Song of the Indefinite Time Period (which we will call the Goehring Unit)--9/23/09

So, when you're a responsible teenager (pfft, as if such a thing exists) and you have a huge, huge paper due in a few days, as well as a nice essay that may (but most likely won't) help you get a mere pittance of a scholarship, as well as forms to turn in and recommendations to secure, and everything must be done on pretty much the same day, which is about a week away, and you also have way too much homework to do in between (including a project or two that count for a substantial portion of your grade in that class), what do you do? Procrastinate, of course! By writing an inconsequential blog post with an overly long title and an even longer first sentence. A sentence so huge that undoubtedly if any former English teacher of mine is reading this, she must be weeping at its poor construction.

But I digress. I present to you, the first song recommendation of the school year, and probably the only one for a while to go. Now, once again, this song is one that must be described as relaxing. And if you think I pick too many of those, what did you expect? I actually wasn't exaggerating in the first sentence. Luckily this song is like a massage for the mind; it really helps to force out stress.

And so, before I go on even more tangents, I present to you the Green Island Serenade, sung by Vienna Teng. It's in Chinese, yes, but it is a lovely song nonetheless. And personally I find Vienna Teng's version particularly lovely. Traditionally Chinese songs tend to feature female vocals with exaggeratedly sweet voices, but Vienna's gentle, soothing voice really just fits this song much better.



Lyrics:

这绿岛像一只船
在月夜里摇呀摇

姑娘哟妳也在我的
心海里飘呀飘

让我的歌声随那微风
吹开了妳的窗帘

让我的衷情随那流水
不断地向妳倾诉

椰子树的长影
掩不住我的情意

明媚的月光
更照亮了我的心

这绿岛的夜已经
这样沉静

姑娘哟妳为什么
还是默默无语

Translation:
This green island, is like a boat
meandering through the moonlight.

Darling, you are
floating in the ocean of my heart.

Let the melody of my song follow the breeze,
blowing through your curtains.

Let my love go with the flowing water,
serenading you.

The coconut tree's long shadow
cannot hide my gentle love.

The clear bright moonlight
brightens my heart.

This green island night
appears so peaceful.

Darling, why are you
still silent?

Unfortunately, I think the English translation doesn't quite do the original lyrics justice. But that's life, I guess. There's actually an interesting story behind this lovely song, but I think this post is probably long enough. If you're interested, it can be found here: (link)

Until next time, then, dears!