敢愛 (Dare To Love) is such an important song by Leslie Cheung, on the surface it is universally applicable but if you follow his personal life, you would understand it as one of the most low key important piece of LGBT+ music that has ever come from Cantopop and Hong Kong. Its melancholic description of the gay subculture prevalent at that time (and even now), and wistful longing for more, is endlessly moving.

Spotify link: https://open.spotify.com/track/4S7w9OQzaOP3yFlFpU6ZtA

I was not able to easily find a satisfying translation for its lyrics online so I done one here:

作詞:黃敬佩 作曲:張國榮/唐奕聰 (Lyrics and Music credits)

情人鬥嘴
cing4 jan4 dau3 zeoi2
the lovers play fight

別問我有幾多歲
bit6 man6 ngo5 jau5 gei2 do1 seoi3
“don’t ask me how old I am”

頑皮到跟你玩針對
waan4 pei4 dou3 gan1 nei5 waan2 zam1 deoi3

mischievously targeting you for fun

談情戲水
taam4 cing4 hei3 seoi2
speaks of romance and plays in the water

熱浪到了骨子裡
jit6 long6 dou3 liu5 gwat1 zi2 leoi5
feeling the passion in our bones

還填滿跟你的差距
waan4 tin4 mun5 gan1 nei5 dik1 caa1 keoi5
and filling the gap between us

越悼念越有趣
jyut6 dou6 nim6 jyut6 jau5 ceoi3
the more you mourn, the funnier it becomes

你有過幾多個伴侶
nei5 jau5 guo3 gei2 do1 go3 bun6 leoi5
asking about how many different partners I have had

未用力去愛
mei6 jung6 lik6 heoi3 oi3
not even tried harder to love yet

卻已失去
koek3 ji5 sat1 heoi3
and it’s already lost

別再傷腦袋
bit6 zoi3 soeng1 nou5 doi6
don’t keep torturing your mind

豁出所有
kut3 ceot1 so2 jau5
let it all go

要愛就愛
jiu3 oi3 zau6 oi3
if you want to, then go and love

遺憾過
wai4 ham6 gwo3
a few regrets

然後至會找到最愛
jin4 hau6 zi3 wui zaau2 dou3 zeoi3 oi3
and you will find your true love

沒有真意外
mut6 jau5 zan1 ji3 ngoi6
there are no accidents

還未付出怎可精彩
waan4 mei6 fu6 ceot1 zam2 ho2 zing1 coi2
if you have never been invested how could it ever be more colourful

得與失也好
dak1 jyu5 sat1 jaa5 hou2
gain or lose

都慷慨
dou1 hong2/kong2 koi3
keep being generous

原來我知
jyun4 loi4 ngo5 zi1
turns out I did know

立定了我的主意
laap6 ding6 liu5 ngo5 dik1 zyu2 ji3
have made up my mind

就是我心裡的天意
zau6 si6 ngo5 sam1 leoi5 dik1 tin1 ji3
in my heart, it’s all meant to be

搖頭三思
jiu4 tau4 saam1 si1
when I shake my head and think thrice

未及我深刻一次
mei6 kap6 ngo5 sam1 hak1 jat1 ci3
it was worth the one time that has been etched in my mind

—-

Also obsessed with this intimate demo version, also released after his death:

Leslie Cheung committed suicide by in Hong Kong on 1st April 2003 at the age of 46 after decades of struggling with depression, and marginalisation in mainstream media for his gay relationship and gender fluid stage flair despite his superstardom in Greater China.

One response

  1. Thank you so much for this. I didn’t discover Leslie til 17 years after he had passed but I love him very much.

    Like

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Born and raised in Hong Kong for twenty years, transported to West London in young adulthood, a brief stint in Manchester, now torn between sleepy suburbia and the bustling city.

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