#but hey. i can almost swear it's a singable one with perhaps minor tweaks

[presumenothing]

蜃楼 | MIRAGE

from zhou shen's second album 《反深代词》 | listen here

a (very liberties-taken) lyric translation; rhythm and imagery reigns in this house

看机械的白鸽 从空中飞过 that mechanical bird / through the sky, it flies 要如何点睛 它才堪称鲜活 with what light in its eyes / could it come to life 数字的晨昏 是否更缤纷 dawn, dusk in numbers / would that be more vivid? 仿生的情人 是否更忠贞 a lover in still life / would they be more loyal? 推开一扇门 还有万千重门 push; open one door / still await thousands more

生命何尝不是 从乌有 到乌有 what of life does not go / dust to dust 倘若感动时候 依然有 泪在流 so long as when emotion moves / tears still flow 不管是否身处那蜃楼 世界如何虚构 no matter if you're in that mirage / that world of fiction 情愿一生如梦游 willing; we live through a dream

在电幻的荒丘 寻真实的绿洲 seeking a real oasis / in technicolour wastelands 渺小得如蜉蝣 也仰望着宇宙 trivial, passing mayflies / yet flying our gaze to the skies

那来自过去 古老的眼神 from the long-gone past / that ancient gaze 如何能辨认 此刻是幻是真 how can it tell, now / is this dream or truth? 人造的天分 是否算慧根 from talent made by man / does there spring wisdom? 克隆的肉身 是否有灵魂 in the body of a clone / does there a soul lie? 永远在追问 却从来都没结论 endless; we question / but the answers never found Can it be real

[REPEAT CHORUS]

Can it be real Can it be real The world is a mirage

那智慧的天梯 从来都 没尽头 those stairways of wisdom / never did have an end 这刹那的感受 却足够 算不朽 this moment of feeling / eternal, shall it last 我们终身住在那蜃楼 怀中一无所有 forever, we stay in that mirage / hands empty with air 仍愿一生如梦游 still, we give ourselves to this dream