橄榄树
The Olive Tree
The olive tree became a symbol of adventure and searching for meaning — at the time, olive trees were something exotic and distant to audiences in Taiwan and China, so the tree stood for the pull toward the unknown world, even when the road there is lonely.
This beautiful song actually failed to clear Taiwan’s broadcast review board before its release. Officials worried it touched on sensitive cross-strait themes, and that its romantic take on wandering might encourage teenagers to run away from home. Listening to it now, that makes a strange kind of sense — at home, this song makes you want to wander; far from home, it makes you want to go back.
MV
Lyrics
English Translation
Do not ask me where I’m from
My hometown is far away
Why do I wander around
Wandering afar, wandering
For the little birds that soar through the sky
For the creeks that rush between the mountains
For the endless grasslands
Wandering afar, wandering
Also, also
For that olive tree in my dreams, that olive tree
Do not ask me where I’m from
My hometown is far away
Why do I wander around
Why do I wander to distant lands?
For the olive tree in my dreams
Don’t ask me where I come from
My hometown is far away
Why do I wander around
Wandering afar, wandering
5 Useful Vocabulary Words
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