A TORCH SONG FOR CLOSING

It was the end of the evening. The obnoxious white dude and his two dumb friends had finally left, stumbling around the corner to the burger joint. If they had stayed any longer, there might have been mayhem. The bartender had remonstrated with him several times, pointing out that throwing peanut shells at the other patrons was a no-no, loud foul language might irritate nearby customers, and, very diplomatically, that being a total dick was entirely counterproductive.

In Chinese she agreed with me that he was rude, crude, unreasonable, drunk, and already smelled bad.

After the last Cantonese patron had sung, she chose her own song on the karaoke.

All singing except for the dick and his dummies had been in Mandarin.

What she selected was also in Mandarin, very Taiwanese.

A ballad about the transience of romance.



昨夜星辰 —— LAST NIGHT'S STARS

[Source: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yGUh3B6Nl60.]

Singer: 林淑容 Anna Lin
[Born August 9, 1960. Sings in Mandarin and Taiwanese.]

昨夜星辰 Last Night's Stars
作詞: 楓頌 Lyric: Feng Chung
作曲: 童真知子 Composer: Naively Knowing

昨夜的 Last night's...
昨夜的星辰已墜落 Last night's stars have fallen,
消失在遙遠的銀河 Disappeared into the Milky Way;
想記起 偏又已忘記 Want to recall - they've already faded.
那份愛換來的是寂寞 With that love came loneliness.
愛是不變的星辰 Love is... stars that do not change,
愛是永恆的星辰 Love is... stars that last forever.
絕不在銀河中墜落 That never fall into the Milky Way.
常憶著那份情那份愛 Always remember the passion, the love;
昨夜星辰今夜星辰 Last night's stars, and tonight's stars,
依然閃爍 Are still shining.

今夜的 Tonight's...
今夜的星辰依然閃爍 Tonight's stars are still shining,
象眼神點燃愛的火 Like eyes lit with the fire of love;
想得到 偏又怕失去 Afraid once more to lose,
那份愛深深埋在心窩 The affection that shelters deep inside;
愛是不變的星辰 Love is... unchangeable starlight,
愛是永恆的星辰 Love is... eternal starlight.
絕不在銀河中墜落 No longer here but lost in the Milky Way.
常憶著那份情那份愛 Always remember the passion, the love;
今夜星辰今夜星辰 Last night's stars, and tonight's stars,
依然閃爍 Are still shining.

Zuóyè de...
Zuóyè de xīngchén yǐ zhuìluò
Xiāoshī zài yáoyuǎn de yínhé
Xiǎng jì qǐ piān yòu yǐ wàngjì
Nà fèn ài huàn lái de shì jìmò.
.
Ài shì bù biàn de xīngchén
Ài shì yǒnghéng de xīngchén
Jué bùzài yínhé zhōng zhuìluò
Cháng yìzhe nà fèn qíng nà fèn ài.
.
Zuóyè xīngchén jīnyè xīngchén
Yīrán shǎnshuò.
...
Jīnyè de...
Jīnyè de xīngchén yīrán shǎnshuò
Xiang yǎnshén diǎnrán ài de huǒ
Xiǎngdédào piān yòu pà shīqù
Nà fèn ài shēn shēn mái zài xīnwō.
.
Ài shì bù biàn de xīngchén
Ài shì yǒnghéng de xīngchén
Jué bùzài yínhé zhōng zhuìluò
Cháng yìzhe nà fèn qíng nà fèn ài.
.
Jīnyè xīngchén jīnyè xīngchén
Yīrán shǎnshuò.
...


The bookseller and I each had three drinks. Jamesons. We left after her song. She sings well. Far better than the stupid white people.
We wandered up Pacific, past the Ginkgo trees outside Ping Yuen, now yellowed, and scattering leaves to make the pavement light.
A cold crisp evening, allegedly still Autumn.
But it is definitely Winter.




==========================================================================
NOTE: Readers may contact me directly:
LETTER BOX.
All correspondence will be kept in confidence.
==========================================================================