"Kindred Spirits" - a Chor Lau Heung 1984 MV

"Kindred Spirits" - a Chor Lau Heung 1984 MV from Icha74 on Vimeo.

I first found Tanya Chua from her “Love is Beautiful” a few years ago when I was watching a Nicky Wu/Liu Shi Shi MV. I didn’t realise at that time that it was Tanya’s song that was used as the background music. Recently I used “Love is Beautiful” for an MV for Barbara Yung’s birthday. Ever since, I’ve been listening to Tanya’s songs via Spotify. That was when I found “異類的同類 (Yìlèi de tónglèi)”. The official title is “Strange Species” from her latest album Aphasia. Although the songs in Aphasia are different from Tanya’s previous offerings, I still like the album for its different concept (I’m not the only one, see this review, for instance). When I read one of Tanya’s interviews about 異類的同類 and Aphasia, I realised why the official title includes the word “species”.

Despite its modern terminology, I like the techno rhythm of “Strange Species”. For some reasons I thought it would make a fine Chor Lau Heung MV, but some tweaks needed to be done for the effects. After I translated the lyrics with Meenchee’s kind help, I realised that the song fit CLH/SSC perfectly. I still had to use some effects for this MV below, and I have very limited effects at my disposal with Windows Live Movie Maker. Nonetheless, I’m pretty pleased with the resulting MV. I hope you like it too. Lyrics and translations are below the break.

The premise is that CLH and SSC are kindred spirits, and Siu Ching was that particular person that truly could see Chor Lau Heung’s sorrows. I’ve said this before: I like it that Siu Ching witnessed CLH’s mistakes that led to the Kam tragedy. The mistake made us and SC realise that CLH was not perfect, yet we (and SC) love him anyway. But then there’s this stubbornness in Siu Ching’s character that made her pulled silent treatments to Chor tai-gor every now and then. Though Chor tried to ignore her antics, at times he can’t help feeling helpless as well. At a simpler level, the MV also tells the story of CLH in despair when he couldn't trace down SC's whereabouts after she was kidnapped by Fell Cut in Ep 16.

I chose to translate 異類的同類 as “Kindred Spirits”, for I feel it more suitable for the CLH/SSC story. 快樂或頹廢 (Kuàilè huò tuífèi) is supposed to be translated as “happiness or sorrow”, yet I chose to translate it as “For better, for worse” for its simplicity yet it can still convey the overall meaning.

"Kindred Spirits" - a Chor Lau Heung 1984 MV by icha74


蔡健雅 Tanya Chua -[異類的同類/Strange Species]


我的虛榮 我的詞窮 尷尬面孔
Wǒ de xūróng  wǒ de cí qióng gāngà miànkǒng
My vanity stumped my face, so embarrassed

委屈笑容 怎麼不同 唯有你懂
Wěiqu xiàoróng zěnme bùtóng wéi yǒu nǐ dǒng
Only you know the difference between my grievance and smile

異類的同類 眼淚 和汗水
Yìlèi de tónglèi yǎnlèi hé hànshuǐ
The tears and sweat of the kindred spirit

快樂或頹廢 只為 有你陪
Kuàilè huò tuífèi zhǐ wèi yǒu nǐ péi
For better, for worse, I just want your company


Reff:
你我同屬 一種生物
Nǐ wǒ tóng shǔ yīzhǒng shēngwù
You and I are kindred spirits

用肌膚 掩飾住 真面目
Yòng jīfū yǎnshì zhù zhēnmiànmù
We hide our true colours under the skin

你是誰不清楚 默契確認無誤
Nǐ shì shuí bù qīngchǔ mòqì quèrèn wúwù
Don’t really know you, but our connection is undeniable

好無助 好可惡 在何處
Hǎo wú zhù hǎo kěwù zài hé chù
So helpless, so detestable, so lost


I don’t know where to find you 唉
I don’t know where to find you 唉

I’ll find you find you
I’ll find you find you



城市牢籠 無所適從 寂寞慫恿
Chéngshì láolóng wúsuǒshìcóng jìmò sǒngyǒng
The crowds trigger the lonely feeling of being trapped

總會相逢 與我相同 相同品種
Zǒng huì xiāngféng yǔ wǒ xiāngtóng xiāngtóng pǐnzhǒng
I will eventually meet my kindred spirit

異類的同類 你會 是結尾
Yìlèi de tónglèi nǐ huì shì jiéwěi
You’re the end of my search for a kindred spirit

快樂或頹廢 只為 這一回
Kuàilè huò tuífèi zhǐ wèi zhè yī huí
For better, for worse, just for this life time


Back to Reff