恬恬一下仔 let me sit here with you by Shallow Levée
Verse 1
Guá chai-iánn lí pih tī chhù-lāi
I know that you're hiding at home,Bô siá hō-guè
Not doing too well.Ē-tàng tàu sann-kāng ê bô-kài
There's not much we can do together,Chhut-guā chò-sū, ta̍k ê lâng lóng sī án-ne
Everyone works hard when they're outside, that's just how life is.
Chorus
Chi̍t ê lâng sêng-tann, sin-khóo lí--lah
Carrying everything alone, you’ve had a tough time.Hòng-khì koh-khah hó ê soán-thek
Giving up on better choices,Chò ū ì-gī ê pâi-phōaⁿ
Just to be a meaningful companion.Lâng lâi-kàu chit-ê sè-kan
People come into this worldPún-té to̍h ko-toaⁿ chi̍t lâng
Alone from the very start.
Verse 2
Bî-bî ê hong chhui lâi
A gentle breeze blows in,Chò-hō ê hit-tōaⁿ sî-kan
In these final moments.Chóan-âng ê chhiū-lîm, phōaⁿ bāng-bū ê soann
The trees turn red, the mountains are covered in mist,Lâng kóng sit-khì chiah chai î-hàn
They say you only realize loss when it’s too late.Chhiūⁿ lán thiām-thiām sī khah lò-jo̍k
Maybe we are too soft and weak,Guá pâi lí chè tī chia
So I'll just sit here with you.Thiām-thiām chi̍t-ē-chái
Stay quiet for a little while,Koh thiām-thiām chi̍t-ē-chái
And then a little while longer—Ē khah khuì-oa̍h
Maybe it’ll feel a bit better.
Repeat Chorus
Chi̍t ê lâng sêng-tann, sin-khóo lí--lah
Carrying everything alone, you’ve had a tough time.Hòng-khì koh-khah hó ê soán-thek
Giving up on better choices,Chò ū ì-gī ê pâi-phōaⁿ
Just to be a meaningful companion.
Bridge
Bî-bî ê hong chhui lâi
A gentle breeze blows in,Chò-hō ê hit-tōaⁿ sî-kan
In these final moments.Chóan-âng ê chhiū-lîm, phōaⁿ bāng-bū ê soann
The trees turn red, the mountains are covered in mist,Lâng kóng sit-khì chiah chai î-hàn
They say you only realize loss when it’s too late.Chhiūⁿ lán thiām-thiām sī khah lò-jo̍k
Maybe we are too soft and weak,Guá pâi lí chè tī chia
So I'll just sit here with you.Thiām-thiām chi̍t-ē-chái
Stay quiet for a little while,Koh thiām-thiām chi̍t-ē-chái
And then a little while longer—Ē khah khuì-oa̍h
Maybe it’ll feel a bit better.
Outro
Mā-mā-lâi thiaⁿ chit-tiâu sin-siá ê koa
Slowly, listen to this newly written song.Chí-siá chit-má lí m̄-sī ko-toaⁿ chi̍t lâng
At least for now, you're not alone.
I discovered this new Taiwanese band, Shallow Levée, and this song stood out to me in their album. I couldn't really explain it but it gave me a sense of nostalgia, and it reminded me of my grandmother a lot. She speaks about 90% Hokkien and occassionally Mandarin to shopkeepers that don't speak the dialect, so I associate the language with her often.
To my surprise, the Youtube music video itself from the band is a whole video of the frontman (I presume that's her in the background), cutting her grandmother's hair. It's a very chill song, and I particularly like how this line was sung: Guá pâi lí chè tī chia (So I'll just sit here with you). It feels gentle. Soothing.
I wanted to add this to my blog so I could start compiling some of the Mandarin/Hokkien tracks I find and include the pinyin as well as translations so I have one place to look for these. The thing with some of these smaller bands is that there doesn't seem to have much pinyin transcriptions online, or if there are, I'm not looking for them at the right places.
The pinyin and translations are added using ChatGPT - I unfortunately cannot read the characters well enough to be able to do it on my own, but from what I can understand from the song itself, the translations are pretty well done.
Quick note: I might consider moving this to a new blog to document and use to learn Mandarin - this still feels a little too random haha (even for my blog!).