I heard this song on a bus the other day, and its mood immediately distinguished itself from the pounding euro-pop beat new year songs consisting of one phrase repeated ad nauseam that the supermarkets all love to play. Apart from telling a sad tale of spending Spring Festival all on one’s lonesome, it also speaks volumes about Chinese attitudes towards one’s parents. In other words, the philosophy known to the West as ‘filial piety’. It is an Asian topic of pop music that simply doesn’t exist in the West, or not that I’ve heard of anyway. Imagine one of Chinese-speaking Asia’s coolest pop musicians; he’s handsome, acts in films, composes his own songs, hell, he even raps. He released a part-sung, part-rap bubblegum pop song called ‘Listen to Your Mother’. And he’s not alone, I’ve heard numerous songs espousing similar messages. I think Clive Dunn’s ‘Grandad’ may have ended this genre for us before it even began.
Anyway, here’s my translation of Li Hua Rong’s ‘Happy New Year, Mum and Dad’:
A lively street corner,
The firecrackers are burning.*
A stranger’s smile lets me know
New Year is coming.
The cold wind is blowing in,
The thread of my thought wanders,
In the cold wind, my parents tiptoeing tall on both feet.*
I hope I can return home.
If I had a pair of wings, if I could fly,
I would fly back to your side.
But I have to be far from home,
My tears singing silently for you.
(Chorus) Dear Mother and Father, Happy New Year,
I have hardships, can you understand?
I wipe my tears, I won’t let you know
In my absence you cannot depend on me.
Dear Mother and Father, Happy New Year,
I wish you peace into your old age.
To return in glory is my goal,
I will definitely make you proud of me.
The red envelopes of my childhood*
Who should I ask?
The ringing of the New Year bell, I feel *
Just like a blade of grass.
If I had a pair of wings, if I could fly,
I would fly back to your side.
But I have to be far from home,
My tears singing silently for you.
(Chorus) x2
"Happy New Year, Mum and Dad" also mentions a number of Spring Festival traditions which I have asterisked, and although explanations of these are a dime a dozen, what kind of China blogger would I be if I didn't have a go myself?
Firecrackers - Like fireworks, but without the awe and beauty. Instead there's just endless, deafening noise to scare away evil spirits. During Chinese New Year 2011 there were 11,813 accidents and RMB56million worth of damages due to firecrackers and fireworks. Not a great start to the year.
Chinese Couplets - While the lyrics don't mention the couplets directly, the video shows a man and an old woman tiptoeing in order to stick scrolls onto a wall. These scrolls of calligraphy come in pairs, with one stuck on either side of the door frame to usher in blessings for the new year. Another common decoration stuck onto doors is the character 福, meaning 'happiness' and 'blessings'. It is normally stuck on upside down because the character 倒 (dao) 'upside down' sounds the same as 到 (dao) 'arrives'. Decorations such as these are usually red in colour, as the lucky colour is believed to frighten ghosts and spirits.
Red Envelopes - Also known as red packets. These envelopes are filled with money, and are always given to someone younger than yourself, especially to children at New Year. Red envelopes are also given as wedding gifts.
New Year Bell - On New Year's Eve bells are set up in large public squares where people gather to celebrate and wait for the countdown. A bell's peal is thought to drive away bad luck.
Family - Explicit throughout the song is the desire to return to one's home to pass the year with your relatives. Together you participate in one of the most important New Year traditions: gorging yourself senseless. This feast also involves a number of traditional foods, including fish, dumplings, lotus, new year cake, tang yuan, as well as a host of local customs.
I suppose all that's left for me to say is Happy New Year!
祝来年好运, 成就, 健康, 大吉大利! 愿快乐幸福永伴你左右!
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