My gosh, this song !!!

For those who follow the Taiwanese talent show 星光大道, when being asked which song is the greatest thus far many would point to the self-composed song by 徐佳莹 - 身骑白马。The first time I heard it in the competition I was like, "This can't be explained by anything other than pure gift from God." It's kinda hard to get good chinese pop songs these days. Most of the contemporary chinese pop songs are meaningless, dry, repetitive, too commercialised .... the list of criticism goes on. Of course there are good ones, but this one is special with a good blend of historical context and the beauty of modern music.

I'm the type of fussy listener who is only likely to like a song if it manages to appeal to more than 90% of chinese pop song listeners. But immediately after the first listening I could literally remember most of the melody, and some of the lyric as well.

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徐佳瑩-身騎白馬抒情完整版

我愛誰　跨不過　從來也不覺得錯
I could not get over whom I love, and had never felt that it was wrong
自以為 抓著痛 總能修成愛的果
I thought enduring pain could eventually make our love work
偏執相信著 受詛咒的水晶球
I believed obsessively in the cursed crystal ball
阻擋可能心動的理由
and stopped everything that may touch my heart

而你卻 靠近了 逼我們視線交錯
but you approached myself, forcing our sights to cross
原地不動 或向前走 突然在意這分鐘
shall I stay put, or move forward? At that moment I realised how much I care
眼前荒沙瀰漫了等候
about the long waiting that was marred by the sand in front of my eyes
耳邊傳來孱弱的呼救
and the withering call for help that travelled beside my ears
追趕要我愛的不保留
urging me to love you unconditionally

我身騎白馬 走三關
I rided on a white horse, and crossed three borders
我改換素衣 過中原
I changed to my plain attire, and passed the mainland,
放下西涼沒人管
relinquishing all my power in xi liang, and no one cared
我一心只想王寶釧
what I cared the most was you, my wife


典故：
薛平貴，年輕的時候去當兵打仗，後來變成大將軍，可是在和西涼國打仗的時候被抓了。本來是要被殺死的，但是西涼國的公主很喜歡他，要嫁給他，所以薛平貴就變成「駙馬爺」了，後來還掌理西涼國。可是他心繫中原的家庭，想著中原的太太. 於是他從西涼，穿著素衣，身騎白馬，過三關，回到中原，尋訪苦守寒窯十八年的王寶釧。

The context of this song:
Xue Ping Gui joined the army since he was young. He gradually moved up the rank to become a general. However, he was caught as a war prisoner when fighting against Xi Liang. He was meant to be executed but the pricess of Xi Liang fell in love with him and wanted to marry him. He married the princess and eventually took control of the kingdom. Despite his wealth and power, he missed his family and wife back in the mainland. Thus, he travelled on a white horse in plain attires, crossed three borders, from Xi Liang to the mainland, to look for his wife who had waited 18 years for his return.


P/s: I hope my translation and story-telling didn't ruined the meaning of this song.