Rene Liu – Hou Lai
Hòu Lái 后来
Liú Ruò Yīng 刘若英
hòu lái wǒ zǒng suàn xué huì le
后来我总算学会了
Afterwards, I have finally learned
rú hé qù ài
如何去爱
How to love
kě xī nǐ
可惜你
It's a shame that
zǎo yǐ yuǎn qù xiāo shī zài rén hǎi
早已远去消失在人海
you have already disappeared into the sea of faces.
hòu lái zhōng yú zài yǎn lèi zhōng míng bái
后来终于在眼泪中明白
Afterwards, through all the tears, I finally understood that
yǒu xiē rén yí dàn cuò guò jiù bú zài
有些人一旦错过就不再
There are some people that you will meet only once
zhī zǐ huā bái huā bàn
槴子花白花瓣
White petals of cape jasmine flowers
luò zài wǒ lán sè bǎi zhě qún shàng
落在我蓝色百褶裙上
fall on my blue pleated skirt
ài nǐ nǐ qīng shēng shuō
爱你你轻声说
“I love you," you whispered
wǒ dī xià tóu wén jiàn yí zhèn fēn fāng
我低下头闻见一阵芬芳
I lowered my head and smelled the burst of fragrance
nà gè yǒng héng de yè wǎn
那个永恒的夜晚
That eternal night
shí qī suì zhòng xià
十七岁仲夏
17 years old, in the midsummer
nǐ wěn wǒ de nà gè yè wǎn
你吻我的那个夜晚
The night that you kissed me,
ràng wǒ wǎng hòu de shí guāng
让我往后的时光
made me in my future days,
měi dāng yǒu gǎn tàn
每当有感叹
every time I sigh,
zǒng xiǎng qǐ dāng tiān de xīng guāng
总想起当天的星光
Remember the starlight on that night, always
nà shí hòu de ài qíng
那时候的爱情
The love at that time
wèi shén me jiù néng nà yàng jiǎn dān
为什么就能那样简单
Why could it be that simple?
ér yòu shì wèi shén me rén nián shào shí
而又是为什么人年少时
And also, why when we are young
yí dìng yào ràng shēn ài de rén shòu shāng
一定要让深爱的人受伤
Must we let those whom we love to be hurt?
zài zhè xiāng sì de shēn yè lǐ
在这相似的深夜里
On this similar late night,
nǐ shì fǒu yí yàng
你是否一样
Are you not the same?
yě zài jìng jìng zhuī huǐ gǎn shāng
也在静静追悔感伤
Also silently feel regret and sad?
rú guǒ dāng shí wǒ men néng
如果当时我们能
If only at the time we could have been
bú nà me jué jiàng
不那么倔强
Not that stubborn
xiàn zài yě bú nà me yí hàn
现在也不那么遗憾
We would not be regretting it now
nǐ dōu rú hé huí yì wǒ
你都如何回忆我
How are you remembering me?
dài zhe xiào huò shì hěn chén mò
带着笑或是很沉默
Does it bring you laughter or silence?
zhè xiē nián lái
这些年来
These past years
yǒu méi yǒu rén néng ràng nǐ bú jì mò
有没有人能让你不寂寞
Was there someone who could let you not be lonely?
♫
yǒng yuǎn bú huì zài chóng lái
永远不会再重来
It will never happen again.
yǒu yí gè nán hái ài zhe nà gè nǚ hái
有一个男孩爱着那个女孩
There is a boy in love with that girl.
Learning Mandarin from Song Lyrics
yǒu xiē rén yí dàn cuò guò jiù bú zài
有些人一旦错过就不再
There are some people that you will meet only once
On the line above, it means there are some people in your life that you encounter once. If you miss that chance to build the relationship, then it is gone.
The keyword here is 错过 cuò guò which translates to “miss”. This word is used to express that you miss the opportunity, like when you arrive too late for your class, to get on a bus, etc.
Example:
wǒ bù xiǎng cuò guò zhè cì jī huì.
我不想错过这次机会。
I don't want to miss this opportunity
wǒ cuò guò le jīn tiān zǎo shang de miàn shì.
我错过了今天早上的面试。
I missed the interview this morning.
The word “miss” has another meaning, which is to feel sad that a person or thing is not present. In Mandarin, the word for that is 想 xiǎng.
