The Chinese character reads “marry (a man)”.
《大龄文艺女青年之歌》 ‘The Song of An Older Artistic Woman’ was created by 邵夷贝 Shao Yibei, a Peking University alumni from the class of 2006. This song discusses what kind of men an older “artistic” woman should marry. 大龄 (dà líng) means “older than the average age for marriage”. In China, the average age for a man to have his first marriage is 25.3 years old, and the average age for a woman to have her first marriage is 23.4 years old. This song first became an internet hit in 2009 but drew a lot of attention again at the beginning of 2013 because the female host Zhu Dan sang an adapted version of this song on Hunan Satellite TV‘s New Year’s Eve Gala without Shao Yibei and her record company’s permission.
Music Video:
Composer: Shao Yibei
Lyrics: Shao Yibei
Singer: Shao Yibei
Lyrics (Original Chinese, Pinyin Romanization, and English Translation):
呵 呵 这是一首悲伤的歌
hē hē zhè shì yì shǒu bēi shāng de gē
Hehe, this is a sad song呵 呵 这是一首悲伤的歌
hē hē zhè shì yì shǒu bēi shāng de gē
Hehe, this is a sad song
王小姐三十一岁了
wáng xiǎo jiě sān shí yī suì le
Miss Wang is 31朋友们见到了她
péng yǒu men jiàn dào le tā
When friends meet her都要问一个问题：
dōu yào wèn yí gè wèn ti
they all ask a question:你什么时候打算嫁呢？
nǐ shén me shí hou dǎ suàn jià ne
When do you plan to marry (a man)?
可是嫁人这一个问题
kě shì jià rén zhè yí gè wèn ti
But the issue of marrying a man又不是她一个人可以决定的
yòu bú shì tā yí gè rén kě yǐ jué dìng de
cannot be decided by her alone她问她爸爸
tā wèn tā bà ba
She asked her dad她问她妈妈
tā wèn tā mā ma
She asked her mom他们都说你赶紧的
tā men dōu shuō nǐ gǎn jǐn de
They all say: You must hurry up你看 你看 你看人家那那那那那那那那
nǐ kàn nǐ kàn nǐ kàn rén jiā nèi nèi nèi nèi nèi nèi nèi nèi
Look, look, look at those people like that that that that that that that that [meaning the parents are listing the women they know who have gotten married]你看 你看 你看看看那那那那
nǐ kàn nǐ kàn nǐ kàn kàn kàn nèi nèi nèi nèi
Look, look, look at those people like that that that that
大龄文艺女青年
dà líng wén yì nǚ qīng nián
An older artistic woman该嫁一个什么样的人呢
gāi jià yí gè shén me yàng de rén ne
What kind of man should she marry?是不是也该找个搞艺术的
shì bú shì yě gāi zhǎo gè gǎo yì shù de
Should she also find someone who does art?这样就比较合适呢
zhè yàng jiù bǐ jiǎo hé shì ne
Would that be more suitable?可是搞艺术的男青年
kě shì gǎo yì shù de nán qīng nián
But the men who do art有一部分只爱他的艺术
yǒu yí bù fèn zhǐ ài tā de yì shù
Some of them only love their art还有极少部分搞艺术的男青年
hái yǒu jí shǎo bù fèn gǎo yì shù de nán qīng nián
And a very few men who do art搞艺术是为了搞姑娘
gǎo yì shù shì wèi le gǎo gū niang
They do art to do girls搞姑娘又不只搞她一个
gǎo gū niang yòu bù zhǐ gǎo tā yí gè
When they do girls, they don’t do just her alone嫁给他干什么呢
jià gěi tā gàn shén me ne
So what’s the point of marrying him?搞姑娘又不只搞她一个
gǎo gū niang yòu bù zhǐ gǎo tā yí gè
When they do girls, they don’t do just her alone奶奶奶奶奶奶的
něi něi něi něi něi něi de
[expletive, deviated from 奶奶的 (nǎi nǎi de) which means "fuck"] Fuck fuck fuck fuck fuck fuck
呵 呵 这是一首悲伤的歌
hē hē zhè shì yì shǒu bēi shāng de gē
Hehe, this is a sad song呵 呵 这是一首悲伤的歌
hē hē zhè shì yì shǒu bēi shāng de gē
Hehe, this is a sad song
朋友们介绍了好几个
péng yǒu men jiè shào le hǎo jǐ gè
Friends have introduced quite a few men (to her)有车子房子和孩子的
yǒu chē zi fáng zi hé hái zi de
who have cars, houses, and kids他们说你该找个有钱的
tā men shuō nǐ gāi zhǎo gè yǒu qián de
They said, “You should find a rich man让他赞助你搞创作
ràng tā zàn zhù nǐ gǎo chuàng zuò
and let him sponsor your artistic work”可是大款都不喜欢她
kě shì dà kuǎn dōu bù xǐ huan tā
But no rich man likes her他们只想娶会做饭的
tā men zhǐ xiǎng qǔ huì zuò fàn de
They just want to marry a woman who knows how to cook不会做饭的女青年
bú huì zuò fàn de nǚ qīng nián
Young women who don’t know how to cook只能去当第三者
zhǐ néng qù dāng dì sān zhě
can only go be the third person [extramarital lover]不会做饭的文艺女青年
bú huì zuō fàn de wén yì nǚ qīng nián
The artistic young women who don’t know how to cook只能被他们潜规则
zhǐ néng bèi tā men qiǎn guī zé
can only be casting-couched by them奶奶奶奶奶奶的
něi něi něi něi něi něi de
Fuck fuck fuck fuck fuck fuck fuck呼~
hū
Hu~
这一首歌纯属雷同
zhè yì shǒu gē chún shǔ léi tóng
This song is purely a reflection of reality如有虚构纯属巧合
rú yǒu xū gòu chún shǔ qiǎo hé
If there is anything fabricated, it’s purely coincidence请不要自觉对号入座
qǐng bú yào zì jué duì hào rù zuò
Please don’t consciously put yourself in this song然后发动群众封杀我
rán hòu fā dòng qún zhòng fēng shā wǒ
And then mobilize the masses to censor me你看 你看 你看她只会做西红柿炒鸡蛋
nǐ kàn nǐ kàn nǐ kàn tā zhǐ huì zuò xī hóng shì chǎo jī dàn
Look, Look, look she only knows how to make fried eggs with tomatoes你看 你看 还要就着方便面
nǐ kàn nǐ kàn hái yào jiù zhe fāng biàn miàn
Look, look, and she eats it with instant noodles那是非常的好吃的
nà shì fēi cháng de hǎo chī de
That’s very tastymia mia mia mia mia mia mia
[Note: "mia mia mia" is similar with "yum yum" in English.]
那是非常的好吃的
nà shì fēi cháng de hǎo chī de
That’s very tastymia mia mia mia mia mia mia
