A song for children?

Came across this song some time ago when the uni newspaper did a feature on the lyricist when he was conferred an award for cultural achievements. I literally stopped doing everything else to read the lyrics over and over again. Even though it was marked as a 童谣 ('tong yao'), or a song for children (something like lullaby), I think all adults should listen to it carefully.

(I translated the lyrics below, scroll down; that said, I did my best, but it's still a bit awkward. It's quite poetic in chinese)

童谣1987  
亲爱的爸爸 给我一个窗口  
给我留一片还没有污染的天空  
在层层的 重重的铁窗后  
让我望一望 草地上 绿色的自由  

亲爱的妈妈 给我哭闹的时间  
让我迟一些 才学会 标准的笑脸  
也许你可以 先给我 一点空间  
让我喜欢自己 再接受文明的训练  

亲爱的老师 不要那么紧张  
不是所有的歌曲都要规矩的唱  
一切的ABC可以慢慢的学  
不要教我争先 让我从容一点  

亲爱的世界 给我一个黑板  
让我快乐地 画一幅 自己的向往  
其实你不该 教会我太多黑白  
让我长大后 不会 对着灰色无奈  


Tong Yao 1987 (Song for Children 1987)


Dear Daddy, please give me a window
leave me a piece of unpolluted sky
let me have a glimpse of the green freedom of grass
behind the heavy, layered windows


Dear Mommy, please give me time to cry and make noise
let me master the perfect smile a bit later
perhaps you can give me so some space
let me learn to like myself, before receiving society's training


Dear Teacher, please don't be so nervous
not all songs must be sung a certain way
ABC and everything else can be learned gradually
don't teach me how to compete, let me treat things calmly


Dear World, please give me a blackboard
let me happily draw a piece of my own dreams
in fact you should not teach me, too much about black and white
so that when I grow up, I would not be frustrated at the grayness in the world




I wish someone sang me this song when I was young. The world is turning out so different from what I expected. Or perhaps my expectations were too narrow, too naive, too small. 


Don't get me wrong though, growing up is quite an experience. I do enjoy it. That will be a post for another day, though. Time to go back to my notes!