Jay Chou 周杰伦 – Suan Shen Me Nan Ren (What Kind of Man Are You) – 算什么男人 – Pinyin Subtitles with English Translation

Hey 朋友们! 

Hope you’re all doing great 😉

So we thought we would try something different this time.

drum roll…🥁

Introducing “Learn Chinese Through Songs!”

We are pleased to make two announcements for Monkey Mandarin.

The first is we are starting a new ongoing category/series of posts called “Learn Chinese Through Songs.”

As its name suggests the theme is learning Chinese through Chinese music.

If you’re wondering how we came up with this. I was thinking to myself “what’s the best way to keep learning Chinese fun?” and I suddenly remembered all those times in the past where I would look up Chinese lyrics for a Chinese song I liked 🎵

Then I would sing along karaoke-style until I inevitably stumbled over certain words.

Then I would have to refer to the dictionary whenever I came across words I didn’t understand.

Maybe you’ve done the same thing as well.

In which case you might understand some of the pain points with this.

The two main pain points that really annoyed me were:

Firstly, many of the lyrics and translation articles out there are of very low standard. And when I say bad I’m like talking straight-copy-and-paste-directly-into-Google-Translate bad.

As you might know by now, Chinese is the most difficult language for native English speakers to learn so you can’t simply just copy and paste a chunk of Chinese text into Google Translate because often it will spit out a literal translation with wrong grammar and sentence structure. In other words you will get gibberish.

Secondly, many of the lyrics and translation articles out there are incomplete. When I say incomplete I mean they are missing one of the three essential elements that make up a complete set:

• The lyrics in Chinese characters
• The lyrics in pinyin (highly preferable to have proper pinyin with tones)
• The lyrics in the form of the English translation

Without one of the three you’re just not getting a proper learning experience.

Furthermore I like them to be in-line. What I mean by that is you have a line of lyrics in Chinese characters, followed by the pinyin for it, followed by the English translation. This is the easiest format to work with and learn from:

Here’s an example of a poorly formatted one. See how not only is it missing the lyrics in Chinese characters, it also chucks the pinyin above and the English translation below. So you have to scroll back and forth to keep finding where you are up to. Finally its pinyin doesn’t even have tones to it so you’re not sure how to even pronounce it.

Introducing the Monkey Mandarin YouTube channel!

The second announcement is we are pleased to announce our new Monkey Mandarin YouTube channel. Check it out!

We’re big Jay Chou fans so our first video had to be a Jay Chou song 🙂

Without further ado..this is our inaugural video. Enjoy!

Chinese/Pinyin Lyrics + English translation

Artist: Jay Chou (周杰倫)

Song: 算什么男人 (suànshénme nánrén)

亲吻你的手 还靠着你的头
qīnwěn nǐ de shǒu hái kàozhe nǐ de tóu
Kiss your hand and lean on your head

让你躺胸口 那个人已不是我
ràng nǐ tǎng xiōngkǒu nàgèrén yǐ bùshìwǒ
Let you lay on the top of my chest (however) that person is no longer me

这些平常的举动 现在叫做难过
zhèxiē píngcháng de jǔdòng xiànzài jiàozuò nánguò
These normal actions (but) now are called ‘sad’
Monkey Comments: i.e. the normal day-to-day activities that he used to do together with her – now that she is no longer here – reminds him of her

喔～ 难过
ō ~ nánguò
o~ sad
Monkey Comments: 难过 literally translates to “difficult to pass” and if you think about it, that’s what being sad is – i.e. it makes your days difficult to pass

日子开始过 我没你照样过
rìzi kāishǐ guò wǒ méi nǐ zhàoyàng guò
Days start passing by without you I still live (my life) as usual

不会很难受 我会默默的接受
bùhuì hěn nánshòu wǒ huì mòmòde jiēshòu
Not very sad I will silently accept
Comments: he is engaging in self-talk now trying to convince himself he has gotten over her although it is clear he hasn’t yet

反正在一起时 你我都有开心过
fǎnzhèng zàiyīqǐshí nǐwǒ dūyǒu kāixīn guò
Anyway when (we were) together you and me both had fun

就足够
jiù zúgòu
That’s enough
Monkey Comments: he is trying to console himself saying they’ve already had a period of time together where they were happy and isn’t that all one can ask for in life?

