Zhao Chuan - I'm a Small, Little Bird

有时候我觉得自己像一只小小鸟yǒu shí hou
sometimes/ wǒ
I/me/my/ jué de
to think/to feel/ zì jǐ
oneself/one's own/ xiàng
to resemble/to be like/to look as if/such as/appearance/image/portrait/image under a mapping (math.)/ yī
one/1/single/a (article)/as soon as/entire/whole/all/throughout/"one" radical in Chinese characters (Kangxi radical 1)/also pr. [yao1] for greater clarity when spelling out numbers digit by digit/ zhǐ
only/merely/just/but/
zhǐ
but/only/
zhǐ
grain that has begun to ripen/variant of 衹|只[zhi3]/
zhǐ
variant of 祇|只[zhi3]/
zhī
classifier for birds and certain animals, one of a pair, some utensils, vessels etc/ xiǎo xiǎo
very small/very few/very minor/ diǎo
variant of 屌[diao3]/penis/
niǎo
bird/CL:隻|只[zhi1],群[qun2]/(dialect) to pay attention to/(intensifier) damned/goddam/

There are times I feel like I'm a small, li'l bird

想要飞xiǎng yào
to want to/to feel like/to fancy/to care for sb/desirous of/ fēi
to fly/

I wanna fly

却怎么样也飞不高què
old variant of 卻|却[que4]/
què
but/yet/however/while/to go back/to decline/to retreat/nevertheless/even though/ zěn me yàng
how?/how about?/how was it?/how are things?/ Yě
surname Ye/
yě
also/too/(in Classical Chinese) final particle implying affirmation/ fēi
to fly/ bù
(negative prefix)/not/no/ Gāo
surname Gao/
gāo
high/tall/above average/loud/your (honorific)/

but no matter how I can't fly high

也许有一天我栖上了枝头yě xǔ
perhaps/maybe/ yǒu
to have/there is/there are/to exist/to be/ yī
one/1/single/a (article)/as soon as/entire/whole/all/throughout/"one" radical in Chinese characters (Kangxi radical 1)/also pr. [yao1] for greater clarity when spelling out numbers digit by digit/ tiān
day/sky/heaven/ wǒ
I/me/my/ qī
to perch/to rest (of birds)/to dwell/to live/to stay/ shǎng
see 上聲|上声[shang3 sheng1]/
shàng
on top/upon/above/upper/previous/first (of multiple parts)/to climb/to get onto/to go up/to attend (class or university)/ le
(modal particle intensifying preceding clause)/(completed action marker)/
liǎo
to finish/to achieve/variant of 瞭|了[liao3]/to understand clearly/
liǎo
(of eyes) bright/clear-sighted/to understand clearly/
liào
unofficial variant of 瞭[liao4]/ zhī
branch/classifier for sticks, rods, pencils etc/ tóu
head/hair style/the top/end/beginning or end/a stub/remnant/chief/boss/side/aspect/first/leading/classifier for pigs or livestock/CL:個|个[ge4]/
tou
suffix for nouns/

Perhaps I'll one day perch on the branches

却成为猎人的目标què
old variant of 卻|却[que4]/
què
but/yet/however/while/to go back/to decline/to retreat/nevertheless/even though/ chéng wéi
to become/to turn into/ liè rén
hunter/ de
of/~'s (possessive particle)/(used after an attribute)/(used to form a nominal expression)/(used at the end of a declarative sentence for emphasis)/
dī
see 的士[di1 shi4]/
dí
really and truly/
dì
aim/clear/ mù biāo
target/goal/objective/CL:個|个[ge4]/

Yet the hunters I've incurred

我飞上了青天wǒ
I/me/my/ fēi
to fly/ shǎng
see 上聲|上声[shang3 sheng1]/
shàng
on top/upon/above/upper/previous/first (of multiple parts)/to climb/to get onto/to go up/to attend (class or university)/ le
(modal particle intensifying preceding clause)/(completed action marker)/
liǎo
to finish/to achieve/variant of 瞭|了[liao3]/to understand clearly/
liǎo
(of eyes) bright/clear-sighted/to understand clearly/
liào
unofficial variant of 瞭[liao4]/ qīng tiān
clear sky/blue sky/upright and honorable (official)/

