Song Lyrics: Beijing Beijing by Wang feng

You know you need a KTV song! Beijing, Beijing is a slow ballad sung by Chinese artist 汪峰 wāng fēng and was in the Baidu Top 100 top 10 for a bit this year. Now it looks like it’s fallen between the 30th and 40th place on various music charts, but it’s still pretty popular, particularly in, you know, Beijing. If you can find it in yourself to embrace the painful 80′s growly I-mean-it man voice and the “Streets of Philadelphia” emo-dad thing, you may find that the song is a good karaoke song if you’re just starting out because it’s repetitive, it’s not abstract, it’s sung slowly enough to sing along and it’s so emotionally over-fraught that it’s fun.

I recommend you read and translate the lyrics before you listen to the song, so you’ve got an idea of what you’re hearing.
A few translation notes: it’s not always clear exactly how to translate song lyrics. Example: 寻找着追逐着奄奄一息的碎梦 is not an easy lyric to translate. Or rather, it’s super easy to get the gist of the meaning (searching, chasing, dying, broken dreams… you get the idea), but put an “of” in the wrong place and the meaning changes to something slightly different. I’ve done my best, feel free to re-write or re-interpret those in a different way.
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平静 – píng jìng – Tranquil
轰鸣 – hōng míng – Rumble
烛骨 – zhú gǔ – wick (of a candle)
哭泣 – kū qì – Weep
祈祷 – qí dǎo – Pray
迷惘 – mí wǎng – Pray
霓虹灯 – ní hóng dēng – Neon lights
挣扎 – zhēng zhá – Struggle
奄奄一息 – yǎn yǎn yī xī – Last gasp
眷恋 – juàn liàn – To long for
当我走在这里的每一条街道
我的心似乎从来都不能平静 　　
除了发动机的轰鸣和电器之音 　　
我似乎听到了他烛骨般的心跳 　　
我在这里欢笑 　　
我在这里哭泣 　　
我在这里活着 　　
也在这死去 　　
我在这里祈祷 　　
我在这里迷惘 　　
我在这里寻找 　　
也在这儿失去 　　
北京 北京 　　
咖啡馆与广场有三个街区 　　
就像霓虹灯到月亮的距离 　　
人们在挣扎中相互告慰和拥抱 　　
寻找着追逐着奄奄一息的碎梦 　　
我们在这欢笑 　　
我们在这哭泣 　　
我们在这活着 　　
也在这死去 　　
我们在这祈祷 　　
我们在这迷惘 　　
我们在这寻找 　　
也在这儿失去 　　
北京 北京 　

如果有一天我不得不离去 　　
我希望人们把我埋在这里 　　
在这儿我能感觉到我的存在 　　
在这儿有太多让我眷恋的东西 　　
我在这里欢笑 　　
我在这里哭泣 　　
我在这里活着 　　
也在这儿死去 　　
我在这里祈祷 　　
我在这里迷惘 　　
我在这里寻找 　　
也在这儿失去 　　
北京 北京
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When I walk the streets here
It seems like my heart can never be serene
Beyond the rumble of engines and sounds of electronics
I seem to hear its candlewick heartbeat
This is wher I laugh happily
This is wher I weep
This is wher I live
And this is wher I’ll die
This is wher I pray
This is wher I’m confused
This is wher I search
And also wher I lose
Beijing, Beijing 　　
The three blocks between the coffee shop and the plaza
Seem like the distance between the neon lights and the moon 　　
People comfort and embrace each other as they struggle together
Searching for, chasing after, the last gasp of broken dreams
This is wher we laugh happily
This is wher we cry bitterly
This is wher we live
And this is wher we’ll die
This is wher we pray
This is wher we’re confused
This is wher we search
And also wher we lose
Beijing, Beijing 　　　

If someday I have no choice but to leave
I hope people bury me here
Here I can sense my existence
Here there are too many things I yearn for
This is wher I laugh happily
This is wher I cry bitterly
This is wher I live
And this is wher I die
This is wher I pray
This is wher I’m confused
This is wher I search
And also wher I lose
Beijing, Beijing