我的温暖 你的冷漠 让爱起雾了
Wǒ de wēnnuǎn nǐ de lěngmò ràng ài qǐwùle
My warmth your neglect let (our) love become foggy

如果爱心画在起雾的窗是模糊
rúguǒ àixīn huà zài qǐwùde chuāng shì móhú
whether the heart drew on the foggy window is blurry
Monkey Comments: the direct English translation for this may sound confusing but he is using a metaphor here. You know how when your car window gets foggy you can draw stuff on it? So imagine you draw a love heart on it. It starts off clear but slowly blurs and fades away

还是更清楚
háishì gèng qīngchǔ?
or more clear?

你算什么男人 算什么男人
Nǐ suànshénme nánrén suànshénme nánrén
What kind of man are you kind of man are you

眼睁睁看她走 却不闻不问
yǎnzhēngzhēng kàn tā zǒu què bùwénbùwèn
saw that she was leaving but (pretend that you) did not hear (anything) nor ask (anything)

是有多天真 就别再硬撑
shì yǒu duō tiānzhēn jiù bié zài yìngchēng
How naïve are you Just stop holding on

期待你挽回 你却拱手让人
qídài nǐ wǎnhuí nǐ què gǒngshǒuràngrén
You expected to get her back but instead you gave her away

你算什么男人 算什么男人
Nǐ suànshénme nánrén suànshénme nánrén
What kind of man are you kind of man are you

还爱着她 却不敢叫她再等
hái àizhe tā què bùgǎn jiào tā zàiděng
Still love her but didn’t dare to ask her wait again
Monkey Comments: he is questioning himself and criticizing himself saying “what kind of man am I?” I still love her but I just let her go without having the courage to ask her to wait/stay

没差 你再继续认份
méichā nǐ zài jìxù rènfèn
no difference (if) you continue accepting the reality(fate)

她会遇到更好的男人
tā huì yùdào gènghǎode nánrén
She will meet a better man(she can encounter a better man)
Monkey Comments: Jay Chou is saying this but in reality he cannot bear the thought of her being with another man and he deeply regrets his mistakes

你算什么男人 算什么男人
Nǐ suànshénme nánrén suànshénme nánrén
What kind of man are you kind of man are you

眼睁睁看她走 却不闻不问
yǎnzhēngzhēng kàn tā zǒu què bùwénbùwèn
saw that she was leaving but (pretend that you) did not hear (anything) nor ask (anything)

是有多天真 就别再硬撑
shì yǒu duō tiānzhēn jiù bié zài yìngchēng
How naïve are you Just stop holding on

期待你挽回 你却拱手让人
qídài nǐ wǎnhuí nǐ què gǒngshǒuràngrén
You expected to get her back but instead you gave her away

你算什么男人 算什么男人
Nǐ suànshénme nánrén suànshénme nánrén
What kind of man are you kind of man are you

还爱着她 却不敢叫她再等
hái àizhe tā què bùgǎn jiào tā zàiděng
Still love her but didn’t dare to ask her to wait again

没差 你再继续认份
méichā nǐ zài jìxù rènfèn
no difference (if) you continue accepting the reality(fate)

她会遇到更好的男人
tā huì yùdào gènghǎode nánrén
She will meet a better man(she can encounter a better man)

What do you think?

Are you excited about our new ongoing category/series “Learning Chinese Through Songs?”

Have you also tried learning Chinese through songs?

Are you a Jay Chou fan?

We would love to hear your thoughts on this so please leave a message in the comments below.

As always.

朋友们加油!

David & Nicole