Only when I flew into the blue sky

才发现cái
ability/talent/sb of a certain type/a capable individual/only/only then/just now/
cái
a moment ago/just now/(preceded by a clause of condition or reason) not until/(followed by a numerical clause) only/ fā xiàn
to find/to discover/

did I discover that

自己从此无依无靠zì jǐ
oneself/one's own/ cóng cǐ
from now on/since then/henceforth/ wú yī wú kào
no one to rely on (idiom); on one's own/orphaned/left to one's own devices/

I had nothing upon which to rely

每次到了夜深人静的时候我总是睡不著měi cì
every time/ dào liǎo
at last/finally/in the end/ yè shēn rén jìng
in the dead of night (idiom)/ de
of/~'s (possessive particle)/(used after an attribute)/(used to form a nominal expression)/(used at the end of a declarative sentence for emphasis)/
dī
see 的士[di1 shi4]/
dí
really and truly/
dì
aim/clear/ shí hou
time/length of time/moment/period/ wǒ
I/me/my/ zǒng shì
always/ shuì
to sleep/to lie down/ bù
(negative prefix)/not/no/ zhù
to make known/to show/to prove/to write/book/outstanding/

Every time the dead of night arrives, I can never fall asleep

我怀疑是不是只有我的明天没有变得更好wǒ
I/me/my/ huái yí
to doubt/to suspect/doubt/suspicion/skeptical/ shì bù shì
is or isn't/yes or no/whether or not/ zhǐ yǒu
only/ wǒ
I/me/my/ de
of/~'s (possessive particle)/(used after an attribute)/(used to form a nominal expression)/(used at the end of a declarative sentence for emphasis)/
dī
see 的士[di1 shi4]/
dí
really and truly/
dì
aim/clear/ míng tiān
tomorrow/ méi yǒu
haven't/hasn't/doesn't exist/to not have/to not be/ biàn de
to become/ gēng
to change or replace/to experience/one of the five two hour periods into which the night was formerly divided/watch (e.g. of a sentry or guard)/
gèng
more/even more/further/still/still more/ hǎo
good/well/proper/good to/easy to/very/so/(suffix indicating completion or readiness)/(of an unmarried couple) to be close/to be keen on each other/
hào
to be fond of/to have a tendency to/to be prone to/

Is it only my tomorrows that won't ever get better, is that my keep?

未来会怎样wèi lái
future/tomorrow/CL:個|个[ge4]/approaching/coming/pending/ huì
can/to be possible/to be able to/will/to be likely to/to be sure to/to assemble/to meet/to gather/to see/union/group/association/CL:個|个[ge4]/a moment (Taiwan pr. for this sense is [hui3])/
kuài
to balance an account/accountancy/accounting/ zěn yàng
how/why/

What's the future hold?

究竟有谁会知道jiū jìng
to go to the bottom of a matter/after all/when all is said and done/(in an interrogative sentence) finally/outcome/result/ yǒu
to have/there is/there are/to exist/to be/ shéi
who/also pr. [shui2]/ huì
can/to be possible/to be able to/will/to be likely to/to be sure to/to assemble/to meet/to gather/to see/union/group/association/CL:個|个[ge4]/a moment (Taiwan pr. for this sense is [hui3])/
kuài
to balance an account/accountancy/accounting/ zhī dào
to know/to become aware of/also pr. [zhi1 dao5]/

Exactly who could know?

