One of my favorite Chinese songs is 童话 by Michael Wong (王光良).
It is a song of love, compassion, imagination, and hope.
It is a song of loss, acceptance, happiness, and enchantment.
Released in 2005 as the title track to Wong’s third solo album “Fairy Tale”, 童话 was embraced by many as the perfect love tune. It perfectly captures the range of emotion one can feel when having loved and lost. 童话 gained mainstream recognition almost immediately and remains an iconic love ballad to this day.
Lyrics:
忘了有多久 再没听到你
Wàngle yǒu duōjiǔ zài méi tīng dào nǐ
I forgot how long I don’t hear about you
对我说你 最爱的故事
duì wǒ shuō nǐ zuì ài de gùshì
To tell me your favorite story
我想了很久 我开始慌了
wǒ xiǎngle hěnjiǔ wǒ kāishǐ huāngle
I have thought for a long time; I started to panic
是不是我又做错了什么
shì bùshì wǒ yòu zuò cuòle shénme
Am I did something wrong?
你哭着对我说 童话里都是骗人的
nǐ kūzhe duì wǒ shuō tónghuà li dōu shì piàn rén de
You’re crying to me; you told me that fairy tale is a lie
我不可能 是你的王子
wǒ bù kěnéng shì nǐ de wángzǐ
I can’t be your prince
也许你不会懂 从你说爱我以后
yěxǔ nǐ bù huì dǒng cóng nǐ shuō ài wǒ yǐhòu
Maybe you can’t understand after you said you love me
我的天空 星星都亮了
wǒ de tiānkōng xīngxīng dōu liàngle
All the stars in the sky shone brightly
我愿变成童话里 你爱的那个天使
wǒ yuàn biàn chéng tónghuà li nǐ ài dì nàgè tiānshǐ
I’m willing to become an angel of fairy tale that you love
张开双手 变成翅膀守护你
zhāng kāi shuāngshǒu biàn chéng chìbǎng shǒuhù nǐ
Stretch out arms, turn into wings to protect you
你要相信 相信我们会像童话故事里
nǐ yào xiāngxìn xiāngxìn wǒmen huì xiàng tónghuà gùshì lǐ
You must believe, believe that we will be like in the fairy tale
幸福和快乐是结局
xìngfú hé kuàilè shì jiéjú
Happiness and joy is the ending
你哭着对我说 童话里都是骗人的
nǐ kūzhe duì wǒ shuō tónghuà li dōu shì piàn rén de
You’re crying to me; you told me that fairy tale is a lie
我不可能 是你的王子
wǒ bù kěnéng shì nǐ de wángzǐ
I can’t be your prince
也许你不会懂 从你说爱我以后
yěxǔ nǐ bù huì dǒng cóng nǐ shuō ài wǒ yǐhòu
Maybe you can’t understand after you said you love me
我的天空 星星都亮了
wǒ de tiānkōng xīngxīng dōu liàngle
All the stars in the sky shone brightly
我愿变成童话里 你爱的那个天使
wǒ yuàn biàn chéng tónghuà li nǐ ài dì nàgè tiānshǐ
I’m willing to become an angel of fairy tale that you love
张开双手 变成翅膀守护你
zhāng kāi shuāngshǒu biàn chéng chìbǎng shǒuhù nǐ
Stretch out arms, turn into wings to protect you
你要相信 相信我们会像童话故事里
nǐ yào xiāngxìn xiāngxìn wǒmen huì xiàng tónghuà gùshì lǐ
You must believe, believe that we will be like in the fairy tale
幸福和快乐是结局
xìngfú hé kuàilè shì jiéjú
Happiness and joy is the ending
我愿变成童话里 你爱的那个天使
wǒ yuàn biàn chéng tónghuà li nǐ ài dì nàgè tiānshǐ
I’m willing to become an angel of fairy tale that you love
张开双手 变成翅膀守护你
zhāng kāi shuāngshǒu biàn chéng chìbǎng shǒuhù nǐ
Stretch out arms, turn into wings to protect you
你要相信 相信我们会像童话故事里
nǐ yào xiāngxìn xiāngxìn wǒmen huì xiàng tónghuà gùshì lǐ
You must believe, believe that we will be like in the fairy tale
幸福和快乐是结局
xìngfú hé kuàilè shì jiéjú
Happiness and joy is the ending
我会变成童话里 你爱的那个天使
wǒ huì biàn chéng tónghuà li nǐ ài dì nàgè tiānshǐ
I will become an angel of fairy tale that you love
张开双手变成翅膀守护你
zhāng kāi shuāngshǒu biàn chéng chìbǎng shǒuhù nǐ
Stretch out arms, turn into wings to protect you
你要相信 相信我们会像童话故事里
nǐ yào xiāngxìn xiāngxìn wǒmen huì xiàng tónghuà gùshì lǐ
You must believe, believe that we will be like in the fairy tale
幸福和快乐是结局
xìngfú hé kuàilè shì jiéjú
Happiness and joy is the ending
一起写我们的结局
yīqǐ xiě wǒmen de jiéjú
We can write our own ending together
I absolutely LOVE this song! The love, compassion, imagination and hope beautifully embedded in the lyrics is so touching and the artist’s singing reveals so much emotions. This song made me tear when I listened to it from his music video. Thanks for this great article selection!
Cool article! I’ve never heard of this singer nor have I ever heard of this song before. However, I enjoyed it so much more than I expected! I think it’s a super pretty song with even better lyrics. It evokes so much emotion and the lyrics have a deep meaning behind them.
I thoroughly enjoyed listening to this song, Michael Wong has such a great voice. I thought it was cool that you put in the pinyin, characters, and English translation. I was able to listen to the song, interpret what it meant while learning a few new Chinese phrases that I didn’t know before. I could see all the compassion and thought that the artist put into the lyrics. The words of the songs deeply resonated with me and the melody of the song still lingers in my mind.
I love this song so much! I remember singing it for chorus in 6th grade in my old school. This song brings back many memories in middle school, good and bad ones. The music video for this song was pretty sad too. Michael Wong has an amazing voice! His other songs are amazing too.
I really like this song. Even though I don’t think it is my favorite song. I think that I will hear this in one of my aunt’s houses. This seems like a song that took a lot of effort to create. Great Job
I love this song. I have heard this song before and every time I listen to it, I begin to like it even more. Although I cannot understand every word, I still feel the strong emotion that is present. I appreciate the time you took to incorporate the pinyin, characters, and English translation below. This singer has such an amazing voice and I loved listening to this song. Nice job.
This song is really good. I find it so interesting that the same themes appear in American songs and Chinese songs. Longing, love, and heartache are both omnipresent in American and Chinese songs. Michael Wong has a great singing voice. That being said, I still prefer to listen to Dong Fang Zhi Zhu. Keep up the great work!