Chinese Song of the Week: Escape Plan – 夜空中最亮的星
I have been totally addicted to this song by Chinese rock band 逃跑计划 (táo páo jì huá) which stands for Escape Plan. The pop/rock/indie band was formed in 2007 in Beijing. Their first album “Take me Away” was released on August 8, 2008. They even won the best new comer award of Tencent’s Starlight Awards 星光大典 in December of that same year. Their song “We get married in 2008” 《08年我们结婚》had been selected to be the theme song of that year’s Midi Festival. This festival is a yearly rock event in Beijing, Shanghai and Shenzhen which attracts thousands of visitors. To me, this band is one of my favorites because I love rock music.
The song I have been addicted to for weeks now is called 《夜空中最亮的星》(i.e. Brightest Star in the Night Sky) and I love everything about it: lyrics, tune, the singer’s voice. It’s just incredible.
The song is about a lost love.
Maybe they broke up or maybe his loved one died or somehow disappeared. Let’s take a look at some vocabulary:
我祈祷拥有一颗透明的心灵 Wǒ qídǎo yǒngyǒu yī kē tòumíng de xīnlíng I pray to have a clear mind.
祈祷 qídǎo to pray, give a prayer
透明 tòumíng clear, transparent, open
心灵 xīnlíng soul, mind, heart
给我再去相信的勇气 Gěi wǒ zài qù xiāngxìn de yǒngqì Give me courage to believe again.
勇气 yǒngqì courage
每当我找不到存在的意义 Měi dāng wǒ zhǎo bù dào cúnzài de yìyì Whenever I can’t find the meaning of existence.
每当 Měi dāng whenever, every time
存在 cúnzài to exist, existence
意义 yìyì reason, meaning
Here are the complete lyrics with pinyin:
夜空中最亮的星
Yèkōng zhōng zuì liàng de xīng
能否听清
Néng fǒu tīng qīng
那仰望的人
Nà yǎngwàng de rén
心底的孤独和叹息
Xīndǐ de gūdú hé tànxí
夜空中最亮的星
yèkōng zhōng zuì liàng de xīng
能否记起
néng fǒu jì qǐ
曾与我同行
céng yǔ wǒ tóngxíng
消失在风里的身影
xiāoshī zài fēng lǐ de shēnyǐng
我祈祷拥有一颗透明的心灵
Wǒ qídǎo yǒngyǒu yī kē tòumíng de xīnlíng
和会流泪的眼睛
Hé huì liúlèi de yǎnjīng
给我再去相信的勇气
Gěi wǒ zài qù xiāngxìn de yǒngqì
越过谎言去拥抱你
Yuèguò huǎngyán qù yǒngbào nǐ
每当我找不到存在的意义
Měi dāng wǒ zhǎo bù dào cúnzài de yìyì
每当我迷失在黑夜里
Měi dāng wǒ míshī zài hēiyè lǐ
夜空中最亮的星
Yèkōng zhōng zuì liàng de xīng
请指引我靠近你
Qǐng zhǐyǐn wǒ kàojìn nǐ
夜空中最亮的星
Yèkōng zhōng zuì liàng de xīng
是否知道
Shìfǒu zhīdào
那曾与我同心的身影
Nà céng yǔ wǒ tóngxīn de shēnyǐng
如今在哪里
Rújīn zài nǎlǐ
夜空中最亮的星
Yèkōng zhōng zuì liàng de xīng
是否在意
Shìfǒu zàiyì
是等太阳升起
Shì děng tàiyáng shēng qǐ
还是意外先来临
Háishì yìwài xiān láilín
我宁愿所有痛苦都留在心里
Wǒ nìngyuàn suǒyǒu tòngkǔ dōuliú zài xīnlǐ
也不愿忘记你的眼睛
Yě bù yuàn wàngjì nǐ de yǎnjīng
给我再去相信的勇气
Gěi wǒ zài qù xiāngxìn de yǒngqì
越过谎言去拥抱你
Yuèguò huǎngyán qù yǒngbào nǐ
每当我找不到存在的意义
Měi dāng wǒ zhǎo bù dào cúnzài de yìyì
每当我迷失在黑夜里
Měi dāng wǒ míshī zài hēiyè lǐ
夜空中最亮的星
Yèkōng zhōng zuì liàng de xīng
请照亮我前行
Qǐng zhào liàng wǒ qián xíng
Here’s a live version from 2013 MIDI festival in Shanghai.
Agreed! The song is just amazing. Came across your blog while looking for lyrics in pynyin 🙂
it’s one of my favorite songs! thanks Alex!
Thank you very much for the lyrics, you helped me a lot 🙂
Have you seen them live?
You are welcome! this song seems to be sooo popular by foreigners! Nooo, unfortunately I havent. But I want to go to the Midi festival this year!
Hi Kate! Thank you for your comment! I am happy I was able to help you. It seems like a lot of foreigners like this song since it is a popular search term for my blog! I haven’t seen them live, I really want to go to the midi festival 2014 though!
beautiful song
Gaaaah I love this song!! First saw them last Fall at Midi!!
This is such an old post, I was just searching for the song, and then I saw your post and saw that you wrote that they played at the Midi festival. well guess what.. I was there, but I didn’t even know about Escape plan at that time….. way to go 😀 >.<
OMG I want to go to the Midi Festival sooo bad!!! was is good? and the price is soo ridiculously cheap…
I love the Midi festival ! I went there every year while I was living in Beijing ~ definitely worth going to ! And the tickets are really cheap ^^
Way to go YOU for putting up the lyrics in pinyin. I’ve been trying to learn this song for weeks! Midi was an incredible experience! (If by chance anyone reads this, is planning on going, but hasn’t gone before, make sure you come prepared with supplies, water, etc.) My favorite bands were Subs, Miserable Faith (痛仰), Carsick Cars, Brain Failure (脑浊), and of course, Escape Plan. There’s another band that I saw around Christmas called Mr. Graceless that are definitely worth checking out.
I’m Bangladeshi and I live in Canada and I have no idea wtf is going on in the song but i CANNOT SSTOP LISTENiNG TO IT. i tried singing along but i cant seem to get the pronunciations right. Could you please type them out like they’re supposed to be pronounced? My friends and I would REALLY appreciate it. THank you!!!
Hi tuho! thanks, yes this song is totally beautiful! well, I put the pinyin so you should be able to get the pronunciation. however, if you want me to write how it would sound it’s difficult because this depends on you native language, do you know what I mean?
awesome 🙂
like it very much also…
👍