幸福是否只是一种传说xìng fú
happiness/happy/blessed/ shì fǒu
whether (or not)/if/is or isn't/ zhǐ shì
merely/simply/only/but/ yī zhǒng
one kind of/one type of/ chuán shuō
legend/folklore/tradition/it is said/they say that.../

Whether happiness is just a legend

我永远都找不到wǒ
I/me/my/ yǒng yuǎn
forever/eternal/ Dū
surname Du/
dōu
all/both/entirely/(used for emphasis) even/already/(not) at all/
dū
capital city/metropolis/ zhǎo bu dào
can't find/

I'm forever unable to find and show.

我是一只小小小小鸟wǒ
I/me/my/ shì
is/are/am/yes/to be/
shì
variant of 是[shi4]/(used in given names)/ yī
one/1/single/a (article)/as soon as/entire/whole/all/throughout/"one" radical in Chinese characters (Kangxi radical 1)/also pr. [yao1] for greater clarity when spelling out numbers digit by digit/ zhǐ
only/merely/just/but/
zhǐ
but/only/
zhǐ
grain that has begun to ripen/variant of 衹|只[zhi3]/
zhǐ
variant of 祇|只[zhi3]/
zhī
classifier for birds and certain animals, one of a pair, some utensils, vessels etc/ xiǎo xiǎo
very small/very few/very minor/ xiǎo xiǎo
very small/very few/very minor/ diǎo
variant of 屌[diao3]/penis/
niǎo
bird/CL:隻|只[zhi1],群[qun2]/(dialect) to pay attention to/(intensifier) damned/goddam/

I'm just a small, small, little bird!

想要飞呀飞xiǎng yào
to want to/to feel like/to fancy/to care for sb/desirous of/ fēi
to fly/ ya
(particle equivalent to 啊 after a vowel, expressing surprise or doubt)/ fēi
to fly/

I wanna fly and soar!

却飞也飞不高què
old variant of 卻|却[que4]/
què
but/yet/however/while/to go back/to decline/to retreat/nevertheless/even though/ fēi
to fly/ Yě
surname Ye/
yě
also/too/(in Classical Chinese) final particle implying affirmation/ fēi
to fly/ bù
(negative prefix)/not/no/ Gāo
surname Gao/
gāo
high/tall/above average/loud/your (honorific)/

But I just can't fly high!

我寻寻觅觅寻寻觅觅wǒ
I/me/my/ xún
to search/to look for/to seek/ xún mì
to look for/ mì
to seek/to find/
mì
old variant of 覓|觅[mi4]/ xún
to search/to look for/to seek/ xún mì
to look for/ mì
to seek/to find/
mì
old variant of 覓|觅[mi4]/

I'm searching and finding, looking for and seeking

一个温暖的怀抱yī
one/1/single/a (article)/as soon as/entire/whole/all/throughout/"one" radical in Chinese characters (Kangxi radical 1)/also pr. [yao1] for greater clarity when spelling out numbers digit by digit/ gè
individual/this/that/size/classifier for people or objects in general/
gè
variant of 個|个[ge4]/ wēn nuǎn
warm/ de
of/~'s (possessive particle)/(used after an attribute)/(used to form a nominal expression)/(used at the end of a declarative sentence for emphasis)/
dī
see 的士[di1 shi4]/
dí
really and truly/
dì
aim/clear/ huái bào
to hug/to cherish/within the bosom (of the family)/to embrace (also fig. an ideal, aspiration etc)/

a warm bosom in which to lie

这样的要求算不算太高zhè yàng
this kind of/so/this way/like this/such/ de
of/~'s (possessive particle)/(used after an attribute)/(used to form a nominal expression)/(used at the end of a declarative sentence for emphasis)/
dī
see 的士[di1 shi4]/
dí
really and truly/
dì
aim/clear/ yāo qiú
to request/to require/to stake a claim/to ask/to demand/CL:點|点[dian3]/ suàn
to regard as/to figure/to calculate/to compute/ bù
(negative prefix)/not/no/ suàn
to regard as/to figure/to calculate/to compute/ tài
highest/greatest/too (much)/very/extremely/ Gāo
surname Gao/
gāo
high/tall/above average/loud/your (honorific)/