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烏雲典當記

没有光
就用危险的常识
计算三七或六四
很明显
卖血无法救贫穷
金钱隔绝宇宙风

谁用黑铁换黄金
谁用头脑换垃圾

不可知
明天还要问市场
自由或许问西洋
很正常
一朝悲歌成金曲
愁容骑士更多余

谁用运气换呼吸
谁用灵魂换稻米

请选择
留在命运的强盗店
还是神的幼儿园
不可说
所以歌手做鹰犬
铁幕重重困青年

谁用乌云换日星
谁用匕首换光明

方北路
五十块买来新气象
远方却还是雾茫茫
不选择
明天不去问市场
自由或许问心脏

English #1 – Tale of a Dark Cloud at a Pawnshop

Without light
We use dangerous instincts
To do the arithmetics
Evidently
Selling blood won’t save you from poverty
Money is the division in this universe

Who exchanges iron for gold
Who exchanges their brains for garbage

Unbeknownst
Tomorrow depends on the market
Freedom is in the hands of the west
Quite normal
A sad song becomes a best seller
Troubled riders seem to be of surplus

Who exchanges luck for breath
Who exchanges soul for rice

Please choose
Between the treacherous tavern of fate
Or the kindergarten of god
Can’t say
So the singers become talons
The Iron Curtain weighs heavy on the youth

Who exchanges dark clouds for stars
Who exchanges daggers for light

Near the house
Buying a new tomorrow
Not choosing
Not asking the market about tomorrow
Freedom is in the heart

Submitted by Erwin Chen

Author’s comments:
Some concepts are substitutes for easier understanding, for example, the first stanza mentions 3 times 7 and 6 times 4, which I simplified down to “arithmetics”. In the last stanza, the first line is a road near where Dou Yaqian (the songwriter and singer) lived.

The song is written for the 2012 film “NO”, which is about the 1988 election where the Chilean people voted against the military rule of right wing leader Auguste Pinochet, who assumed power with help of the CIA after staging a coup against the elected socialist president Salvador Allende, on Sept. 11, 1973.

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