avawatson: (Default)
This was the first song I translated (thank you, Wang Yibo obsession!); I think I dated the "finished" lyrics to January 1st, 2021, which was also when I started vidding. The lyric vid itself, for the extended alternate version that her performed live for New Year's Eve, was my first vidding project. I think this might be my weakest translation in many ways, but I'm still very proud and pleased with some of these lines.

My standard caveat: I try my best with translations and enjoy the exercise of it, but my Chinese is not actually that good when it comes down to it, as I'm not a native speaker; I have a native speaker/Chinese-Indonesian diaspora mother, along with a fully diaspora family two countries removed from China, and the smallest amount of formal academic study under my belt. My translation work for a single song--indeed, a single line--is backgrounded by that and my (better) understanding of Japanese, then aided by dictionaries, much googling, machine translation, existing translations if I can find them, and sometimes asking others. But ultimately I'm afraid mistakes will creep in regardless of my best efforts. And I generally translate with the English/English-only speaker in mind, so I do take some liberties in favor of that audience.

English lyrics translation - Wang Yibo 王一博 - Rules of My World 我的世界守则

Come in to my world
Justice shines on the ticket to entry
Facing every harshness and kindness in this life
Relax, let’s spend the dark night together
A new journey
Fools, hard to get along with
The foolishness never stops
But tomorrow there’s a brighter road to go down
I am who I am
I was born stubborn
With my own story
My own unique qualities

[chorus]
Follow me, search out your own worth
Don’t live to please anyone else
My world won’t change for you (2x)

Dazzling sunlight
Step into it with hope
Dazzling sunlight
No matter how dangerous
Dazzling sunlight
The rules of my world won’t allow bullshit

Walk in my world
See what themes rule your life
Will you be bold, brave, invincible,
Or escape into your shell, timid
Talk loud at the party
Or keep crying, lonely, lovesick
I welcome you all, just as long as you follow your heart
To the rules and the noise, say bang bang
Watch the monsters retreat
Step lightly and give the order
Say goodbye to struggling alone
Whether you’re a circling dragon or an idle worm
Don’t bug me, go away, I don’t have time for you

[chorus]

Dazzling sunlight
Step into it with hope
Dazzling sunlight
No matter how dangerous
Dazzling sunlight
This is my world, it won't be changed

Don’t stop, get it, get it, let me see you work up on it
Don’t stop, get it, get it, let me see you all up on it
Don’t stop, get it, get it, let me see you work up on it
Don’t stop (hey!)

(burn it up, burn it up, burn it up, burn it up)
(yeah!) (hey!)
(burn it up, burn it up, burn it up, burn it up)
(yeah!)

In my world, instinct is crucial
Persist in yourselves, they’re your worlds
In my world, instinct is crucial
Persist in yourselves, they’re your worlds

Full Chinese/Pinyin/English under the cut )
Page generated Jun. 9th, 2025 01:04 pm
Powered by Dreamwidth Studios