June 9th, 2007
The Golden Rock song of the day - 6/9/07
Today’s song needs a whole lot of explaining. In Chinese, the song’s name is 潛龍勿用, which literally translates to “Don’t Use the Hidden Dragon.” The phrase itself refers to a person’s hidden talent or power. Like a dragon hiding underground, a person shouldn’t show his/her hidden power when the time isn’t right just because of ambitions. Basically, it probably means, in more casual terms, not to be so eager to show your strength when the time isn’t right. The best explanation I’ve found (in Chinese) is here, so let me know if I got anything wrong.
In this song’s context (thanks to this explanation in Chinese), it can be said the song is written from the perspective of a very jealous man to his beautiful and unfaithful lover. The man is telling her that just because she’s beautiful doesn’t mean she has to share that beauty with the world (hidden strengths at the wrong time). It took me several years to understand it.
From Nicholas Tse’s album Jade Butterfly (which I still believe to be the peak of his musical career), it’s “Don’t Use the Hidden Dragon.”