This is one of the most hard-rock-emo Chinese songs I’ve ever translated. It’s also pretty jam-packed with idioms. Because some idioms use a lot of imagery, I decided to keep some of the transliteration of idioms, and put their implied meaning on the footnotes.
张惠妹 – 血腥爱情故事
Zhang Huimei – A Bloody Love Story
作词：Hush
作曲：Jonnic
编曲：陈君豪/梁思桦
你尝过的那些甜头 都是寂寞的果实
The sweetness that you have tasted – are all the fruits of [your] loneliness
那是活生生从心头里 割下的我
It’s [a piece of] ‘me’ that you morbidly[9] severed from my heart
一块肉像一个赠品 从来都不假思索
A piece of meat as a complimentary gift – always [giving it] without even pretending to [re]consider
你锐利 我就腥风血雨 洋洋洒洒当个写手
You are keen and sharp, so I go on making the wind foul and the rain bloody[1], so voluminously and flowingly[2] that I become a [magnificent] writer
就让我紧跟着你起承转合
So let me follow [you] step by step in writing[3] the introduction, the theme, the transition, and the summary
让我为你写一本恐怖小说
Let me write for you a horror novel
谁可疑 谁可怜 谁无辜 谁苟活
Whoever is suspicious, whoever is pitiful, whoever is innocent, whoever lives in degradation –
我已经看到最后结果
I have already seen the final ending.
就让我来代替你承先启后
So let me replace you in inheriting the past and ushering the future[4] –
刻骨铭心像一本情爱小说
Being engraved on your bones and your heart[5], like a romance novel
越血流 越手酸 心越空 肉越痛
Exceeding the flow of blood, exceeding the hand that is sore, the more the heart aches, and the more the muscle aches
千刀万剐的感情才生动
Love* that is slashed ten thousand times by one thousand knives[6] is finally becoming alive
*感情 would normally mean “feelings”, but “love” would be more appropriate in this case.
不要还给我 不要还给我
Don’t return it to me; don’t return it to me
你尝过的那些甜头 都是寂寞的果实
The sweetness that you have tasted – are all the fruits of [your] loneliness
那是活生生从心头里 割下的我
It’s [a piece of] ‘me’ that you morbidly* severed from my heart
一块肉像一个赠品 从来都不假思索
A piece of meat as a complimentary gift – always [giving it] without even pretending to [re]consider
你锐利 我就腥风血雨 洋洋洒洒当个写手
You are keen and sharp, so I go on making the wind foul and the rain bloody[1], so voluminously and flowingly[2] that I become a [magnificent] writer
就让我紧跟着你起承转合
So let me follow [you] step by step in writing[3] the introduction, the theme, the transition, and the summary
让我为你写一本恐怖小说
Let me write for you a horror novel
谁可疑 谁可怜 谁无辜 谁苟活
Whoever is suspicious, whoever is pitiful, whoever is innocent, whoever whoever lives in degradation –
我已经看到最后结果
I have already seen the final ending.
就让我来代替你承先启后
So let me replace you in inheriting the past and ushering the future[4] –
刻骨铭心像一本情爱小说
Being engraved on your bones and your heart[5], like a romance novel
越血流 越手酸 心越空 肉越痛
Exceeding the flow of blood, exceeding the hand that is sore, the more the heart aches, and the more the muscle aches
千刀万剐的感情才生动
Love* that is slashed ten thousand times by one thousand knives[6] is finally becoming alive
不要还给我 不要还给我
Don’t return it to me; don’t return it to me
再去捉摸 都太迟了
To go and make sense[10] of it again – all of this is too late already
手心肉的牵连早已没有用了
Holding together [each other’s] hands[11] has long since been useless
眼看失去灵魂的空壳 魂不附体的两个人
Helplessly watching the empty shell losing its spirit – [leaving] nothing but the two persons who are the separated body and soul[7]*
再去着墨 都太多了
To go and apply ink on paper again – all of this is too much already
再浓烈的故事都算太俗气了
To make this story even heavier is already too vulgar
写到哪里能刚好就好
Until where would be the most impeccable to write
才能看得要死要活
So that the story can desperately threaten to commit suicide[8]
爱也要死要活
Love must threaten to commit suicide[8]
就让我紧跟着你起承转合
So let me follow [you] step by step in writing[3] the introduction, the theme, the transition, and the summary
让我为你写一本恐怖小说
Let me write for you a horror novel
谁可疑 谁可怜 谁无辜 谁苟活
Whoever is suspicious, whoever is pitiful, whoever is innocent, whoever whoever lives in degradation –
我已经看到最后结果
I have already seen the final ending.
就让我来代替你承先启后
So let me replace you in inheriting the past and ushering the future[4] –
刻骨铭心像一本情爱小说
Being engraved on your bones and your heart[5], like a romance novel
越血流 越手酸 心越空 肉越痛
Exceeding the flow of blood, exceeding the hand that is sore, the more the heart aches, and the more the muscle aches
千刀万剐的感情才生动
Love* that is slashed ten thousand times by one thousand knives[6] is finally becoming alive
不要还给我 不要还给我
Don’t return it to me; don’t return it to me
[1] 腥风血雨 literally means “foul wind and rain of blood”, which refers to a “reign of terror” and “to go on a carnage”.
[2] 洋洋洒洒 literally means “voluminous” or “flowing”, which describes a magnificent amount of writing.
[3] 起承转合 is an idiom that refers to the four steps in writing or composing an essay – introduction (起), elucidation of the theme (承), transition to another viewpoint (转), and summarizing (合).
[4] 承先启后 is an idiom that literally means “to inherit the past and usher in the future”, which means to serve as a link between the past and the future.
[5] 刻骨铭心 is an idiom that literally means “to be engraved on your bones and heart”, which means to leave an indelible impression; to be unforgettable
[6] 千刀万剐 is an idiom that literally means “a thousand knives slashing ten thousand times”, which means “to be hacked, to be pulverized, to make a mincemeat of”
[7] 魂不附体 literally means “soul that cannot merge with the body”, which means “separated body and soul”
[8] 要死要活 literally means “want to die, want to live”, which means to “threaten to commit suicide”.
[9] 活生生 literally means “very alive”, but in this context shows morbid or ruthless cutting and severing a piece from a whole.
[10] 捉摸 literally means to “to grasp”, but in this case, it means “to make sense of”.
[11] 手心肉 literally means “palm muscles”.
Incognito 