發酵

Twenty-eight years later, the essence is still fermenting in my brain

油畫繪一半

Oil painting, half-finished

台詞寫不過半

Lyrics, less than halfway done

完成將很美滿 半途卻放下沒有管

Completion would be perfect, but I gave up halfway and didn't care

一世即將過半

Half a lifetime is about to pass

才華竟早已入了棺

Talent has already been buried

有天才 為何我們 卻是無後半

With talent, why do we have no second half?

...

...

偶爾亦明瞭別讓潛力浪費

Sometimes I understand, don't waste potential

但發完力三秒還是怕倦坐低

But after a three-second burst of energy, I'm still afraid of sitting down

油畫繪一半

Oil painting, half-finished

台詞寫不過半

Lyrics, less than halfway done

前途本應美滿 最後太懶惰賣了盤

The future should be beautiful, but in the end, I was too lazy to sell it

一世即將過半

Half a lifetime is about to pass

才華竟早已入了棺

Talent has already been buried

有天才 為何我們卻是無後半

With talent, why do we have no second half?

...

...

從前曾自滿 笑前人們落伍

I used to be complacent, laughing at the old-fashioned people

誰人能料最後老大只得這般

Who would have thought that in the end, I would only be like this

程式編一半

Code, half-written

長橋起不過半

Bridge, less than halfway built

完成將很美滿 半途卻放下沒有管

Completion would be perfect, but I gave up halfway and didn't care

一世即將過半

Half a lifetime is about to pass

旁人統統已做了官

Everyone else has become an official

喂 天才 為何我們卻是無後半

Hey, talent, why do we have no second half?

...

...

人人將一生搬進博物館

Everyone moves their whole life into a museum

完成不到的雕塑有幾款

There are several sculptures that couldn't be finished

明明可寫出佳作那筆管

I could have written a masterpiece with that pen

進殿堂前 枝枝只寫到一半

Before entering the hall, each only wrote halfway

...

...

Key Vocabulary

Vocabulary	Meanings
藥水 /yào shuǐ/ B2	noun - medicinal liquid
火箭 /huǒ jìng/ B2	noun - rocket
嘉許 /jiā xǔ/ C1	verb/noun - to praise; commendation
流行 /liú xíng/ B2	noun/verb - popularity; to be popular
才能 /cái néng/ B2	noun - talent, ability
精粹 /jīng cuì/ C1	noun - essence, extract
發酵 /fā jiào/ C1	verb - fermentation
繪 /huì/ B2	verb - to draw, paint
台詞 /tái cí/ B2	noun - script, lines (in a play)
憂慮 /yōu lǜ/ C1	noun - worry, concern
展現 /zhǎn xiàn/ C1	verb/noun - to exhibit, display; exhibition
潛力 /qián lì/ C1	noun - potential, latent ability
懶惰 /lǎn duò/ B2	adjective - lazy
才華 /cái huá/ B2	noun - talent, genius

Key Grammar Structures

• 才能 一出生舉國已嘉許

  ➔ Using the modal verb "才能" to indicate "ability" or "qualification" to do something

  ➔ "才能" is a modal phrase meaning "only when" or "capable of"

• 油畫繪一半

  ➔ Using the verb "繪" (to paint/draw) with a measure word "一半" to indicate "halfway finished"

  ➔ "一半" means "half" and is used to express that something is partially completed

• 完成將很美滿

  ➔ Using the verb "完成" (to complete) with future marker "將" to indicate "will"

  ➔ "將" is a modal auxiliary used before verbs to indicate future tense or intention

• 一世即將過半

  ➔ Using "即將" to indicate "about to" or "approaching" in the future

  ➔ "即將" is used to describe the near future, similar to "about to" or "approaching"

• 旁人統統已做了官

  ➔ Using the adverb "統統" to emphasize "all" or "without exception"

  ➔ "統統" means "all" or "completely", used to emphasize totality or inclusiveness

• 完成不到的雕塑有幾款

  ➔ Using the phrase "不到的" with "完成" to indicate "unfinished" or "not completed"

  ➔ "不到的" means "not yet completed" or "unfinished"