《法海你不懂爱》 “Fahai, You Don’t Understand Love” is one of the latest songs written by German composer Robert Zollitsch and sung by his Chinese wife, folk singer 龚琳娜 Gong Linna. He is known as 老锣 Lao Luo (literally “Old Ro”) in China, having established himself as an expert in traditional Chinese, Mongolian, and Tibetan music, influences he incorporates into the contemporary Chinese music he produces, and that his wife sings.
They are perhaps best known for their song 《忐忑》 Tan Te “Disturbed” (video) which became extremely popular several years ago.
Chinese netizens’ reactions to “Fahai You Don’t Understand Love” are mixed. The song is based on the Legend of the White Snake. Fahai was a Buddhist monk who tried to separate a white snake-turned woman Bai Suzhen and her human husband Xu Xian. Gong Linna explained in her blog that this song discusses how to resolve the conundrum of conflicting values on the way to true love with optimism and a sense of humor.
Official Music Video:
Gong Linna’s performance of “Fahai You Don’t Understand Love” at Hunan Satellite TV’s 2013 New Year’s Eve Gala:
Composer: Lao Luo aka Robert Zollitsch
Lyrics: Lao Luo aka Robert Zollitsch
Singer: Gong Linna
Lyrics (Original Chinese, Pinyin Romanization, and English Translation):
法海
fǎ hǎi
Fahai你为什么不同意我们的爱
nǐ wèi shén me bù tóng yì wǒ men de ài
Why don’t you assent to our love你不想让我们幸福吗 自由自在
nǐ bù xiǎng ràng wǒ men xìng fú ma zì yóu zì zài
Don’t you want us to be happy? (And) carefree?一生难得真诚的爱
yì shēng nán dè zhēn chéng de ài
In one’s lifetime it’s hard to encounter true love你想遵循你的道理
nǐ xiǎng zūn xún nǐ de dào lǐ
You want to stick to your principles你不愿意听我们说
nǐ bú yuàn yì tīng wǒ men shuō
You are not willing to listen to us explain
CHORUS:法海你不懂爱
fǎ hǎi nǐ bù dǒng ài
Fahai, you don’t understand love雷峰塔会掉下来
léi fēng tǎ huì diào xià lái
Leifeng Pagoda will collapse法海你不懂爱
fǎ hǎi nǐ bù dǒng ài
Fahai, you don’t understand love雷峰塔会掉下来
léi fēng tǎ huì diào xià lái
Leifeng Pagoda will collapse我们在一起
wǒ men zài yì qǐ
We are together永远不分离
yǒng yuǎn bù fēn lí
[We] will never be apart法海你真的不懂爱
fǎ hǎi nǐ zhēn de bù dǒng ài
Fahai, you really don’t understand love
你说 我们不能一起吧
nǐ shuō wǒ men bù néng yì qǐ ba
You say, we must not be together但你不了解我
dàn nǐ bù liǎo jiě wǒ
But you don’t know me一千年 我不停的改变
yì qiān nián wǒ bù tíng de gǎi biàn
A thousand years, I never stopped changing想努力地做好人
xiǎng nǔ lì dǐ zuò hǎo rén
trying hard to be a good person我在人间找到我的爱
wǒ zài rén jiān zhǎo dào wǒ de ài
I found my love in the human world许仙 许仙 我的爱人
xǔ xiān xǔ xiān wǒ de ài rén
Xu Xian, Xu Xian, my love
CHORUS
为什么
wèi shén me
Why为什么爱情总是那么难
wèi shén me ài qíng zǒng shì nà me nán
Why is love always so difficult?请你放我给我自由
qǐng nǐ fàng wǒ gěi wǒ zì yóu
Please set me free, give me freedom不要分手
bú yào fēn shǒu
[We] don’t want to break up请让我们在一起
qǐng ràng wǒ men zài yì qǐ
Please let us be together
CHORUS
