Music Review for 有一种爱叫做放手 sung by 阿木

 This is a close English translation of the lyrics of the Song. 

Thanks to Telly from http://chinesemusicblog.com/forum/viewtopic.php?id=2721 for translating it.

If a couple's notion of Heaven
Is like a heart-warming barrier
Imprisoning your dreams,
Is happiness akin to a metal-barred window?
The bird has lost its internal compass for the south.

If you aspire to travel into the sky,
And long for a pair of wings;
Releasing you to soar up high,
Roses should not accompany your feathered wings.
Obeying ageing properties of time,

If romance has morphed into a leash,
I'm willing to choose to return to a life of solitude for your sake.
If lingering touches have morphed into chains,
It is time to discard the vows.

Chorus
There is a kind of love called letting go,
Forsaking a long life of romance for love.
If us being together made you forsook everything,
Let true love spirit me away.
Let love end the dreams of a life-long romance.
If my departure lets you gain everything,
Let true love steer me away, and initiate break-up.

For your sake, I must lose you.
Cruelly putting on an act to hurt you.
Leaving you for your sake.
Leaving without ever letting go.

     As some of you might guess from the title that this is a Chinese song so let me first summarize for you what the song is about so you wouldn't just be listening to the music and not understanding it. In the music video of this song, it demonstrates the tragic love story behind a guitarist and his girlfriend. First and foremost, the guitarist that the MV starts off with is just playing on the street but due to his girlfriend's encouragement, he sent his first CD to a music company. Later, his girlfriend received a letter confirming that a music company is going to help him publish the CD. Consequently, she quickly went to tell him about it but in the process, a van ran over her and she was physically disabled. Also he was diagnosed with a severe case of cancer. After realizing that he's going to die soon, he made up the decision to release his girlfriend from the burden of him dying and wants her to live a happier life so he decided to pretend having a relationship with another girl. In the end, his girlfriend left him for "better" man in his mind and he died without any regrets.

  This is after all a music review, so  I'll post some of my opinions about this song and why you might want to listen to it. If you get the chance to listen to the Youtube version with the music video which was sung by 阿木, I would say that he really put a lot of feeling into singing the song because in real life, he actually experience something similar to the events that happened in the MV. Also the piano and guitar accompaniment provided the song with a more appropriate mood such as how the piano depicted the sorrow experienced by the male character while the guitar demonstrated the inner struggle that he goes through in the process of making the life changing decisions. Overall this song is very meaningful and truthful in depicting the reality of why even though a couple loved each other, they can't be together. The artist might not be a famous singer but he still won some awards so you should still listen to his song. The non-Youtube version that I found online is the only MP3 version of the song that I could upload so it might not be as good as the original but the accompaniment of the classic  二胡 or "Chinese violin" in it is why I personally liked it.   

Jay and Nick

        After reading the first five chapters of The Great Gatsby, I can't seem to convince myself that the relationship between Jay Gatsby and Nick Carraway is more real than an illusion created by the human mind after experiencing long periods of starvation. Before they met each other at Gatsby's party, Jordan Baker told Jay that Nick is close to Daisy which prompts Jay to make friends with Nick. Before the party, Jay sent his butler to invite Nick to his party just so Nick can feel that he's special and makes him eager to meet the host. Next throughout chapter 4, Jay tells Nick about his past at Oxford University and how he makes his money illegally just so Nick could help him invite Daisy over for tea. From the beginning, Jay was already thinking of using Nick as a way to get a chance to talk to Daisy after she doesn't appear in his parties and he even bought his house across the bay from Daisy's home in order to be closer to her. Even by the end of chapter 5, Nick realizes that he had just been used by Jay all along because he asked Jay if he really wants him to come suggesting that his job for him is over and he should disappear from his life. Their relationship can be seen as nothing more than an exchange for benefits such as how Jay had Nick arrange his meeting with Daisy while Nick happens to be more included into the higher social circle which could provide some connections to the rich which would benefit him as he tries to succeed in his job. 

The Unknown but Agonizing Journey through the Snow

Without further adieu, here's the poem.

 

 The Unknown but Agonizing Journey through the Snow

The Young Man stood at the beginning

With a goal in mind

Traveling to a destination

In wavering circumstances

Such is the law in this so call reality  

He who must be prepared

First arms himself with shields of torridness
And the declaration to survive

So on and on he goes

The first challenge surfaces to welcome his presence

In turn came its trembling roars  

And the slits from its prickly edges

He falters in the appearance of this tribulation

Without one moment of doubtfulness

One foot in the front

And the other in the rear

Teeth sinking into lips

His stature prevailed

And on and on he goes

Next came the ice fairies

In their most distinct shapes 
And the dreadfulness of its nature

Slowly they descend from the heavens above

But rapidly they increased

Swaying to and fro

With the accompaniment of its roaring friend

Deepening the travelers’ treads

Unaware of the oncoming road

But still on and on he goes

Across the mountain

Over the placid lake

Awaiting him was the sweetness

That can’t be grasped with his empty hands

Forward he strides

While dreaming of the fluctuating future

Braving through the obstacles

Ignoring the pain

He marches, he sprints, and he screams
So onward he goes

But at last he arrived

Only to find Omega

And so his everlasting journey ends