Jump to content

Boundless Oceans, Vast Skies: Difference between revisions

Edit links
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Browse history interactively
← Previous editNext edit →
Content deleted Content added
VisualWikitext
Amend some of English translation of lyrics, per BBC ref
No edit summary
Line 10: Line 10:
| Released = May 1993
| Released = May 1993
| Published = May 1993
| Published = May 1993
| Genre = [[Pop rock]], [[art rock]]
| Genre = [[Rock music|Rock]], [[Cantopop]]
| Language = Cantonese
| Language = Cantonese
| Length = {{Duration|m=5|s=24}}
| Length = {{Duration|m=5|s=24}}
Line 92: Line 92:
[[Category:Protest songs]]
[[Category:Protest songs]]
[[Category:2014 Hong Kong protests]]
[[Category:2014 Hong Kong protests]]
[[Category:Rock ballads]]
[[Category:Pop ballads]]
[[Category:1990s ballads]]

Revision as of 02:50, 11 July 2018

"Boundless Oceans, Vast Skies"
Song
B-side"What For" (無無謂)
Boundless Oceans, Vast Skies
Traditional Chinese海闊天空
Simplified Chinese海阔天空
Literal meaningsea wide sky empty

"Boundless Oceans, Vast Skies"[1][2] (Chinese: 海闊天空; Jyutping: hoi2 fut3 tin1 hung1; lit. "sea wide sky empty") is a song written and recorded by the Hong Kong rock band Beyond. Released in 1993 on the Cantonese album Rock and Roll, the song was and remains massively popular.[3] The song has been also translated as "Under a Vast Sky",[3][4] "Ocean Wide Sky High",[5] "Vast Seas, Clear Skies",[6][7] and "Clear Skies, Vast Ocean".[8] The song is an anthem of Cantonese rock music and one of Beyond's signature songs.[9] It has been adopted for several events in Cantonese-speaking regions, such as the Artistes 512 Fund Raising Campaign for the 2008 Sichuan earthquake, and most prominently as the unofficial anthem of the 2014 Hong Kong protests.[10]

The song was written by Wong Ka Kui and other band members. Its theme – personal freedom and the pursuit of dreams – flowed from Wong's disillusionment with the music industry.[11][3] It was written to celebrate the tenth anniversary of the band's formation. However, the band vocalist Wong Ka Kui died on 30 June 1993, around two months after the song's release. It went on to gain critical acclaim and commercial success.

Beyond recorded a Mandarin version, "Hai Kuo Tian Kong" (same Chinese characters pronounced in Mandarin), for the 1993 Mandarin album of the same name and a Japanese version, "Haruka naru yume ni ~Far away~" (遥かなる夢に 〜Far away〜, literally "A Faraway Dream").

In the 2003 Hong Kong movie Truth or Dare: 6th Floor Rear Flat, the song was played and sung live by 杜麗莎 Teresa Carpio, where it was interpreted as the sacrifice a mother had made for her son.

In 2010, Cai Xiuqing (蔡岫勍) performed the song for China's Got Talent, earning her third place[12][13] and in 2012, Hong Kong a cappella group Metro Vocal Group released a cover on their album No Borders.[14]

Lyrics

[Verse 1]

今天我 寒夜裡看雪飄過 (In this cold night, I see snowflakes drifting by)

懷著冷卻了的心窩漂遠方 (With a heart numb with cold I’m drifting far away)

風雨裡追趕 (Chasing dreams in wind and rain)

霧裡分不清影蹤 (Things are blurry in the fog)

天空海闊你與我 (In the boundless sea and sky)

可會變 (誰沒在變) (Will we change? (Who isn’t changing!))

[Verse 2]

多少次 迎著冷眼與嘲笑 (So many times, we faced cold glares and mocking laughs)[11]

從沒有放棄過心中的理想 (But we never gave up on our dreams)

一刹那恍惚 (Briefly I’m bemused)

若有所失的感覺 (I’m filled with a sense of loss)

不知不覺已變淡 (It’s imperceptibly waning)

心裡愛 (誰明白我) (The love in my heart (Who understands me?))

[Chorus]

原諒我這一生不羈放縱愛自由 (Forgive me for being unrestrained and loving freedom all my life)

也會怕有一天會跌倒 (I’m also scared I may fall one day, oh no)

背棄了理想 誰人都可以 (Anyone can give up on their ideals)

哪會怕有一天只你共我 (But who cares if one day there’s only you and me left)

[Bridge]

仍然自由自我 (Still free and be me)

永遠高唱我歌 走遍千里 (Sing my song loud forever striding for miles and miles)


References

  1. ^ Hong, Brendon (23 October 2014). "Chinese Tourists Are Taking Hong Kong Protest Selfies". The Daily Beast. Retrieved 7 November 2014.
  2. ^ Vittachi, Nury (14 October 2014). "Hong Kong's Pop Culture of Protest". The New York Times. Retrieved 7 November 2014.
  3. ^ a b c Wang, Joyu (1 October 2014). "The Story Behind the Hong Kong Protests' Unofficial Anthem". The Wall Street Journal. Retrieved 7 November 2014.
  4. ^ Schumacher, Mary Louise (6 November 2014). "The enchanting art of Hong Kong's Umbrella Revolution". Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. Retrieved 7 November 2014.
  5. ^ Yap, Ricky (20 October 2003). "Great 'reunion' and Beyond". New Straits Times. Retrieved 11 November 2014. Record no. 0FE60E1F039EA4FE from NewsBank.
  6. ^ Lee Yueh Shien (19 October 2003). "Beyond music". New Straits Times. Retrieved 11 November 2014. Record no. 0FE60E268F3754F8 from NewsBank.
  7. ^ "Greatest hits". The Star. Malaysia. 30 June 2013. Retrieved 14 November 2014.
  8. ^ Lee Wing-Sze (8 July 2001). "Interviews 'a form of art'". South China Morning Post. Retrieved 13 November 2014.
  9. ^ Seto Kit Yen; Angelin Yeoh. "The '90s: When Cantopop ruled". The Star. Malaysia.
  10. ^ "55 things about Canto-rock band Beyond's Boundless Oceans Vast Skies, unofficial anthem of Hong Kong protesters". The Straits Times. Singapore. 2 October 2014. Retrieved 15 November 2014.
  11. ^ a b Hong Kong's rock song of freedom, BBC, 3 Jul 2018
  12. ^ "Armless musician who plays the piano with his feet is crowned winner of China's Got Talent". Daily Mail. 12 October 2010. Retrieved 12 November 2014.
  13. ^ 沒有雙臂又如何 中國頭號達人就是他 [How can an armless person be China's top talent?] (in Chinese). CRI. 11 October 2010. Retrieved 12 November 2014.
  14. ^ "元氣堂無伴奏唱廣東歌鬼佬正過你". Apple Daily. Retrieved 4 December 2015.

External links

Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Boundless_Oceans,_Vast_Skies&oldid=849749113"