眼淚的秘密 – Bilingual Lyrics Chinese/English

• By: 吳若希
• Album: 武則天

Lyrics & Translation

Embark on a captivating linguistic journey with Jinny Ng's 'The Secret of Tears' (眼淚的秘密). This poignant Cantopop ballad, a memorable sub-theme song for the hit drama 'Empress of China,' offers a beautiful entry point into learning Cantonese. Its rich, evocative lyrics and powerful vocal delivery provide an immersive experience, allowing learners to connect deeply with the language's expressive power and the emotional narrative of love, loss, and destiny that makes this song truly special.

[English]

Always drifting uncontrollably, wandering endlessly

Experience everything, then all feelings disappear

Love is just a fleeting moment

Hating might be more complete

Wastefully longing, only deepening memories

Trying so hard to please in the beginning

Exhausted all efforts but still misunderstood

It's impossible to keep compromising

Silent dedication without regrets

Let the world say I’m too fickle

Once captivated by enchanting beauty

Seeing all the ugliness behind the smile

Deciding stubbornly to ignore advice

Cruelty is not what I wish for

Never longing to be celebrated forever

An inscribed stone, silent but yearning to speak

Achievements and faults, right and wrong, I disdain them all

Let them fade away in smoke and dust

Hoping life remains calm like yesterday

Memories vivid, restless night

In a hurried life, seeing through the rise and fall of fate

Hating how time is so cruel

Strongly blocking what’s between us

Let memories burn brighter

Once captivated by enchanting beauty

Seeing all the ugliness behind the smile

Deciding stubbornly to ignore advice

Cruelty is not what I wish for

Never longing to be celebrated forever

An inscribed stone, silent but yearning to speak

Achievements and faults, right and wrong, I disdain them all

Let them fade away in smoke and dust

Half a lifetime in business, enough now

Sweet words and hidden daggers, too tiring

If I could choose again, what would I do

How to captivate with enchanting beauty

Yet witnessing all the ugliness behind the smile

Deciding stubbornly to ignore advice

Everything is not what I wish for

Never longing to be celebrated forever

An inscribed stone, silent but yearning to speak

Achievements and faults, right and wrong, I disdain them all

Let them fade away in smoke and dust

Resentment turns to clouds of smoke

...

[Chinese]

從來不由自主飄泊流連

經歷一切感覺消失不見

相愛不過一瞬間

相恨或許圓滿一點

枉然了 更教人懷念

當初挖空心思只想取悅

花盡所有終得不到瞭解

不可能一直妥協

無怨無悔默默奉獻

任世界 說我太善變

曾多醉人嫵媚容顏

看盡了醜陋嘴臉

狠下心不聽規勸

殘忍非我所願

從不嚮往傳頌萬年

無字碑欲語無言

功過是非都不屑

讓它煙消灰滅

但願平淡像昨天

往事歷歷在目一夜無眠

匆匆一生看破緣起緣滅

恨時間那麼討厭

狠狠阻擋我們之間

讓回憶 燃燒更轟烈

曾多醉人嫵媚容顏

看盡了醜陋嘴臉

狠下心不聽規勸

殘忍非我所願

從不嚮往傳頌萬年

無字碑欲語無言

功過是非都不屑

讓它煙消灰滅

建業半生足了

口蜜腹劍太累了

讓我重新一次再選擇 會怎樣

如何醉人嫵媚容顏

卻看盡醜陋嘴臉

狠下心不聽規勸

一切非我所願

從不嚮往傳頌萬年

無字碑欲語無言

功過是非都不屑

讓它煙消灰滅

嫉恨隨它化作云煙

Key Vocabulary

Vocabulary	Meanings
眼淚 /jǎn lèi/ A1	noun - tears
秘密 /mì mì/ A2	noun - secret
感覺 /gǎn jué/ A2	noun - feeling, sense verb - to feel, to perceive
愛 /ài/ A1	noun - love verb - to love
恨 /hèn/ B1	noun - hatred verb - to hate
懷念 /huái niàn/ B2	verb - to cherish the memory of, to miss
心思 /xīn sī/ B1	noun - thought, idea, mind
瞭解 /liǎo jiě/ B1	verb - to understand, to comprehend
世界 /shì jiè/ A1	noun - world
容顏 /róng yán/ B2	noun - countenance, appearance
醜陋 /chǒu lòu/ B2	adjective - ugly, hideous
嘴臉 /zuǐ liǎn/ B2	noun - face, true colors
傳頌 /chuán sòng/ C1	verb - to pass down from mouth to mouth, to be praised
萬年 /wàn nián/ B1	noun - ten thousand years, eternity
是非 /shì fēi/ B2	noun - right and wrong, dispute
回憶 /huí yì/ A2	noun - memory
時間 /shí jiān/ A1	noun - time
緣 /yuán/ B1	noun - fate, predestined relationship

Key Grammar Structures

• 從來不由自主飄泊流連

  ➔ Adverbial Phrase + Verb Phrase (不由自主)

  ➔ "不由自主" (bùyóuzìzhǔ) - involuntarily, against one's will. This is a common idiom functioning as an adverb here to describe the action of wandering (飄泊流連).

• 相愛不過一瞬間，相恨或許圓滿一點

  ➔ Adverb "不過" (no more than/ only) to emphasize the short duration. Use of "或許" (perhaps/maybe) to express uncertainty.

  ➔ "不過" limits the duration of love to "一瞬間" (a moment). "或許" expresses a possibility or supposition regarding hatred leading to fulfillment.

• 枉然了 更教人懷念

  ➔ Adjective + 了 + 更 + Verb Phrase (emphasis)

  ➔ "枉然了" (wǎngrán le) - in vain, futile. The addition of "更" (gèng) intensifies the feeling of making people yearn even more.

• 當初挖空心思只想取悅

  ➔ Verb + "挖空心思"(to rack one's brains)

  ➔ "挖空心思" is an idiom meaning to rack one's brains, to put in a lot of effort thinking. It describes the effort made in the past ("當初") to please someone.

• 任世界 說我太善變

  ➔ 任 (rèn) + Noun + Verb + Adjective (Allow/Let)

  ➔ "任" means to allow or let. Here, it means "let the world say I am too fickle". This shows resignation or acceptance.

• 狠下心不聽規勸

  ➔ Verb + 下 + Noun

  ➔ "狠下心" (hěn xià xīn) - to steel oneself, to harden one's heart. The verb "下" combined with the noun "心" implies an action of making a determined decision.

• 無字碑欲語無言

  ➔ Four-character idiom (欲語無言)

  ➔ "欲語無言" (yù yǔ wú yán) - Wanting to speak but having no words; to be speechless. A common idiom used to describe a situation where one is at a loss for words.

• 建業半生足了

  ➔ Subject + time duration + Verb + "了" (completed action)

  ➔ Indicates that half a lifetime of building a career is enough. The particle "了" shows that the action is completed.