A translation of "One Love as Always" - subtheme song from The Long Ballad (2021)
Those who have watched The Long Ballad (2021) may, like me, have fallen for the Haoyan CP - the second lead couple, Imperial guard Hao Du, played by Liu Yu Ning and Princess Li Le Yan, played by Zhao Lu Si. The slow burn romance between the (not so) cold-blooded big bad wolf and the innocent fluffy bunny is unabashedly romantic.
I've written about why I love them so much in my final review 👉here, but I love their romantic subtheme song so much that I wanted to try and provide a translation of "One Love as Always" 一愛如故, which remains a regular on my playlist. You can find a clip of the song here.
The song is sung by Liu Yu Ning himself (Prince of Chinese OSTs!), which makes it even more romantic, encapsulating as it does, Hao Du's perspective - a yearning, hopeless and selfless devotion.
The song's Chinese title 一愛如故 is a play on words, the literal translation means "One Love as Always" or "One Love as in the Past", but it evokes another Chinese idiom 一見如故, which describes friendship at first sight, that is, familiarity on sight, as if you have known one another for ages (as of old/as always). In changing "sight"見 to "love"愛, the meaning of the title evokes love at fist sight. Rather Shakespearian really - "Who ever loved that loved not at first sight?"
Anyway, my attempt at translation below. I have opted mostly to translate for meaning, rather than a direct literal translation (so, for eg. 'One Love as Always" 一愛如故 in the lyrics is translated as "Love at first sight"). There are also some brief footnotes for when I want to explain gaps in translation.
All errors my own, of course!💕
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“One Love, as
always” Lyrics: 张畅 Composer: 金大洲 Singer: Liu Yu Ning 劉宇寧
命運太過頑固 Destiny is too obdurate 讓我選擇去孤注 So let me choose instead to be alone. 用力付出全部 Using all my strength to give my all, 卻換來銘心刻骨[2] In return I receive the unforgettable. 需要多少愛的風度[3] How much love and graciousness is needed, 才能義無反顧 To be able to have no second thoughts? 心粉身碎骨 也不能虛度 Be it heartbreak, broken body, or bones,
I cannot gamble in vain.
愛一見如故 Love at first sight, 用盡一生 Using my entire life 去投入傾注 To enter into it headlong, 問情為何物 Asking what is love? 逃不過世俗 Inescapable from the world’s confines. 不害怕被孤單去放逐 Unafraid to be exiled to loneliness, 在天空飛舞 To fly in the skies, 只要 你能 夠幸福[4] So long as you can be truly happy.
人心太過貪圖 The human heart is too covetous, 早就不夠去救贖 Long since incapable of redemption. 用盡全力共赴 Using all my strength to meet the challenge 就不怕進退維谷 Thus unafraid of the impossible path ahead. 需要多少愛的風度 How much love and graciousness is
needed, 才能義無反顧 To be able to have no second thoughts? 心粉身碎骨 也不能虛度 Be it heartbreak, broken body, or bones, I cannot gamble in vain. 愛一見如故 Love at first sight, 用盡一生 Using my entire life, 去投入傾注 To enter into it headlong, 問情為何物 Asking what is love? 逃不過世俗 Inescapable from the world’s confines. 不害怕被孤單去放逐 Unafraid to be exiled to loneliness, 在天空飛舞 To fly in the skies, 只要 你能 夠幸福 So long as you can be truly happy.
[1]命運 means fate/destiny. [2] 銘心刻骨 literally means to engraved on the heart and imprinted on the bones. That is – something (or someone) that is completely unforgettable. [3] 風度 is hard to translate – it means a certain suave, graciousness or elegance of manner. A similar concept is gentlemanliness. [4] 幸福 translates to “happy”, but the Chinese phrase is made up of two characters that mean ‘good fortune/luck’ 幸 and ‘blessings / blessed’福 – so 幸福 means happiness that consists of both. This phrase is often used to wish a new couple happy or to describe happiness. |
