The Li Jian Translation Project

Hi, I'm Min! I'm a bilingual fan of Chinese singer Li Jian who is trying to translate his discography into English for more people to enjoy. I use they/he/she, with they preferred :)

[lijianlyrics]

Train in the Fog (雾中列车)

Music: Li Jian (李健)        Lyrics: Han Han (韩寒)         Fan Music Video

那曾是雾中的列车

That once was a train in the fog

通往我年少时候                                                   

Which passed through my youth  

它从此让我一天天孤单                                                   

Every day it left me lonely

心随它去天边                                               

As my heart followed it to the horizon

然后呢然后啊

And then, oh, and then

然后我就去到天的另一边

And then I would go to the other side of the sky*

火车冒着烟冒着烟

Smoke billows and billows out of the train

我的爱人也在天边

My lover is also at that horizon

远方我来了带着我的一切

The Distance, I’m coming, bringing all that I have

梦之城我是你的人

The city of dreams, I am one of your people

远方我来了高楼亮的灯

The Distance, I’m coming for the skyscrapers’ lights

那就是我的星辰

Those are my stars

这不是雾中的列车

This is not the train in the fog

当我再次离开时候

When I left again

归途中不再是少年不再去冒险

Somewhere I stopped being a young risk-taker 

然后啊然后啊

And then, oh, and then

然后没有一个人和我告别

And then not a single person wished me farewell

总说在天边在天边

They all said “at the horizon, at the horizon”

却不知道天在哪边

Yet they don’t know it doesn’t exist at all***

远方再见了我也曾努力过

The Distance, goodbye, I once put in the effort

原谅我无法生起火

Forgive me as I can no longer find that fire

故乡再见了我只能路过

My hometown, goodbye, I can only pass by you

原谅我继续漂泊

Forgive me for continuing to wander

谁记得雾中的列车

Who remembers the train in the fog?

就像人海中的我

Just like me in the sea of people

那远方那故乡那里的她

That Distance, that hometown, that “her”

路过啊错过吧

I pass it by, let it slip away

This song was a promotional song for the movie Miracles of the Namiya General Store. The more widely known version is the duet version between Li Jian and TFBoys member and idol Wang Junkai (Karry Wang, 王俊凯). The addition of a younger voice adds another layer to the conflict between passionate youth vs weary experience presented in the song.

Translator’s Notes:

* The Chinese phrase 天边 literally translates to the side of the sky, which means either the horizon or the edge of the world, depending on context. The lyrics here play on that phrase to show movement across a great distance.

** The concept of the distance between the narrator and the horizon is personified, as if being spoken to. So, I have capitalized when the narrator “speaks” to it.

*** The lyricist plays on the phrase 天边 again. The original line translates to “Yet they don’t know which side the sky is on”. This sounds awkward in English, so I changed it according to the original intention of the lyrics to show how ridiculous it is to travel to the horizon (ie. the horizon isn’t the place you can arrive at, flat earthers.)

Li Jian took the chorus melody from a Japanese folk song, The Song of the Seashore. There is a Japanese version here (Japanese and Chinese subtitles). He often uses bits of Asian folk songs in his music to convey a sense of timelessness. The lyrics in this folk song are about a person going out alone to explore the seashore, ruminating sadly on the past. What a way to incorporate the themes of the lyrics in the musical composition!

While this song’s lyrics weren’t written by Li Jian himself, there are elements such as the importance of home, extended metaphors, and the loss of youth that are very common in his songs. Personally, the progression from excitement about the train’s journey to exhaustion and guilt resonates strongly with the feeling of burnout. The song’s subject is definitely one that is rarely touched upon, and it handles it with such grace. Definitely a song to mull over when you’re feeling worn out and need some comfort.